Harry Potter x Fourth Wing, Zodiac Academy, and vampires? **grabby hands**

After dying to save the ones she loves, our FMC Medra wakes up, but not in the afterlife as you would expect. She has somehow been transported into a bloodthirsty world, held captive by vampires. On Wings of Blood was the perfect mix of dragons, enemies to lovers and dark academia. The vibes were Dramione-esque (so of course I loved it). Medra is a strong, badass FMC and despite her heartbreaking story, she takes no bullshit. I was rooting for her from the first chapter. If you are a fan of Dramione, dragons, and ruthless academy settings I can’t recommend this book enough.

Tropes

⚔️ Trials
🥀 Villain gets the girl
⚔️ Arranged marriage
🥀 Touch her and die
⚔️ Academy setting

**Thank you to Briar Boleyn, Stillwater Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review**

This one really suprised me. I like a good vampire romance every once in awhile, but I really got into this one! When Medra Pendragon is found on a pile of bodies she can’t remember how she got there. Blake is the vampire who claims her for his own, but Medra and Blake’s uncle have other ideas.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you for allowing me to review

Thank you NetGalley and Starwater Press for this eCopy to review

I recently finished reading "On Wings of Blood" by Briar Boleyn, and it was quite an adventure. The story is set in the intriguing world of Bloodwing Academy, where highblood vampires rule and the Blightborn are viewed as expendable. The academy is a dangerous place, filled with deadly competitions and power struggles.

Medra Pendragon, the last of the dragon riders, finds herself captured and brought to Bloodwing Academy. Here, she must navigate a world where highblood vampires see her as nothing more than a pawn. Among them is Blake Drakharrow, a cold and arrogant vampire who has been tormenting her since their first encounter. Medra and Blake are betrothed, adding another layer of complexity to her already perilous situation. As Medra uncovers secrets about her heritage and the academy, she realizes that the real danger might not be the academy itself, but what she is becoming.

The book is filled with tension, banter, and a slow-burn romance that kept me hooked. The world-building is rich, blending elements of Arthurian legend with unique vampire and dragon lore.

Overall, "On Wings of Blood" is a captivating read with strong character development and an engaging plot. The book's intricate world and the dynamic between Medra and Blake make it a compelling read.

I tried to finish this book but couldn’t. I disliked the writing style and there was a lot of unnecessary descriptions and dialogue I think

5⭐️

I really really enjoyed this book!! It started straight away with the action and kept me hooked all the way to the end.
The character building was great - you really started to connect with all the characters, especially Medra and Blake.
I loved the world building, and the setting of the school, Bloodwing, gave me Vampire Academy vibes.
I’m very excited to see where this story takes us next!

I fell in love with this book - a beautiful entertaining of Fourth Wing/Harry Potter/Serpents and the Wings of Night, and a few unique twists that the author incorporated to make this story special!! A strong willed, stubborn FMC with an equally stubborn but internal-war-struggling MMC, and the banter keeps the slow burn on your toes! If you love academia/romantasy/plot-driven books, this is a great one! I’d recommend this for all the 18+ romantasy readers who need to cure a good book hangover!

“It’s not protection, little dragon. It’s a claim.” 🤭


Medra is our main character she is half fae half human and she finds her self waking up in this other world full of vampires. She gets “saved” by the vampire prince and he brings her back to people in charge.(above him) She then gets enrolled in a vampire / human school. Where she is tested beyond her limits and trained by her professors on how to survive but there are a few surprises at this school that she doesn’t know about until it’s too late.


🤣“Well I can see why he doesn’t want you. Who would want a snide whiny bitch sucking them off?” 🤣😱🤭


Drake is our MMC he is a darker, crueler version of Draco from Harry Potter(love lol) He also doesn’t smell like pine and snow thank god 😂 He is very territorial and protective

I will say this book is heavier on the world building then other books I usually read and it is slightly confusing as you only know what Medra knows and what you find out from Blake later! I am hoping to get answers with the second book cause OMG! 😆

I absolutely adored this book!!! Briar Boleyn!! This was my first book I’ve read from her and I was completely blown away! The way she writes is like I’m actually in the book I feel like I have attended the school just as much as Medra had lol


“Our bond isn’t strong enough for me to feed from you…” 🩸


I can’t wait for the next book, literally the day it comes out that’s all I’m doing 🤣

This had all of the right tropes, ideas and potential. I loved the idea of a Harry Potter like academy with vampires, fae and a ruling class. The execution was poor unfortunately (in my opinion). The writing felt juvenile and there was little to no character development. Overall I will still give 3 stars though, because I did like some of the themes.

I requested this ARC because of its Harry Potter, Fourth Wing, dark academia and enemies to lovers vibes and was not disappointed!

This book follows the feisty FMC Medra, who finds herself stranded in a strange world ruled by vampires. On top of that she gets engaged to an arrogant vampire prince against her will, whom she really hates and has to attend a school, where the bloodthirsty vampires suppress the blightborn humans. She is also supposed to be dragon rider, but there a no longer dragons in this world and she has to find a way to survive in this world.

Let me tell you: the worldbuilding was heavy and detailed. I was as lost in the world as Medra was, but thankfully there was always someone to explain things to us. And we attended a lot of classes which were heavy on history, politics, fighting and the magic system. I definitely enjoyed the Harry Potter and Fourth Wing details and the dark academia vibes, but I think the Camelot aspects were over the top and played no further role for the plot or the characters. (I just found out there is another book in this series, maybe there are this things explained?)

Medra
I really liked the Medra in the first chapters, where she was feisty, mouthy and unyielding and was tossed into this world because she fought a GOD, but when she starts to attend Bloodwing she just accepts her fate and neither trys to escape or change her fate, being bonded to the ruthless vampire. I wish there was more fighting against her suppressors and the system, that made the blightborn suffer and which she hates so much. Nevertheless was she a strong and sassy FMC, who took on every challenge that was thrown in her way!

Blake
Draco Malfoy inspired bully love interest? Count me in. Blake was everything I had hoped for. Brutal, arrogant, morally grey, possessive and more. I enjoyed his banter with Medra and his POVs, because there was more to him than he let the world see. And he took the “Touch her and you die”- Trope to another level.

Medra and Blake: They hated each other with a fierceness that made the enemies to lovers(?) really great. The slow burn was really slowwww, but I enjoyed the tension. The romance in this book was it for me.

Other characters
Florence and Naveen have my heart. They were so likeable and kind. I liked that Medra found good friends in them.
I hated Regan with my whole existence. She was everything Medra hated about Bloodwing.
Surprisingly I found Kage very interesting. I would have enjoyed seeing more of him making Blake jealous.
Theo had potential to be a strong ally to Medra, but I sadly saw too little of him throughout the book.
A cute little fluffin called Neville also stole my heart.

All in all, I had a good time reading this, but it’s just 3 stars because the worldbuilding took over everything and for me it was just too much. I also hoped that Medra did more to fight this situation she found herself in instead of just accepting everything.

But I think you’ll enjoy this book if you like:
- True enemies to lovers
- Dark academia
- romantasy
- Bully romance
- Brutal Vampires
- Slow burn
- Forced engagement
- Political intrigue

Thanks to NetGalley and Briar for approving me for this eARC <3

Thank you, Netgalley and Briar Boleyn, for allowing me to read another of your books. You never disappoint!

In this new chapter, and in the aftermath of the battle of the Blood of a Faw series, we follow Medra in her new world.

She's found herself among vampires and is thrust into a courtship with the most powerful house, House Drakharrow. Her Fae blood has the same efforts as a dragon rider's blood in this world. Most precious as there are no dragon riders among their kind anymore.

Placed in a triad and in a new school, she must now find a way to live in this new life for herself and survive among those who despise her.

I cannot wait to read book 2!

Overall, this was a great book that totally sucked me in!

I was a bit disheartened when I realized that this book has a connection with the author's previous series (the FMC comes from that world). Regardless, I really wanted to read this story and it was worth it!!! I think there were a few spoilers from that timeline, but I'll still read those books sometime :) we get glimpses from the FMC's past, but everything is clear without previous knowledge.
So, back to this story. I love it when we have a strong FMC, and I especially love it when she's flawed (makes bad decisions for example) AND has some self-preservation (headstrong does not equal to stupidly stubborn IMHO). So I really liked Medra, she had all the 'green flags' for me! Blake, the MMC on the other hand... I don't know, there were some strange things about him, I don't want to spoil anything here so let's just say he's emotionally damaged and can't phrase his wants for the life of him.

Tropes in the book:
- portal fantasy
- dark academia
- morally gray MMC
- enemies to lovers
- touch her and...
- deadly trials (this one's just a mall part here, but really well done)
- vampires (& dragons)

It's a mix of so many elements, still it wasn't overwhelming. Very well written, fast paced... there's never a good time to put it down and rest a bit.
It was 4 stars for me because of the last 10-15% to be honest.... I felt like it was rushed after the trials, still happened so much but we just ran through everything. I didn't really understand what happened between the 2 MCs, and there's a huge cliffhanger which was also a bit rushed for me... so it didn't really have the desired effect on me, instead I'm a bit unsure about the next book.
BUT Briar is a great storyteller and there's so much more to this world, these characters, I have no doubt she'll work her miracle in the next book as well!

Going into anything Briar writes means going into a full blown series that is so perfectly laid out over the long term of it. IN this case, that is exactly it. The story of what is going to be an amazing series was done so well!

Briar gave us all the groundwork in this book with the settings, the world building, the magic systems, and characters which as a reader I absolutely loved! It was a great way to jump into a new series of hers!

This book was a nice little intro into the world and left me hungry for more by the end of it!

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

I thought this book had ALOT of potential but the last 20% of the book was 3/5 and the book entirely is a 2/5. I needed more background of where the MFC came from! I needed more of the MMC parents backgroud! It felt like there was series before this book that I should have read first.

I was hooked!! This was such a good read for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could not put it down and I was glued till the very last page! Solid 4,5 stars, and I 100% recommend - and I must say, this reminded me so much of Fourth Wing and the whole academy aspect and I LOVED THAT!!!

A dark academia fantasy romance?? Sign me up!
I love reading a book that has me audibly reacting to every twist and turn and this book had me doing that.
It’s full of all the things you want in a fantasy romance.

This book was fantastic! Every single aspect was perfectly crafted and I can’t wait for book 2. Medra is such a badass, and the lore and secrets…. That cliffhanger. I need more!!

Medra Pendragon is tossed into a new realm without a stitch on her back and is found by a rude and arrogant vampire who unceremoniously throws her at his uncle who is the leader of a powerful vampire society. The uncle believes she is the last of the dragon riders, who apparently died out long ago, however, there are no dragons left. Not a single one. But with her arrival, the vampires take that as a sign that the dragons may come back and she needed to be attached to the vampire leader at Bloodwing Academy (his nephew who dragged her there) and she was enrolled with zero choice in the matter. The highbloods run everything and blightborn like her were just blood in their veins, pawns in their games. Although, her blood was different.

Blake Drakharrow, her new betrothed is cold, entitled, and unbelievably gorgeous. He tormented Medra the second they met (although he did save her so, that is one small thing to be thankful for). The big issue with their relationship is he acts like he owns her as if she is his property and that she should be grateful for it. Medra has a history of not following the rules, and where she came from she wasn't new to fighting. Blake underestimates her and will find out the hard way how stubborn she can be.

Bloodwing isn't just a school, it's a live-in danger zone where Highblood vampires are constantly fighting with one another for power. The weak die and the humans are just there for food and entertainment unless they can prove their worth. Even then, the blightborn are constantly reminded that their life can end in an instant.

Deadly competitions, lies that could get her executed, a jealous betrothed, and vampires that seem to want to see what she tastes like... will she survive this school? The powerplay between the houses are fierce. She needs to do well, adapt to this new realm and learn their ways to try and stay alive.

And Blake her betrothed? He's as aggravating as he is beautiful and will be just as much of a challenge as this school. His uncle thinks they can control and use her but they don't know who she is. They will find out in time once things are awakened.

On Wings of Blood is a dark academia fantasy romance with a cocky bully villain with Draco Malfoy energy who falls first and through trial and error gets the girl (sort of). Lots of tension, banter, and a dangerous blend of court and school set in an intricately crafted world with unique vampire and dragon lore. This fantasy had all the things I love. Sexy brooding MMC, a strong-willed FMC who doesn't put up with anyone's crap but is smart enough to know how to stay alive. A slow-burn romance with some spice. A new world with different creatures that take a slightly different approach to how vampires live and their hierarchy.

Bloodwing Academy may have crossover characters from the world of Blood of a Fae but can be read completely independently. (I read that series first so I know where the FMC came from and her lineage. If you're a fan of original mythology, unique world-building, and character-driven romantasy, Check out this new series! Read the trigger warning, please.

Thank you to the author Briar Boleyn for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review and being part of her street team The Rose Court. I love her series and appreciate being given the opportunity to read this and her other series which I adored as well.

I can honestly say that I really didn’t know what to expect when going into this book but wow did it blow me away. I love a good academy setting for books and add in the fact that this was enemies to lovers and had the mention of dragons and you can just sign me up. The world building throughout this book was amazing and although I found some parts of the story to be slow, I really enjoyed this from start to finish. Although I did keep hoping for more Blake POVs. This book was incredible and I cannot wait for book two, I need it to be released like yesterday! I would highly recommend this book if you like vampires and dragons. This book would be great for fans of Fourth Wing, the Crave series, and the fated mates and enemies to lovers tropes. Happy reading!

I liked the overall story. I just felt like there were so many different side stories, and not all of them make sense.
Some things happened without enough context and some with too much.
I am still not sure how the MC got where she is and why. Who are her family? What is the bond exactly?
On the other hand, why did the love story line between the two best friends mattered? It was introduced too late and soon after he turns to a monster without any explanations??

What’s up with her physical appearance and why is it only important in the beginning?
Who is her dad? Is she a spy?
Anyway!
I am eager to read the next book!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book begins with Medra waking up, naked and covered in blood. She's in a new world with no idea how she had survived or where she was.
Blake, a member of the Darkharrow house finds her and brings her to his creepy and obviously power hungry and slightly deranged uncle who is in charge of their house.
The world is split between highborn (vampires) and blightborn (humans), I'm sure the titles tell you everything you need to know about how this world works.
Medra is announced as a dragon rider, something that hasn't been seen in decades. Useless seeing as there are no dragons to ride. However, big bad and slightly crazy uncle Viktor decides that Blake should be bound to Medra in front of a whole hall full of the four important houses in the land. He then enrolls her in the blood wing school and Blake dumps her at her dorm and kind of let's her fend for herself.
Through Medra we learn about the world and the rules which govern it. We meet Florence and Naveen, Theo and Vaughan. And let's not forget Regan, who is Blake's consort and she is not impressed with the addition of Medra.
The decisions that Medra makes in the first third of the book really annoyed me and I honestly wondered where the story was going other than Blake and Medra's lust/hate thing they had going on. But then the characters began to evolve and things started to happen. People were killed, maimed and it was getting quite exciting.
I won't give too much away but we have enemies to lovers to probably enemies again, trials, school/academy/found family.
I was frustrated with Medra's history, where she came from and what happened before she woke up, but only because I wanted to know more. I wanted to know it all!!!
There is a slight hint of Fourth wing and harry potter but it's more of a foundation because what books aren't an evolution, or an inspiration of another? The last two thirds of the book flowed really well and the relationship between Blake and Medra developed well, not too quickly and there was plenty of second guessing and angst. The chemistry between them was hot, the wanting was fierce and the dual pov helped bring it home.
I will absolutely be diving into the sequel in 2025!