1.72k reviews for:

On Wings of Blood

Briar Boleyn

3.85 AVERAGE


3.5 stars!
i decided to pick this up after seeing the hype about it on tiktok. the story was good it just took me a little too long to get invested into the story. still a good read tho!
adventurous tense fast-paced
challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The writing style felt very unconnected and disjointed which made it very difficult to read. I found myself wanting to skips entire pages rather than read each word.
adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Vampire school

This was ok. Lots of bickering backstabbing. New friends. For some reason love interest in the man who has hidden redeemable qualities he does nothing with. And a trapped soul that is just forgotten about. I guess we will get more on that later. ..... Lots of weird things with no explanation but not awful..
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Very disappointing! With all the hype, I was expecting better writing, better plot/development. Overall, the plot was lacking and disjunct. Too many times I had to go back and reread to make sure I didn’t miss something. Nope. Nothing to miss if it’s just not there. 

The characters are underdeveloped. The dialogue is childish — especially from all of the nobles/adult characters. There are major plot points that needed to be addressed and others that probably should have been in the next book. It felt like the author had a ton of really cool ideas and tried to show them all to us as soon as possible. The world itself is really cool! 

On Wings of Blood came highly recommended, and while I can see the appeal it didn’t live up to the 5- or 6-star hype I kept seeing.

The story jumps all over the place, and the pacing felt uneven, with several plot threads left dangling or under-explained. There were definitely moments where I had to flip back pages thinking, “did I miss something?” (Spoiler: I didn’t. The book just moved on without answering it.)

That said… I still wanted to like it? There’s something compelling here. The world is intriguing, the morally gray prince is ruthless, and the vibes are exactly what I want in a dark academia, fantasy romance. It just felt like the foundation wasn’t fully settled before we were off chasing twists.

I really hope the rest of the series slows down, fills in the holes, and delivers on the potential. Because there is potential—and I’m curious enough to keep going.

EDIT: DNF book 2...AWFUL. DID NOT GET BETTER.
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated