Review by onceuponforeva - On Wings of Blood

onceuponforeva 's review for:

On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn

1.0

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I picked this book up because it was all over TikTok and the premise sounded like it had so much potential—a dark fantasy world ruled by vampires, political intrigue, and a girl caught in the middle of it all, after waking up naked on a pile of corpses with no knowledge on how she got there. But despite that promising setup, I really didn’t enjoy the reading experience.

The worldbuilding felt inconsistent and confusing. It’s supposedly a medieval-inspired fantasy world, yet characters wear private school uniforms, have wrist timepieces, and the school is run by a board of wealthy donors? There are enchanted ceilings like Hogwarts, houses students are sorted into, catacombs with dragon skulls like Game of Thrones—it felt like the author tried to mash together elements from every fantasy she liked without making them feel cohesive. It never felt like a fully realized world with its own rules.

The pacing was clunky, too. Time skipped around without warning, and the timeline often didn’t make sense. There’s a moment where the FMC says she’s been training for “months,” but based on the school calendar, barely four weeks have passed. It’s little details like that that completely pulled me out of the story.

The characters didn’t help either. Medra Pendragon (a name that feels like it was chosen to ride the wave of Arthurian retellings) felt petulant and angry the whole time, but without real growth. Blake, the MMC, is supposed to be her love interest, but their relationship is more obsession than romance. There’s no real buildup, just sudden lust and toxic possessiveness. He literally says it doesn’t matter what she wants. That’s not dark fantasy romance—it’s just unsettling. And when we get his point of view, all he ever seems to notice is her body and that she defies him, not who she is.

Side characters didn’t fare much better. Most were just there to dump information, play stock roles (the smart one, the mean one, the tragic one), or prop up the plot. And then there were the darker elements—racism, racial purity, objectification of women—that were either handled clumsily or not interrogated at all. It made the whole thing feel icky and juvenile, not dark and thoughtful.

I’m honestly disappointed. I wanted to like this. The idea had so much potential, but the execution just didn’t land for me. It felt like the author tried to do too much without building a strong foundation first

Content Warnings