SASSY'S REVIEW
❖There are fictional men who are walking red flags, and then there is Blake Drakharrow, who apparently looked at the red flag and decided it wasn’t dramatic enough, so he set the damn thing on fire. Naturally, I loved him. Well… I hated him, then I liked him, then I hated him again. Eventually, I accepted that both feelings could coexist and continued reading like the emotionally responsible adult I clearly am. What can I say? I love a good villain, and apparently my standards for fictional men become increasingly questionable the more morally compromised they are.
On Wings of Blood completely pulled me into its story. Medra is thrown into a dangerous world where vampires hold the power, she’s believed to be the last dragon rider despite there being no dragons left, and somehow she has to survive Bloodwing Academy on top of everything else. The academy setting was one of my favorite parts because it wasn’t simply somewhere convenient to stick the characters while the romance developed. There were power struggles, prejudice, dangerous competition, secrets, politics, and enough mystery surrounding Medra and her heritage that I constantly wanted to know more. The vampires may have initially gotten my attention, but it was everything happening beneath the surface of this world that kept it.
I also really liked Medra. She’s stubborn, impulsive, determined, and absolutely unwilling to quietly accept whatever role everyone else has decided she should play. Did I occasionally question her survival instincts? Absolutely. Antagonizing extremely powerful vampires isn’t necessarily what I would call a solid self-preservation strategy, but I’d much rather have an FMC who fights back than one who politely accepts being treated like property. There was something satisfying about watching her push against a system designed to remind her exactly where everyone thought she belonged, especially when she clearly had no intention of staying there.
And then there’s Blake. Sir, I spent a ridiculous amount of this book trying to decide whether I wanted Medra to kiss him or stab him, and honestly, either outcome would have satisfied me. He’s arrogant, controlling, possessive, infuriating, and frequently an asshole. There were moments when I genuinely hated him for the way he behaved, but unfortunately for me, there were also moments when I was completely fascinated by him. I blame my long-established weakness for villains, morally questionable men, and fictional characters whose moral compass appears to have gone missing somewhere around birth.
What made Blake work for me was that he wasn’t introduced as an asshole only to suddenly become a misunderstood sweetheart the second attraction entered the equation. I didn’t always like him, and I definitely didn’t agree with him, but I wanted to understand him. That’s far more interesting to me than taking a morally questionable character and sanding away everything that made him complicated in the first place. If you’re going to give me a villain, let him actually behave like one. I’ll complain about him, threaten him, question every decision he makes, and apparently continue turning pages to see what the asshole does next.
The dynamic between Blake and Medra was entertaining for much the same reason. Medra doesn’t simply roll over and let him control her. She challenges him, they clash constantly, and the attraction between them is tangled up with anger, distrust, power, and enough hostility that I was never entirely sure whether someone was about to be kissed or murdered. Apparently, that’s my idea of entertainment, and I’m no longer interested in examining what that says about me.
As much as I enjoyed their complicated relationship, though, the romance wasn’t what made On Wings of Blood a five-star read for me. The storyline did. The dragon lore, academy politics, friendships, betrayals, mysteries surrounding Medra, and all those unanswered questions kept me invested because I genuinely wanted to understand this world. Every time I learned something new, it seemed to uncover another question I suddenly needed answered, and instead of feeling frustrated by that, I just kept wanting more.
That’s one of the biggest things I consider when deciding whether a book deserves five stars. Did it make me feel something? Was I entertained? Did I care about what happened to these characters? Was I captivated enough that putting the book down became considerably less appealing than ignoring whatever I was supposed to be doing? Most importantly, when I reached the end, did I feel satisfied with the story I’d just read while simultaneously wishing there were another hundred pages waiting for me?
With On Wings of Blood, absolutely. I wasn’t checking my reading progress because I wanted to know how much longer I had left before the book finally ended. I was checking because I was running out of book, and those are two very different situations. By the end, I was invested. I wanted more answers, more danger, more dragons, more Medra, and—against all reasonable judgment—more Blake Drakharrow.
Would I recommend Blake as boyfriend material? Absolutely fucking not. At least, not yet. Did I immediately want another book containing Blake Drakharrow? Well, duh. Obviously. 🖤
— Mz. Saszy K
NOTICE: This review reflects my personal reading experience and opinions. Books are subjective, and what works for one reader may not work for another. My ratings are based on the overall experience—including story, plot, pacing, character development, emotional impact, entertainment value, and how invested the book kept me. All thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own. Sassy Reviews will always be 100% unbiased, unfiltered, and unapologetically truthful.