The Bond That Burns

Three books into Bloodwing Academy, I think I’ve figured out exactly why this series continues earning five stars from me: Briar Boleyn keeps me invested enough that I genuinely need to know what happens next. I’m not casually curious or thinking I’ll eventually get around to the next book. I’m emotionally invested enough that I’m cheering for some characters, desperately wanting to smack some sense into others, occasionally wishing a very fictional and completely hypothetical unfortunate ending upon someone who has sufficiently irritated me, and still turning the pages because I absolutely need to know where all of this is going.

The Wings That Bind picks up in the aftermath of everything Medra and the others have already survived, and apparently Bloodwing Academy still hasn’t considered adding therapy to the curriculum. There has been betrayal, loss, heartbreak, dangerous magic, and enough emotional damage to keep several qualified professionals employed indefinitely, but naturally nobody gets much time to properly deal with any of it. There are dragons, powerful highbloods, political problems, secrets, and another collection of disasters waiting for everyone. Every time I thought I was getting closer to understanding this world, another question appeared and gave me one more reason to keep reading.

The dragon storyline continued to be one of the biggest things keeping me interested. I may have initially shown up because vampires are an extremely effective way to lure me into a fantasy book, but somewhere along the way the dragons became a major part of what made Bloodwing Academy stand out for me. Their history, their bonds, and the power surrounding them have become increasingly connected to the larger story, and every new piece of dragon lore seems to create another question I need answered. Yes, I am fully aware that my love of dragons may influence me slightly. Okay, perhaps more than slightly. Put a dragon in a fantasy book and you’ve already gained an unfair advantage.

This installment also expands the story beyond Medra and Blake more than the previous books, particularly as Florence becomes much more central to what is happening. Her circumstances introduce another perspective on the dragon bonds and their consequences, and I could understand why that storyline needed room to develop. At the same time, there were moments when I would have happily traded some of that additional focus for more Medra and Blake. Those two were such a major part of what originally pulled me into the series that naturally I wanted more time with them, especially considering everything still unresolved between them.

That didn’t stop me from caring about the friendships surrounding Medra. One of the things I’ve enjoyed as this series has progressed is that there are now multiple relationships and characters whose outcomes matter to me. Medra isn’t simply fighting for herself anymore, and the friendships and found-family connections around her give the danger considerably more emotional weight. Unfortunately, becoming attached to additional characters is generally a terrible idea in fantasy because authors tend to interpret emotional attachment as permission to make everyone suffer, but apparently I continue doing it anyway.

Medra herself is still stubborn, loyal, impulsive, determined, and occasionally operating with survival instincts that could generously be described as questionable. By Book 3, I’ve accepted that she’s probably never going to look at an obviously dangerous situation and think, You know what? Maybe I’ll sit this one out. She’s going in, she’s probably going to challenge somebody considerably more powerful while she’s there, and I’ll be sitting on the other side of my Kindle wondering whether I should cheer for her or reach through the screen and give her a good shake.

But that’s also part of why I enjoy her. I don’t need characters to make every decision I would make, and I certainly don’t need them to behave perfectly. I want characters who make me react. Medra can frustrate me, impress me, make me worry about her, and occasionally make me question whether anyone at Bloodwing Academy has ever considered thinking something through before doing it. Those reactions are part of what keeps me emotionally connected to her story.

Then, of course, we have Blake Drakharrow, and my relationship with this man has practically become an entire subplot of its own. In On Wings of Blood, I absolutely would not have recommended Blake as boyfriend material. In The Bond That Burns, his application had been removed from the trash but remained firmly under review. By The Wings That Bind, I was forced to acknowledge that the man might actually be making progress, which was incredibly inconvenient because simply disliking him was considerably easier.

I think that’s part of what has kept me interested in Blake from the beginning. I’ve never needed him to secretly be a perfect sweetheart underneath everything else. He’s arrogant, possessive, controlling, morally questionable, and has demonstrated an impressive ability to make decisions that do absolutely nothing to help his case. He’s frustrated me repeatedly, but what can I say? I love a good villain. Give me a morally grey—or potentially morally black—fictional man with enough complexity to make me simultaneously dislike him and want to understand him, and apparently I’ll stick around to see whether he can make his case.

Across these books, Blake has slowly become more complicated than the character I wanted Medra to run far away from in Book 1. Understanding why someone behaves the way he does doesn’t automatically excuse his behavior, and I don’t need it to. If anything, I prefer character growth when the character actually has somewhere significant to grow from. I don’t want someone introduced as morally questionable to suddenly become perfect because he fell in love. Let him make mistakes. Let me get frustrated with him. Let him earn whatever growth he gets instead of simply becoming an entirely different person.

Medra and Blake’s relationship has also accumulated enough emotional baggage at this point that these two could probably open their own airport. There is attraction, anger, betrayal, loyalty, distrust, genuine feelings, and a history between them that can’t simply disappear because they want each other. I appreciate that chemistry doesn’t magically erase consequences. Their relationship is messy, complicated, occasionally frustrating, and exactly the kind of thing that keeps me wondering what they’re going to do next.

The romance and spice certainly don’t hurt, but they aren’t what make this series five stars for me. I enjoy spice, but I still need an actual story surrounding it. Bloodwing Academy continues giving me that. There are dragons, politics, secrets, friendships, betrayals, shifting loyalties, questions surrounding this world and its history, and enough unresolved threads that I’m still trying to figure out exactly where everything is leading. There were places in The Wings That Bind where I wanted more movement on some of those larger questions, just as there were moments when I wanted the focus pulled back toward Medra and Blake, but neither changed my overall experience enough to lower my rating.

That’s because five stars doesn’t mean I thought every character made the right decision, every scene was perfect, or there wasn’t anything I might have personally done differently. I’m rating the entire reading experience and how much the story affected me. Did it make me feel something? Did it entertain me? Did I become emotionally attached to these characters? Did they make me laugh, get angry, worry about them, or desperately want to reach into the book and smack some sense into somebody? Most importantly, did I care enough that I needed to know what happened next?

With this series, the answer continues to be yes. If I’m irritated enough with a character that I’m mentally planning their fictional downfall, I’m invested. If I’m arguing with someone’s terrible decisions while continuing to turn the pages, I’m invested. If I reach the end of the third book and immediately want the fourth because I need to know what happens to this entire collection of fictional disasters, I’m definitely invested. I’d much rather have a book make me angry, excited, anxious, amused, or emotionally damaged than finish it feeling absolutely nothing.

That’s ultimately why The Wings That Bind gets five stars from me. Three books into this series, Briar Boleyn still has me emotionally invested enough that I care about what happens next. I still have questions. I still have theories. There are characters I love, characters I’d very much like to give a good shake, and perhaps a few whose fictional downfall wouldn’t exactly break my heart. But I’m still here, still invested, and still wanting more.

And yes, the dragons help. Slightly.

Okay, fine. They’re dragons. They help considerably. 🐉

As for Blake’s boyfriend application after Book 3, I’m still not prepared to hand him an unconditional five-star approval because let’s not get reckless, but his application has survived multiple rounds of review. Progress has been noted, references are being checked, and I’m reluctantly willing to admit that an interview may now be warranted. Considering where we started in Book 1, I’d call that significant personal growth.

Mostly his.

Probably mine too.

Do I need to know what happens next in With Hearts of Flame?

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.

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.