SASSY'S REVIEW
❖At this point, I really should have known better than to expect Briar Boleyn to let these characters have a peaceful semester at Bloodwing Academy. Apparently, therapy, healthy communication, and several uneventful weeks where nobody betrays anyone, nearly dies, awakens something dangerous, or discovers another potentially catastrophic secret would have been asking too much. Instead, The Wings That Bind took everything I was already invested in—the dragons, the politics, the friendships, the mysteries, Medra’s increasingly complicated place in this world, and my ongoing questionable relationship with Blake Drakharrow—and somehow made the entire situation even messier. Naturally, I loved it.
After everything that happened in The Bond That Burns, Medra and the others are carrying considerably more than physical scars into the new year. There has been loss, betrayal, heartbreak, and enough emotional damage that I’m fairly certain Bloodwing Academy should start including complimentary therapy with tuition. Except there is no time for anyone to properly process anything because another dragon has awakened, powerful highbloods are once again playing dangerous games, and the secrets surrounding Sangratha continue getting bigger rather than conveniently explaining themselves. Apparently, every answer in this series is legally required to arrive accompanied by at least three additional questions.
The expanding dragon storyline continued to be one of my favorite parts of the series. I originally came for the vampires, because obviously throwing vampires into a fantasy world is one of the easiest ways to get my attention, but the dragons and their history became one of the biggest reasons I stayed. By this point, they aren’t simply impressive magical creatures hanging around in the background looking intimidating. Their bonds, their history, and the power surrounding them are woven directly into what is happening politically and personally, and the introduction of another dragon made everything considerably more complicated.
Florence’s role also became much larger in this book, particularly after everything she survived and the bond that saved her life. I liked seeing the consequences of that explored instead of having her survival treated as something everyone could simply celebrate and move past. Magic that powerful should have consequences, and watching Florence try to understand what this new connection meant for her added another layer to the dragon lore while also testing the friendships I’d become attached to throughout the series. Medra’s relationship with Florence had already grown into something that felt much closer to family than friendship, so watching Medra worry about what was happening to someone she loved like a sister gave those stakes considerably more emotional weight.
That’s something this series has done increasingly well as it has progressed. Medra isn’t fighting only for herself anymore. The friendships and found family surrounding her matter, and because I’d become invested in those relationships too, the danger didn’t feel important solely because Medra might get hurt. There were now several characters I cared about, which is terribly inconvenient when reading fantasy because authors tend to view emotional attachment as an invitation to cause suffering.
Medra herself continued to be stubborn, impulsive, loyal, determined, and occasionally in possession of survival instincts I would describe as questionable at best. Three books in, I had accepted that this woman was never going to look at an obviously dangerous situation and think, Perhaps someone else should handle this. She’s going in. She’s probably going to argue with someone considerably more powerful than she is while she’s there, and the rest of us just have to hope everything works out. But beneath that recklessness was a character who had grown considerably since the beginning of On Wings of Blood. She understood more about herself and this world, knew exactly who mattered to her, and had become increasingly willing to fight for them.
And then there is Blake fucking Drakharrow. In Book 1, I said I wouldn’t recommend him as boyfriend material. In Book 2, his application had been removed from the trash but remained under review. By The Wings That Bind, I was forced to acknowledge something deeply inconvenient: the asshole was making progress. Don’t get too excited, Blake. There are still notes in your file.
Blake and Medra’s relationship has never worked for me because I thought Blake was secretly some perfectly sweet misunderstood man hiding beneath all that arrogance. He isn’t, and frankly, I wouldn’t want him to be. Part of what made him interesting from the beginning was that he genuinely pissed me off. He was controlling, possessive, arrogant, manipulative, and capable of making decisions that had me wondering whether Medra kissing him or throwing him from the nearest tower would provide the more satisfying conclusion. The fact that I simultaneously wanted to know more about him was my own personal problem.
By this book, though, understanding Blake became considerably different from excusing him. I could see more of what drove him, where some of his decisions came from, and how his feelings for Medra had changed him without magically replacing his entire personality. That distinction mattered to me. Character growth is much more satisfying when I can still recognize the asshole I met in Book 1 underneath the man he’s becoming. I don’t want a morally questionable character to suddenly discover sainthood because he fell in love. I want him to grow while still being recognizably himself, and Blake’s progression across these books made my feelings about him increasingly complicated. Which is rude, frankly, because hating him was considerably easier.
His relationship with Medra had also evolved beyond the initial antagonism and attraction, but trust remained an entirely different issue. Too much had happened between them for Medra to simply decide that chemistry solved everything, and I appreciated that. Their relationship had accumulated betrayal, secrets, anger, hurt, attraction, loyalty, and enough emotional baggage that these two could have opened their own airport. There were genuine feelings between them now, but feelings don’t automatically erase consequences. Watching them navigate that mess was far more interesting to me than having everything suddenly become easy because they’d finally admitted they cared about each other.
The romance and spice definitely delivered, but once again, they weren’t carrying the book for me. That’s important because I enjoy explicit spice as much as the next morally questionable reader, but I still need an actual story surrounding it. The Wings That Bind continued giving me one. The political conflict was escalating, the dragon lore kept expanding, the danger felt larger, loyalties were becoming increasingly complicated, and the secrets surrounding this world were finally beginning to feel like pieces of something much bigger. I wasn’t turning pages simply because I wanted to see what Blake and Medra did next. I wanted to know what happened to everyone.
And that is probably the biggest reason the Bloodwing Academy series continues to be a five-star experience for me: it keeps me invested. I constantly want to know what happens next. That doesn’t mean I’m happily cheering for every character or agreeing with every decision they make. Sometimes I love these people. Sometimes I’m frustrated with them. Sometimes I desperately want to reach through my Kindle and smack some sense into somebody, and there are definitely certain characters whose fictional deaths I may or may not have enthusiastically wished for along the way. But that’s exactly the point. I’m feeling something.
For me, a five-star book isn’t about every character behaving perfectly or everything happening exactly the way I wanted it to happen. It’s about the overall experience. Did the story make me laugh, piss me off, make me anxious, surprise me, or have me threatening fictional people who cannot hear me? Did I become attached enough to these characters that their decisions actually affected my mood? Did I care enough about the story that I needed to know what happened next? If you’ve managed to make me emotionally invested enough that I’m simultaneously rooting for some characters, threatening others, questioning everyone’s decision-making skills, and immediately reaching for the next book, you’ve done something right.
Three books into this series, Briar Boleyn is still doing exactly that. I haven’t lost interest in the world or started feeling like the story is being dragged out just to create another book. I’m more invested now than I was when I started. I want answers. I want to know what happens to these characters. I want to see where the politics and dragon lore are going. I want to know who I can trust, who I’m going to end up hating next, and whether any of these people will ever make a reasonable decision without first creating seventeen additional problems for themselves.
And yes, the dragons help. Slightly. Okay, fine. They’re dragons. They help considerably. But I’m maintaining that they’re only a small factor in my completely unbiased professional assessment. 🐉
So, would I finally recommend Blake Drakharrow as boyfriend material after Book 3? I’m not prepared to hand him a five-star boyfriend rating just yet because let’s not get reckless, but his application has officially made it through several rounds of review. References have been checked, progress has been noted, and I am reluctantly willing to admit that an interview may now be warranted. Look at you, Blake. Personal growth.
As for whether I need to know what happens next in With Hearts of Flame after everything this series has put me through? Obviously I do!. 🖤
-Mz. Sassy 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 books kept me. All thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own. Sassy Reviews will always be 100% unbiased, unfiltered, and unapologetically truthful.