Special thanks to NetGalley and Starwater Press for giving me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows Medra Pendragon, who has fallen into the world of Sangratha with no idea how she got there. She is apprehended by vampires who discover that she has dragon rider's blood, even though there are no more dragons, and she is made the consort of Blake Drakharrow, our prodigal bad boy. As part of this bond, she is forced to attend Bloodwing Academy, where she has to learn to protect herself around vampires, deal with the bullying of catty girls, figure out who she is, and, of course, fight off her attraction to the vampire she is stuck with.

This book shamelessly copies Harry Potter (the fact that the mortals are called blightbloods sent me), and honestly, I loved it. It felt instantly familiar to me, while also having new and exciting twists and features. The spice is truly incredible (there is one scene in particular that is the stuff of fantasies, you can thank me later), and Medra is fun to root for. This book moved very fast, the minor characters were interesting, the school felt very well thought-out in terms of classes and content, and the power dynamics were constantly changing. I don't do well with romances with the bullying trope, and I was a little nervous about this book given it's been marketed as like The Zodiac Academy series--which I was put off of reading by reviews describing the main relationship dynamics as emotionally abusive and incredibly toxic. But thankfully, Blake and Medra's relationship doesn't really have bullying; Medra is bullied by other people, and Blake is cold to her at first and sometimes rude, but he shows shades of being a good person early on, and Medra gives as good as she gets. The gradual warming between them feels natural and earned, and I was satisfied by the way things left off at the end of the book.

Some of the worldbuilding is confusing and feels a bit unnecessary; a world with vampires and dragons already feels a little contradictory, and adding in the Camelot and Fae stuff really had my head spinning (thankfully that wasn't a huge part of the book). But luckily, most of the plot is contained at Bloodwing Academy, and the world makes a lot of sense, especially given the endless similarities to Harry Potter (again, not complaining).

All in all, I loved this and will be eagerly awaiting the next installment!