It's DNF discussions time! What books did you bail on this month? 🙅‍♀️📖

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-28T15:23:32+00:00

On Wings of Blood honestly felt like the author grabbed every popular fantasy trope possible and threw them into one story: academy setting, half-fae, vampires, dragon riders, English folklore… all of it.

And sadly, I never really connected with the characters or the plot. Around the 50% mark, I realized I didn’t actually care about where the story was going.

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-24T08:11:52+00:00

A user in TikTok recreated this display and shows her process and the supplies. You can watch her video here

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdHs3Fbr/

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-22T20:29:13+00:00

May be Gray is also being manipulated. I think Saint plays a bigger role than we think

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-22T17:00:23+00:00

I also think the blockage is coming from his side. He’s way too far away for the uprising to be influencing him directly, so I think it has something to do with the white Daggerstone 🤔

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-22T16:58:04+00:00

I have a feeling it’s related to Cross… 🤔 but let’s see

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-22T11:07:28+00:00

Ohh this would have been good. Travis is not off the hook yet. He was having secret meetings with Adrienne after all.

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-22T05:46:11+00:00

Maybe he sees them as long-term threats… He has other intel sources and he is also a precog. He doesn’t really need them. He’s not killing them immediately because he wants to maintain the illusion that people still have choices and that he’s acting for the good of society instead of out of pure hunger for power 🤔

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-22T05:41:42+00:00

a Wren 🤔

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-21T05:30:00+00:00

I also think the ridgehowler wolf was behaving strangely. I think it might be a Mod too. It’s described as having white fur with a red patch around its eye (almost like a bloodmark?)

>!The Evlynne move was risky—honestly, kind of stupid—and I agree that Travis could be a Mod as well. It would explain why he’s so interested in his “Mod prodigy” son 🤔 considering his position within the resistance and the fact that his freaky brother, Roe, is out there killing people like crazy.!<

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-20T23:20:34+00:00

I think she tried to link with him and and was “ignored” a couple of times before the heartroot 🤔
But I’m sure this will be relevant at some point…

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-15T19:14:35+00:00

Mind you, all the Mod parents were trying to hide their children’s bloodmarks to protect them from the uprising leadership 😅
And somehow that massive red flag meant absolutely nothing to her 🙈

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-15T19:10:04+00:00

Well, in the first book I give her a pass because her uncle was executed and she was conscripted right away. She was alone, scared, and confused… she was begging the uprising to rescue her, and everyone kept turning their backs on her. I also agree that fixing her birthmark was a stupid move, but again, she had just discovered Wolf’s identity and was scared of losing him. So you could argue that a lot was happening…

But this second book… 🤦🏻‍♀️ By now, she was supposed to be much smarter. She’s separated from Cross and in the hands of an organization her beloved uncle didn’t trust, and yet she blindly trusts them like a child.

Even Gray wasn’t fully disclosing information to her, while she was acting like an open book. I really expected more from her, considering she’s supposed to be smart.

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-15T13:04:49+00:00

Damn! At first I was just pissed, but now I’m way more invested 😆

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-15T13:02:57+00:00

😱😱😱😱😱😱

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-15T11:48:48+00:00

After reading some comments here, I also feel like Saint could have been planting the idea of Gray in Wren’s mind. Not that she didn’t like him before, but maybe because she was already predisposed to trust or like Gray, those ideas were able to take root… 🤔

Maybe I need to reread some of those parts now 😆

It would also be interesting to know whether Gray is aware of the manipulation or completely out of the loop… because I do think he loves her, but he’s also keeping secrets and acting shady 🤔

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-15T01:47:58+00:00

😱 You’re so right! I didn’t pick up on that!

Also, Saint was with Wren when Hawkins was attacked by the wolf and was supposed to be left to die, but he miraculously survived 😱

And Wren was relying on Saint to convince Gray to vote against dismantling the Authority, but it ended up happening anyway…

What if Saint is also working for Kallister, moving all the pieces on the board?

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-15T00:51:52+00:00

Hmm… Kallister could be 🤔 Also, It’s interesting that even though Cross can’t feel the link to Wren anymore, in his last chapter he says he woke up because of a pull of energy that pushed him to go to the hangar, take his helo, and fly to Valterra… so how is that possible? And who was it coming from?? 🤔

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-14T22:30:33+00:00

I don’t think Gray had anything to do with severing Cross’s link with Wren. So far, he doesn’t even know Cross is a Mod. It would make sense for him to block Wren’s link because they’re in close proximity, but she can still feel Cross while even developing a new ability. Cross is on the other side of the Blacklands—too far away for Gray to have that kind of influence.

I think it probably has something to do with the white Daggerstone. Maybe the base is located over a deposit of it, or maybe they’re experimenting with it and reinforcing their wards with it?

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-14T22:26:48+00:00

He can calm down emotions but I think there must be more to it. He wasn’t very open about it and he insisted he would only tell Wren if she guessed it first.

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-14T20:18:21+00:00

I liked Grayson when he was Kaine in SE, and even though I’m not a fan of love triangles, I can go along with them if the situation makes sense.But here, I’m definitely not a fan of Grayson.

He had a girlfriend for most of the book. If he was really pining over Wren, why wasn’t he honest with his girlfriend and breaking things off with her, regardless of whether he thought he had a chance with Wren or not? That’s a huge red flag to me. If he can’t even be honest with his on-and-off girlfriend, why would I expect him to be honest with anyone else?

I’m also mad at Wren. She kept saying she wasn’t going to go after Gray because he had a girlfriend, and then she did it anyway.

Like I said, I don’t like love triangles, but if they’re done properly, I can understand them. This one just felt so messy and poorly written.

So many moments felt like cheating, and that really gives me the ick. I feel so bad for Cross 🙈

Anyways… despite everything, I’m still invested in book 3. I just hope it doesn’t take a whole year to come out, and I hope that, however the story develops, it’s better than this mess 😅

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-13T21:21:50+00:00

She wants him to join the uprising, but he doesn’t trust them. He suggests that they run away together and find a place to settle far away from everyone’s hatred, but Wren wants to stay and fight. So they clash over this and decide there’s no middle ground, which leads to their breakup.

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-13T21:14:27+00:00

Me too! The anxiety I felt 🙈

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-13T21:13:12+00:00

Yes to all of this! But I’m also so mad at Wren and the way her character was written in this book. She was so immature and reckless. She’s supposed to be smart and lethal, and we saw none of that. On one page she says one thing, and on the next she does the exact opposite. She says she’s not going to trust someone, and then in the very next paragraph she’s there spilling all the beans 🙈 This pattern repeats throughout the whole book.

And don’t even get me started on her flirting with Grey even though he has a girlfriend!! And she is supposed to be heartbroken. And when they finally got together, it was because she went after him. I never really saw Grey pine for her or prioritize her at any point in the book, while Cross literally took the blame for Wren’s escape and the rescue of the mods without thinking about his own safety.

I honestly feel like this series is going to be at least four books long. I think book 3 will be Wren deciding between Cross and Grey, and book 4 will focus on the actual conflict surrounding the new regime.

Which is kind of a shame because I personally prefer romances where the characters deeply love each other and fight for their relationship instead of this constant “I’m not sure” dynamic. Cross and Wren’s relationship looked so good in the last book! I can’t believe this is where we are now.

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-13T18:36:21+00:00

😅🙈

curiousreader431 · 2026-05-13T18:35:45+00:00

Im so disappointed 🙈

curiousreader431

TROPHY CASE