Blood Over Bright Haven is an exciting academia fantasy book about realizing everything you’ve been taught and believe isn’t quite what it appears. It’s a wonderful story about finding the truth. There are topics surrounding race, class, and bigotry. I really want to recommend this book to all fans of fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

After coming off of the high of Sword of Kaigen, I was extremely excited to read more from M.L. Wang. She does such a good job at pacing and characters. I haven't read too many dark academia books, but this was so addicting. I recommend everyone stop and read this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an eARC of this book.
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I… did not like this at all. I wanted to so badly - the concept was super interesting, but ugh. The first half of the book is dreadfully slow. So much time is spent describing a magic system that I still found super confusing. It was a strange mix of magic and science that I just don’t think worked.

The main character, Sciona, undergoes exactly zero character development. She’s annoying the *entire* time. Everything she does serves to stroke her own ego, including her big “sacrifice” at the end.

I saw a few other reviewers call this a “colonizer romance” and I have to agree. The white lady (Sciona) decided that she knew best despite the marginalized character (Thomil) literally telling her “Hey, don’t do this, I don’t want this for my people”, and yet she implements her big plan at the end anyways and is shocked when no one sides with her or the Kwen, and the Archmages and Highmages begin killing them in the streets.

Overall this felt like it was trying to shove every theme of racism and sexism into one book, and it continuously shoves them in your face to the point that it’s annoying. It even goes so far as to have the FMC be sexually assaulted randomly by another Highmage, and yet nothing happens after the fact to build off of the tension from the scene. I would have DNF’d this around the 30% mark if it hadn’t been an ARC.

Thank you for an earc. This book was incredible. M.L. Wang is an autobuy for me. I loved Kaigen, but this book was even better in my opinion. I'll immediately fell in love with the 2 main characters and thought the world building was done very well.

Thank you so much to Del Rey and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

The only word that I can think of to describe this book right now is brilliant. It is brilliant in its ideas and in its execution. I’m at a loss for words writing this review because there aren’t enough words to describe the feelings this book ignited in me.

We follow our two main characters. One of them is Sciona, who has lived in the city of Tiran her whole life and has devoted herself to the magic that powers the city. She dreams of becoming the first woman to enter the high magistracy. When her dreams come true, she is faced with the cost of being the first woman in a male dominated field and the cost of a revelation that may cost her life.

Thomil watched his entire family die ten years while attempting to cross into the great city of Tiran. He watched as the Blight took them one by one, stripping flesh from bone and bone from body. He knows what pain is and continues to suffer it under the boot of the high magistracy where he is employed. Until a new highmage enters the picture, one who is willing to question the world and finally beyond all else, listen.

This book explores the depths of intersectionality and discrimination in its many forms by exploring more than one kind. We see Sciona struggle as a woman and Thomil struggle as Kwen, what the Tiranish call the people beyond the border of the city. The insight that these characters provide to each other is so incredible and the way that they help each other progress is the reason this book is as amazing as it is.

The characters in this story what the definition of morally gray should be viewed as. There is a massive discussion throughout the book of what makes a person “good” in the eyes of God. Intention or effect? And it is addressed wonderfully through these characters who are a realistic mix of right and wrong. The entire focal point of religion in this book is also incredibly impactful because we see the characters question the ideals of this God who is supposedly “all good” and the way that this commentary is discussed and how it contributes to the story honestly leaves me without words to describe it.

We’re also introduced to an incredibly complex magic system in a very simplistic way that positively impacts the reading experience for the rest of the book. This magic system is through spells on a “spellograph” which is basically a type writer used to form and power spells and the amount of thought and consideration into the limits and powers of these spells as well as correlating them to a industrial revolution inspired city? Its brilliant.

The pacing in this book is reason enough to pick it up. It’s fast paced but thorough in its explanations and it pushed by the development of the characters throughout, meaning the world changes as these characters change the way they see it. I genuinely finished this book in two sittings because I couldn’t put it down.

The last thing I will say, read the last few pages with “Like a Prayer”, but the choir version, playing. It will make you cry.

You know that feeling when you’re reading, and your throat gets tights and your heart is racing and you try not to skim ahead because your adrenaline is pumping and you NEED to know what’s going to happen?
Yeah, that was me on chapter one of this book.

Simply put, this book is exceptional.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴.
𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦: 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦.
𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

𝘈𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘢𝘣 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘭.

Blood over Bright Haven is a well written fantasy book that checks every box.
✔️The plotline & magic system are well developed
✔️The themes are emotionally rich and relevant
✔️The world building is fresh and easy to follow
✔️The characters are so wonderfully complex

This is an intelligent, exciting, perfectly devastating standalone book and I loved it.

𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙨:
𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢
𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘚𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮… 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴
𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮
𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵
𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦
𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴

warning: this is an emotionally heavy book that could cause crying .

I received a free copy of Blood over Bright Haven in exchange for my honest review ☆

M L Wang has done it again, having first come across her works with Sword of Kaigen I was really happy to see I was offered this read and I am so happy to say it did not let me down

I would say this novel is a mix of fantasy and dark academia and it is so well done, I am a fan of Wang's writing style and her ability to pack so much into so little writing. While this isn't actually a small book I do think it's hard to write impactful and full bodied stories (in the fantasy genre) into stand alone novels and this is the second time she's done it.

The novel follows Sciona, a woman with the potential to become the only highmage in the history of Tiran, a city made great by magic industrialisation, kept safe within a barrier protecting those within from Blight.
During her studies she is aided by Thomil, a Kwen (hailing from a tribe outside the barrier and now lives a life of servitude) and through him she begins to understand the world in which they live, and which magic is built on.

[spoilers here on]

I enjoyed all the characters, Sciona and Thomil aghh I wish they had more time, I really enjoyed them together and seeing their relationship evolve along with Sciona's faith and morals.

I cannot imagine going through what Sciona does when she finds out the truth, her whole life has been in pursuit of magic, but at what cost.

"Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort"

The highmages believe women, and Sciona, unfit to be mages when it is Sciona who is in fact the only one to actually hold up their ideals.

Her determination is her defining trait and what propels her through - in her magical studies, in becoming the only female highmage and in her ultimate decision.
I think the ending really made this book; it was a brave choice and the right one.

"Thomil said that a woman was weighed at the gates of Heaven by her actions and their impact. Well, Sciona was going to leave an impact. Whatever happened next, whether it led to Hell or Heaven, she was going to have a hand in directing it. Sick or sound, good or evil, she was still Sciona Freynan. And Sciona Freynan didn’t slow down. Sciona Freynan would be remembered."
She wasn't wrong!!!


I really would recommend this to anyone, I hope M L Wang becomes a big name in fantasy, its so deserved and I will personally be reading anything they put out

This has got to be just me... because every review I have seen of this has been nothing but raving thoughts and 5 stars around the board, but I just find myself so bored and struggling to push myself through. I'm not sure if it's the timing of reading this and I'm just slumpy and need faster pace, but as of now I am marking as DNF at 60 percent because I've given it plenty of time to wow me and unfortunately so far it isn't. Hopefully I'll try to pick it back up later once the hype has died down and see if I go in with lower expectations it helps.

Thank you Del Rey for the e-arc! All opinions and thoughts are my own!
I honestly don’t even know how to start this review because that was single-handedly one of the best books. I have read this year. An absolute masterpiece of emotion, worldbuilding, and morality. This is my first time reading a book by ML Wang and I am stupefied by how exquisite and masterful that writing was.

✨the world✨
The world of blood over Bright Haven is dirty, harsh and full of lies. A supposed Utopia built on blood and misdirection. From the very first page, the world is constantly developing. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to understand the magic or it would get a bit too complicated but ML Wang was able to craft a very complicated and unique system of magic while explaining it flawlessly. I was able to comprehend everything that was going on and even have a pretty good grasp of how the magic worked. This book up for success being able to understand this type of system and how it relates to the world is extremely important for this book.

🖤the characters🖤
Morally gray doesn’t even begin to cover this book. Sciona is such a complex character, full of intelligence, ego, humanity, and shame. Thomil is such a real and raw character. ML Wang does not shy away from portraying these characters painfully authentically and painfully real. They both represent so much in this world and the harsh truths that people shy away from. There’s so much that I cannot even describe adequately.

Truly, this book is a wonder and an actual masterpiece.

Thanks to NetGalley for the E-ARC!
Before starting the book, I saw a one-star review asking who Blood over Bright Haven was written for, and I can honestly say it was written for me. I requested it on a whim because of the color, but what hooked me was the magic system, described like computer programming, with sub processes, mapping, variables - the idea of having to get a program 100% right in the first draft, no bugs, with intense consequences was an intensely stressful undercurrent for the entire book. I very much doubt I would have been as engrossed if it hadn’t spoken so directly to me.

Sciona was fantastically unhinged and unredeemable, and I deeply admire M.L. Wang’s unflinching refusal to give her a true redemption arc. Thomil certainly was more deserving of protagonist status, but I think part of the point of the book is how little time we get to spend with him. There was something both abstract and deeply familiar about the world M.L. Wang created, balancing echoes of our world with the one she built to tell her story. There were certainly parts of the book that felt clunkily thematic, but overall the novel deals with difficult themes well.

The best recommendation I can give is that I stayed up till 4 AM to finish the book in one sitting, and I haven’t done that since I was an middle schooler with no real obligations.

After being shattered by “The Sword of Kaigen”, I shouldn’t have expected anything less from “Blood Over Bright Haven”. Wang’s writing is so effective and propulsive. Even though I guessed the hidden source of Tiran’s magic early on during Sciona’s exam, instead of ruining the reading experience it heightened everything, because I was filled with dread wondering when Sciona and Thomil would make their discovery and what would happen when they did.
I could talk forever about how perfectly this story landed for me, how impeccable the writing and the pacing were, and how much I adored the characters. I think a lot of books have tried to do what this one does, but few can match its strength.
I can’t wait to put “Blood Over Bright Haven” on display at my store, and tell absolutely everyone how good it is. And I hope that “The Sword of Kaigen” gets it’s moment in the tradpub sun as well, so when customers ask me for recommendations I can put both books in their hands.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early read.

M.L. Wang does it again!!! This book was incredible and I highly recommend checking this one out!!!

One of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! ML Wang has ripped me into shreds all over again.

I see a lot of people dislike Sciona. However, I found Sciona to be a compelling character. One who felt genuine and raw in her portrayal. She’s someone driven by a deep desire to prove herself, not through relationships or love, but through achievement, because that’s the only path she believes is available to her. She is a product of her environment. Is it her fault for her government and the men in her life to gaslight her??

Thomil is the sweetest thing ever and already on page 5 I was ready to run and protect him. Being a minority myself, I connected a lot with his character.

Again, ML Wang did not come to play. This book brought out a lot of emotions for me. Definitely looking forward for more books by her!

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang had a promising description, but unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite live up to the excitement I felt going in. The themes of racism, sexism, and religion really intrigued me at first, and I was ready for a deep, impactful story. But as the book progressed, it felt like things just... didn't go anywhere. The world is constantly portrayed as harsh and oppressive, and while the plot twists added to that bleakness, the characters didn’t seem to do much about it. They felt oddly passive in the face of everything going on.

That being said, I really enjoyed the world-building. It was detailed and easy to understand, which made it fun to explore, especially as we learned the magic system alongside Thomil. The first quarter of the book is dedicated to fleshing out the world and magic, and I was hooked during that part.

The overall message of the book was solid, and I think it was conveyed well. But Sciona, as the main character, was insufferable at times. While I appreciated the dynamic between her and Thomil, I just didn’t buy into the huge shift in her character. It felt like there wasn’t enough happening to justify that quick of a change.

One thing to note—this story is definitely more academia-driven than action-packed, and I think that’s where I struggled. The last third of the book had some action that helped keep me engaged, and that’s what bumped this up to 3 stars for me.

💫”It’s much easier to tell yourself you’re a good person than it is to actually be one.”

Wow! This book was so different and interesting. It’s touted as dark academia but I really loved how it blended magic with science in a way reminiscent of a good science fiction novel.

This book was very technical. It wasn’t magical in the way of witches and cauldrons, but I really enjoyed the unique perspective. I felt like the story was powerful and had a lot that you could relate to real world issues.

Without giving anything away, I just want to say that I really appreciated the ending.

Blood Over Bright Haven

By far, one of the best fantasy standalone books I have ever read (certainly top 5). This story follows Sciona, a brilliant mage, fighting to become the first female highmage in the history of Tiran, a city of industrial marvels.

“Women are always told to be kind, be forgiving, be nurturing.” Sciona glared down the walk ahead. “As far as I know, it’s never gotten them anywhere. The men of Tiran, who have the real power, won’t return the favor when it matters.”

We also follow Thomil, a lowly Kwen janitor, hailing from the blighted wasteland beyond the city limits. Both of these characters are outsiders in their own city due to the underlying racism and misogyny of the city’s residents. They come together in this dark academia story, where they unveil devastating and horrific secrets behind the magic of Tiran. Sciona is committed to finding and exposing the truth, no matter the cost.

“She wouldn’t use God to ease her guilt when reason screamed otherwise.”

I honestly could see where this story was going pretty early on, but I was so invested in the characters and enthralled by the writing, I could not put it down. The themes of colonialism, love, legacy, vengance and faith are woven into the story so effortlessly and subtly.

A must read for any lover of fantasy, and especially dark academia.

Thank you to @netgalley and @delreybooks for this Advanced Reader Copy for review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for their ARC for an honest review. This book was fine. I figured out the shocking reveal in the first chapter and even after the reveal I just didn’t care about the characters or the story. I felt like it brought nothing new to the fantasy genre as a whole and to the actual story itself. I felt like it was missing something and I can’t quite explain what it was. Which is upsetting coming from after reading Sword of Kaigen I was so excited to read this book

This book was EPIC. Truly could not put it down. The plot twist had me gasping. So, so good and so very well written. I love dark academia and this did not disappoint.

My heart hurts.

This was so beautifully written. I’m going to do this review with no spoilers.

Let’s start easy…
I loved the magic system.
It’s basically magical coding. That seems so unique to me.

Now to the meats and potatoes of this book.
The characters are wonderfully written.
I believed in each character and the role they were assigned to play.
I loved seeing the progression of Sciona. Her growth was beautiful.

The themes of the book is such a nod to todays society and what is going on.

I could not put this book down.
It surpassed my expectations.

————- potential spoiler. Personal comment ———————

This book made my heart hurt so bad.
Both of my parents came to the US when they were older. They didn’t know English and they left all their friends and a lot of their family to come here.

They had to learn English and put themselves through school. They both worked factory jobs while doing so in the hopes of doing better.

Like all of that sounds so hard to me already.
I cannot imagine leaving here and going to another country that I didn’t know how to talk, read, or write their language. (And there was no smart phones out there to help with translation


And then to add to that is the prejudice that they must have faced. Because let’s be real…the society here is situated for a white male. People of color are looked down upon and have so many stereotypes and stigma that they must endure.

Reading about the Kwen and the treatment they face is only too similar to racism here.

Anyways, my heart hurts but I hope we will do better and that as a society we will be better.

This book caught me by surprise. The world-building is immaculate. Such a unique premise. The underlying themes of racism and sexism were handled with SUCH finesse. Surprising turn after turn and I couldn't put it down. I hope to read more from M.L. Wang as this book was such a win.