Wow. This book is one I will be thinking about for a while. The writing style is beautiful. The commentary on class, immigration, and power was impactful.
From the first chapter I was sucked in.

Slow burn fiction at it's best.

BOBH takes it's time letting you get to know it's characters, building it's world, and fleshing out it's themes. It paints a very vivid picture of a seemingly idyllic society raised on the back of oppression and atrocity, slowly revealing more and more about the underpinnings of how the city ticks until, inevitably, everything explodes in a bombastic climax.

Extremely well written and engaging, with the highest of quality narration in the audio book, my only complaint is it may over stay it's welcome a bit. We still spend time with the world, post climax, and while it is interesting to get a bit of an epilogue, I think ending with the climax itself would leave the read with a much more powerful impression.

*ARC provided by NetGalley & Random House Publishing*

4.5 stars!

This book absolutely broke me. How can M.L. Wang convey so much in a standalone???? I honestly think the best way to go into this book is completely blind. It was best for me to just let it take me on a ride, and experience everything. I think some people will complain that the themes of misogyny and colonialism are a bit overt, but that didn't bother me! The magic system felt so unique (based on coding which itched my engineering brain), and I'm always intrigued reading about theocratic governments. The dark academia was definitely hitting, and the book had such beautiful writing that it brought me to teats.

Where it wasn't a perfect 5 star for me is that the main character Sciona is infuriating. She's dumb, she doesn't make the best decisions, and she is overall an extremely stubborn person. Some times I wanted to put my head through the wall because she was driving me crazy. I understood why M.L. Wang made the decision for Sciona to act in that manner.

I'm so impressed by this author's ability to write fantasy standalones, and I'm so excited to read The Sword of Kaigan!

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A book that mirrors the worst of our society.
Sciona thinks that she has broken the glass ceiling when she’s accepted as a Highmage in the oasis city of Tiran. When she remains unaccepted by her peers, Sciona maintains diligence in her work with the aid of her Kwen assistant, Thomil. Her persistence in her work leads to revelations that are hard to swallow and even more difficult to remedy.
Sciona’s character development is both frustrating and realistic. She’s unlikable in her egocentrism. And I still liked her.
Top ten for the year? Perhaps.

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

The amount of world building is astounding and fascinating. While I do wish some more time had been spent on describing how the characters looked and their surroundings, along with getting to know the characters better the rest was very enjoyable. This was the first book I’ve read by M L Wang and it definitely won’t be the last, excited to read her other works and any future books.

Blood Over Bright Haven is a remarkable, complex, dark, and utterly original novel. I was captivated from the first page where it immediately was apparent the stakes were high and death likely. From the very beginning, we are told things are going to be very, very bad, and yet still I found myself searching for hope through the depths of this complicated political, magical, deeply religious story. The racism, the feminism, the morality of recognizing life existing outside the self! This tragic story echoes and magnifies issues reminiscent of "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin. I loved this novel.
Incredibly grateful for the previous reviewers who encouraged me to pick this one up, NetGalley for providing a copy, and Del Rey for approving my request for this ARC!

If I had to describe this book with one word, it would be intense. I wasn’t very “convinced” by it when I first started reading, mostly because the main character isn’t pleasant – but, now, I think that it was very important for her not to be, for she perfectly incarnated the mind and the ideas of every other Tiranish man.

Blood Over Bright Haven is a fantasy novel about the first female highmage, who uses her intellect and an unlikely ally to uncover the dark side of her city’s magic.

Sciona is the first woman in her protected, domed city to achieve the title of highmage. When her adversaries within the elite “boys’ club” of mages assign her a Kwen janitor, Thomil, as an assistant, she’s forced to confront her own religious prejudices against the refugee group used as cheap labor. Under the pressure of a looming deadline, Sciona grows closer to Thomil and learns about his tribe, who endured a deadly “blight” that ravaged their bodies as they sought refuge in the protected city of Tiran. With Thomil’s help, Sciona uncovers the source of Tiran’s prosperity, a truth that could tear apart both the mage community and the city itself.

This is a dark, twisted fantasy about what greed and power can drive people to do. Themes of misogyny, prejudice against outsiders, and religious intolerance parallel issues we face in today’s world, making the story even more relatable. Sciona is desperate to make a name for herself, but despite her lifelong ambitions, she cannot ignore the monstrous behavior of mages past and present. Blood Over Bright Haven features a flawed yet authentic main character, along with a unique magic system and world-building. I found it smart and compelling, and I recommend it to fantasy readers looking for a darker standalone novel with a bold and unconventional main character.

Review copy (eARC) provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Between the premise of this novel plus the high praise from Petrik Leo for M.L. Wang, this was a must-read for me, and I'm glad I did.

The story is an intense, dark academia read in the vein (please tell me that's the proper spelling in this context) of Babel by R.F. Kuang.

A solid four stars. Will definitely read more stories by this author.

This book was incredible! A wonderful commentary on politics, the patriarchy, colonization, sexism - this one will really have you thinking. This book will stick with you long after you read it and it will have you asking questions about your own society. I loved it!

This was my first M.L. Wang book and it won't be my last!
The writing is superb and flows in a way that completely immerses you into the world. Before you know it, you've read half the book and gotten absolutely NOTHING done all day!
Blood Over Bright Haven is a great representation of dark academia with ALOT of thought provoking themes!
Be prepared to not want to put this down until you're done!

I really struggled with this book. Nothing happened until 40% in and then the ending was just so disappointing. Sciona felt like a very inconsistent character. She’s so used to being the only woman amongst men but seems to balk whenever something happens. For someone who has faced adversity in her own career, her own prejudices are disappointing. I can see what was trying to happen here but it didn’t work for me . Unfortunately I don’t think I can recommend this book.

This book leaves me at a loss for words. It is very emotional. It will make you cry. If you like Babel, you would love this. Its that but better.

This was definitely one of the best books I've read this year, and I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time to come. There was so much about it, and especially reading it right before the US election...

This book is nothing short of intense. Initially, the main character is unlikable, but that’s crucial; she embodies the mindset of the Tiranish men around her. As she grapples with her struggles and prejudices, she undergoes significant growth, though she doesn’t reach the depth of characters like Thomil and Carra.

What struck me most was how connected I felt to the characters, making their survival deeply important to me. The emotional weight of the story hit hard, leading to tears by the end. Although it didn’t resolve in the way I hoped, it remained true to its dark themes. This book serves as a poignant reminder of harsh realities, which can be a necessary wake-up call.

Blood Over Bright Haven is a dark academia fantasy novel that explores the pursuit of truth in a city that offers citizens comfort and industrialization within a magical barrier. A blind eye is turned on the treatment of refugees from the outside. The sacrifice of human and animal life is ignored, while the mages in power refuse to relinquish their comfort for those they consider lesser.
M.L. Wang packs a powerful statement in this stand-alone fantasy through intricate world building, substantial character developmental and an intriguing magic system. I highlighted line after line and contemplated the depths of my own existence while following the main character, Sciona.
Sciona claws her way up in ranks to be admitted as the first female highmage. She alters a code of spells and discovers an ancient secret. She must decide to follow her peers in ignorance or defy the expectations of her colleagues, family, and the rest of Tiran.
Sciona is accompanied on her pursuit of the trust by a former nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Thomil was assigned as her assistant as a way for her colleagues to express that she was unwelcome as a female. Their relationship leads a more traditional path (little to no romance by the rules of Tiran) but the effect they have on one another’s role in society will carry on for generations.
The politics in Blood Over Bright Haven felt so real I nearly forgot I was reading about a fantastical world. The sacrifice that Sciona made to benefit future generations was profound, especially as we uncover that she remained ignorant and desired the same as her peers: supremacy. In the interest of not revealing too much, I might be in the minority by saying the real main character was Thomil, but I’ll let the readers draw their own conclusions by reading his parts of the plot.
Blood Over Bright Haven was brutally honest and true to itself through the entire story. I recommend this to all lovers of dark fantasy. M.L. Wang is an exceptional dark academia fantasy writer.
Thank you Del Ray and NetGalley for this ARC of Blood Over Bright Haven in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars--

Blood Over Bright Haven is the best book I've read in a long time--definitely my favorite read this year! Dark, unflinching, critical, un-put-down-able. Wang uses the fantasy genre to put a spotlight on the violence and evil of colonialism. I'm so, so happy this book found a publisher, as I doubt I would have ever found it in its original self-published version.

The magical kingdom of Tiran is a fortress of sorts that has flourishes while the world outside its walls has been torn apart by a mysterious disease called Blight. Tiran credits its relative good fortune to their advanced magic system, which keeps them safe and powers the comfortable lifestyles of Tiranese citizens (notably to the exclusion of a marginalized population of refugees from Blighted territories who cross into Tiran as a last resort). Tiran is also pretty patriarchal though and all of its leading magicians are men. Until now. Sciona is an ambitious young woman mage who defies all odds and significant efforts at exclusion, to reach the highest order of mages in Tiran. While her male peers have assistants to do their grunt work, as a joke, Sciona is appointed the building's custodian as her assistant--a refugee from outside Tiran with no formal magical schooling. Scionia's new assistant, Thomil, nonetheless proves to be more helpful than she could have ever expected.

Tasked with developing more accurate and effective methods for siphoning magic, she unwittingly uncovers a terrible secret about Tiran's magic. A terrible secret that is unfathomable to her, but altogether unsurprising to Thomil, who has real experience with Tiranese oppression.

I loved the big moral questions this book deals with through Sciona's story. I also enjoyed how Sciona has to grapple with how her positionality affects her desire for friendship and possible romance with Thomil--raising questions for the reader about how domination shows up in romantic relationships between two people from different positions of social privilege and marginality. It adds a lot more meaning to the typical "enemies to lovers" trope.

I urge anyone interested in fantasy that has something to say about society at large, in particular histories of oppression, to pick this one up.

Many thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Shocked, stunned, bawled my eyes out. This story covers so many aspects racism, classism, elitism, supremacy. Usually for fantasy I need multiple books to grasp the entirety of the world building, but with this storyline everything was so well done that I was entranced from the very beginning.

I think I just read my favorite book of the year.

It is right there alongside M.L. Wang’s other masterpiece, The Sword of Kaigen. I don’t give out 6/5 star books often at all, but Wang did it twice in one year with her standalone fantasies. She is on another level. I’m floored by Blood Over Bright Haven.

Our main character, Sciona, lives in the magical industrial utopia of Tiran where she has trained and studied for years to be the first woman accepted into a prestigious mage academy where women have never been allowed. Once there, she is met with mockery and contempt from her peers as she is assigned a janitor, Thomil, as her lab assistant—but who is actually a nomadic hunter from outside Tiran’s magic-powered barrier. As they study together to solve a problem the city is facing that could solidify Sciona’s legacy, they uncover truths about Tiran that could change the practice of magic forever. That’s ALL you need to know, trust me. Just read it.

This book seared me to my core. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it has left behind a mark on my soul. The first chapter alone had me hooked—Wang knows how to come out swinging, that’s for sure. I was entranced from then on and could barely stand to put the book down. My husband watched me finish the book—I was crying and was saying how I didn’t think I could move on from it easily. Which continues to be true.

The world-building was incredible. As is the magic system. To keep their industrial utopia running and progressing, mages use typewriter-looking devices to “code” magic. I can understand why people are saying the world-building is similar to Fullmetal Alchemist, it has that blend of steampunk and magical elements. This aspect of the book was so unique.

Wang’s character work, per usual, is top-tier writing. Because of her complex, multi-faceted characters that feel so painfully real, I just had such an emotional response to them and their decisions. Sciona and Thomil’s journey and challenges throughout the book, both internally and physically, are just unforgettable. Sciona is a flawed character that is subject to prejudice over and over due to her sex and yet dishes out her own to others deemed “beneath” her and the deep dive into that was just so moving. Sciona’s pursuit of truth was very admirable, and the way Thomil pressed her on her beliefs propelled the story in such a gripping way.

The questions Wang posed in this story will certainly stick with me. There are debates between the characters that had me on the edge of my seat!!! In this book, there are questions and themes of mortality, prejudice, social status, colonialism, faith, of the consequences of intentions. All with such compelling nuance.

M.L. Wang does not pull her punches. Wang will hurt your feelings—a trademark of hers at this point. Over the flawed characters, the tragedies, and despair, and yet in that there is the hope amongst it all that ties it all up that Wang balanced so perfectly. It is also important to mention that the rage I felt while reading this book was intense. The reveals will have you reeling!! I will not forget the emotional experience I had while reading this book.

Blood Over Bright Haven is a deeply moving story that has shot up to one of my all-time favorite books. M.L. Wang is a genius and I will forever sing her praises.

6/5 stars.

Once in a decade, a book comes across my lap that I am simply unable to put down. I mean, the wake up at 4 am because I need to go back to the world that M.L. Wang has created and see what happens next type of book. From the first chapter, I know that this is a book that is going to stay with me for a very long time. It is going to be a book that I will recommend over and over again to family, friends, strangers online, and strangers in the bookstore.

Perhaps it is the world building which is absolutely impeccable with a logic-based magic system that delights the nerd in me, perhaps it is the characters that not only jump out of the page, but into our hearts as well, or perhaps it is the themes of oppression, colonialism, racism, and sexism that are currently so pervasive in today's society that it offers a glimmer of hope to those of us living in darker times. Whatever it is, Blood Over Bright Haven is a masterclass standalone in Dark Academia Fantasy/Dystopian fiction that shows that you do not need a duology or a trilogy to tell a compelling and exquisite story. The talent that M.L. Wang has as an author is unparalleled, and I will be first in line to read whatever she publishes next. I simply cannot give this book enough stars.

For fans of Babel, The Hunger Games, and anyone who has ever been told what they can or cannot achieve because of their race, origin, ethnicity, or sex.

Thank you to NetGalley, M.L. Wang, and Del Rey for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.