This book had me gripped from beginning to end. It covers themes such as classism, racism, sexism, oppression, and discrimination. It’s one of those fantasy books that will have you drawing comparisons to real life.

Aside from the powerful messages and themes, the book offers a unique magic system, a brilliant and brave FMC, and strong character development.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about this book and its themes. I highly recommend it for dark academia lovers, fantasy enthusiasts, and anyone who enjoys emotionally packed reads.

I loved the worldbuilding in this! This story sets up a complex world and uses the characters and setting to comment on class structure, prejudice, and academia in the real world. I loved the main character, Sciona, but I wish her character had a little more depth, as well as the side characters. This is a very plot-driven book. I know this is meant to function as a standalone, but I loved the idea of the incredibly unique magic system that I hope the author revisits the world at some point.

ARC Review. 4 Stars! This was everything I was hoping that Babel would be. I am an avid Dark Academia reader and this definitely hit the mark.

Stunning in scope but heavy on all fronts.

Was this an easy read? Uh, that is a big NO.
However, Wang won me over with The Sword of Kaigen, and though that story is an entirely different beast, this was no less impactful.

Here, Sciona is the lone woman to have ever achieved highmage status in a world that thinks very little of a female’s place in anything other than nurturing the home. She is ready to impress, and no one is going to stop her. When she “jokingly” gets saddled with a janitor for an assistant, what Sciona and Thomil discover in the search for bettering the city of Tiran will change not only themselves, but everyone else’s belief system and their place in the world.

Be prepared to encounter a bunch of hot topics - misogyny, racism, oppression, prejudice, bigotry, religion, overpopulation and dwindling resources are just to name a few.

It’s best not to discuss too many details so one can be equally affected as Sciona and Thomil were. You will be challenged. You will be struck by an ingeniously complex magic system that relies heavily on religious justification. You will be impressed with a totally original world and its varied peoples that inhabit it and how close it mirrors our own dark history.

Overall, I think if you are a fan of Wang, or if you want to take a chance on something different, this author doesn’t shy away from tough subject matter. Again, so very far from being an easy read, but like The Sword of Kaigen, the truth is devastating and tragic, and there are plenty who will fight with their whole being to maintain the status quo, who will hide behind a system that doesn't want to upset their divine given entitlement, but because of a select few, there is a chance for something better. This author won’t sugarcoat things nor give you a perfect HEA, and the result is a moving tale that will make you ponder one’s own humanity and question what is just, fair, and kind. There is triumph, there is the start of change, and most of all, there is hope.

Just like Sciona and Thomil can never unsee or unknow what they find, I too was affected the same way and won’t soon forget.

Thank you to the author and Del Rey via NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review posted to GoodReads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/208430658-blood-over-bright-haven

This was actually my first ML Wang book, and now I can’t wait to read her other books! There is so much to love here. The character development was very well done, and the atmosphere was captured impeccably. I loved the magic system, the setting and honestly everything about it. Will definitely recommend to my bookclubs and friends. Can’t wait to listen to the audio when it is released!

This was an amazing story of finding a purpose in a place that makes you feel like you don't belong. With her assistant, they discover a great secret while also navigating their new relationship and figuring out what that means.

Blood over bright haven blew me away. So many important topics are brought up dragging you deep into the story with racism, imperialism and supremacy. Throughly addicting and I highly recommend this to everyone who enjoys a rich fantasy adventure. New favorite author right here.

You follow along with Sciona and Thomil. Sciona is trying to break out becoming the first female high mage. However after testing and proving herself to all she is not treated with the respect she deserves and is saddled with a lowly assistant the janitor Thomil.

This book was absolutely amazing and I can't recommend it enough. Just do yourself a favor and read it. Soon you too will find a new favorite author. 10/10.

On it's face this is a beautifully crafted story set in a fantasy world built by a gifted author. A fool would think that's as far as it goes. This has so many underlying philosophical and societal equity themes that you find yourself outraged, rended and inspired in THIS world to be a better human. There is only one wish I have for this story and that would be to come back in a generation to see what happens as I feel like my ribcage was torn open and heart broken and not closed again. But then ....that was the point wasn't it?
Thank you to Netgalley, M.L. Wang and Del Rey for the advanced cooy.

I really wanted to love Blood Over Bright Haven because the world building and magic system was really intriguing, but I lost steam around 40% and struggled to stay engaged

I could not stop gasping while reading Blood Over the Bright Haven!
Sciona is a well-rounded protagonist whose strength, vulnerability, and moral complexity make her journey both engaging and relatable. The supporting characters are equally well-developed, each adding depth and nuance to the story. The plot is fast-paced and filled with twists and turns that keep readers on their toes. Wang skillfully weaves together personal and magical conflicts, creating a narrative that is both thrilling and thought-provoking. The magic system was top tier once I understood it, it was little hard to follow it but I started understanding half way through. The themes of loyalty, power, and the search for identity are explored with depth and insight. Kudos the author for that ending, sometimes it feels like a cop out with a HEA.

I sadly really struggled with this book and it was one I was really looking forward to. I've not read anything by this author before and seeing the hype around this release, I was of course intrigued. The magic system and world building felt like a lot and that could absolutely just be my preference for fantasy books but Wang's writing was great, I unfortunately didn't end up finishing it because it felt like a little bit of a slog for me. May go back to give Sword of Kaigen a try!

This book was not for me. The first few chapters start out promising but then getting to about 40% felt like a chore. I'm a pretty fast reader but this took me weeks to get through. The explanation of magic was so boring and not really necessary to be that detailed in my opinion. I was starting to really get into it around 50% so I was optimistic this may be at least a 3 star read but I did not like the ending so this was a 2 star read for me.

This book is exciting and grasping you won’t be able to set this book down. Ml wang takes in to this academic world full of secrets and action that’ll keep you secound guessing

Blood Over Bright Haven flawlessly covered so many issues and hardships faced in the real world with such tact and great storytelling. I am officially a M. L. Wang lover and I think she did an excellent job telling the story of humanity and morality. I wanted so badly to give this book five stars and in a lot of ways this is a five star read but it took me quite a while to get into this book and really get the plot to move along. Overall, this book is definitely one of my top reads of the year and I will be reading the Sword of Kaigen next!

5 STARS!

Thank you to M. L. Wang and Del Ray for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

I think I need to lay down for a bit. This was just a masterpiece of a standalone fantasy, which is already a very difficult thing to get right. I had heard good things about The Sword of Kaigen, one of M. L. Wang's other books, so I was super excited going into this and it just blew me away.

This is just a remarkably well-crafted novel. The world and magic system are utterly unique. I'm going to harp more on the magic system because I just thought it was awesome. It combines elements that remind me of real life computer programs with this very refined, mathematical system AND magic typewriters which are always fucking cool. Unlike a lot of magic systems where the action is the focus and the source of energy or matter are second to that, sourcing is an integral part of the magic system and the narrative of Blood Over Bright Haven, particularly because it's the specialty of our protagonist!

Speaking of, Sciona is the perfect mix of insanely smart, powerful, aspirational, and arrogant that we very rarely get to see in a female main character. I also like that she's morally grey and her prejudices are as persistent as they realistically would be for a racially privileged living in a society built on racial prejudice. I love an obsessive academic, I really do. Similarly, Thomil values as a Kwen as well as the traumas he's experienced realistically influence (and in some cases, cloud) his thoughts and behaviors. His learned helplessness, his paranoia, his anger all feel so genuine.

The plot is just...y'all I'm running out of words. There is so much tension here. I felt the dawning horror and shock of the characters as revelations were revealed. After one...let's say *clarifying* moment (iykyk), I genuinely had to like get up and do a lap of the house to process. I don't get surprised by twists often because I read enough to pick up hints and know when to expect them. You can go back in my reading log and see, I was fully fucking gobsmacked.

The conflicts and messaging in this book are so relevant to a hundred different real-life conflicts. The mistreatment and dismissal of women in academia. The way that many privileged communities thrive on account of the suffering of other. The dangers facing factory workers. The dangers of child labor. The violence towards immigrant populations. The way that systematic discrimination and prejudice pits different marginalized groups against one another. The validity of violent protest. Even the way that different cultures define good and evil (this was one of my favorite parts of the book). Blood Over Bright Haven covers all of it and gives it the magnitude that it deserves. This world and this narrative is very dark and very complex in the same way that the real world is very dark and very complex.

Okay, I've yapped a lot. This book is great, you get it. I would say that if you're new to fantasy, I probably wouldn't recommend you start with this since the magic system is quite technical and it can be a bit much. Other than that, if you're a habitual fantasy reader I think this is a must-read. You might be put off by the fact that it's a standalone, but you're gonna have to trust me when I say it carries the weight of a series. This is also kind of specific, but if you really enjoyed Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, I think this is kind of a more-adult readalike. It has the same exploration of prejudice and power, as well as a batshit insane fmc, in a more complex package.

Happy reading!

Too much time spent world building and explaining the magic system. Made me lose interest quickly. I gave up after 20%.

What’s the price of civilization? M.L. Wang explores the answer to this question and more in this standalone dark Gaslamp fantasy that tells the story of a barbarian native refugee and a woman seeking to make a name for herself as the first female highmage in the industrial utopia of Tiran. Wang grabs you by the throat with that epic, jaw-dropping prologue and refuses to let you breathe for even a second as she tackles colonization, deconstruction, morality, exploitation, and the horrors and depths of depravity of men.
This book is not a comfortable read. It’s tension-filled, absolutely brilliant, and extremely thought provoking. It’s one that will serve as my personal barometer for readers that are brave enough to read it

First, you must know, that this book deals with some heavy topics that some may be triggering for others.

I am so sad! I loved M.L. Wang's writing in this book and the way they created this entire world with the depth of characters within was pure astounding. However, where I gave it 3 stars was I don't think I connected with the actual story as much. I loved learning about certain aspects within this book but overall, it just didn't give me that giddy feeling I was desperately wanting!

I know there are going to be so many people that love this book and rightfully so! Just sometimes, it doesn't hit the mark for me.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

✨🩸 Blood Over Bright Haven 🩸✨
By M.L. Wang
✨ Thank you to @delreybooks and @netgalley for a copy of this eARC - available October 29, 2024! ✨

🩸 Academia
✨ Sorcery
🩸 Inventive magic system
✨ Sexism
🩸 Religion
✨ Dual POV
🩸 Standalone

✨ Characters ✨
An underdog, savior, destined to labor.
A strong, studious woman who pushes boundaries.
Together, they just may overcome their obstacles and become something truly remarkable.
These characters felt like real, complex people. Real, flawed, unique, people. I loved the way they contrasted yet complimented each other.

🩸 Plot 🩸
Where to even begin?
Highmage vs lowly kwen come together to uncover the ugly truths of a thriving society.
Thrust right into the thick of things, we see Thomil and Sciona living two vastly different sides of the same coin.
The academic portion and problem solving was undeniably the focal point but with the added emotional and spiritual elements made this book the intensely satisfying read that it is.

✨ Overall ✨
First thing, my words will not do this book justice, it is absolutely incredible.
This is the second book I have read by Wang, she certainly has a distinct writing style with consistent and incredible world building. It will draw you in from the action packed, emotional, first chapter and spit you out at a whirlwind ending.
Do be prepared for a bit of a heavier read, but oh, is it WORTH IT.
With such a profound message [no I will not say on the basis of what - that would spoil it!] you will find yourself thinking of this one long after it’s been read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
If Ali Hazelwood tried to write a serious fantasy novel, but it’s actually just a ham-fisted colonizer romance that thinks it’s more woke than it is. It can raise questions of morality, it just can’t answer them. A magic system that works like computer coding is a genuinely cool concept though, so points for that. The first half of this book is good. The back half and the ending are so offensively bad that it’s going on my do not read list.

Pre-reading:
Emily Fox sold me on this book. I hope it lives up to the hype. I don’t know anything about it other than that it’s a fantasy and it’s supposed to be very good. I think the covers are criminally ugly.

Thick of it:
I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I love when chapters actually have titles

It’s the way that gods sentence had me fully convinced I was having a stroke.

It’s reminding me of Valley of the Horses. (Only for this first chapter.)

I don’t know about this writing style though. It’s very stilted.

Oh, I really don’t know about this writing. It’s giving ye old, but then the dialogue itself is too modern. It’s a lot of telling not showing.

Why do I get the feeling these people are gonna die? (Because they are.)

Damn, this is kind of crazy. Excellent tension. Very cinematic.

So far, very good worldbuilding.

Feminist fantasy? Immediately, yes.

Don’t Peeta Mellark this shit. (We are safe.)

I’m sure it’s probably pronounced Tie Rahn, but I will be pronouncing it Tyrannosaurus.

Are they like at the North Pole? This is really interesting.

OK so magic instead of electricity. I gotcha.

Oh please give me some enemies to lovers smarmy politician romance. I have no idea if this book has romance. It probably doesn’t because men like it, but like I love a romantic subplot. (It attempts to.)

Politician villain? I’ll take multiple politician characters, like that’s chill. Give me a romance, please. I don’t want the baker boy.

This would make excellent TV. The structure and pacing of this is immaculate.

I’m not loving 100% of the writing, I think it’s a little heavy-handed and clumsy with the character work, but the plot- I’m IN.

So my instinct just from other books is that maybe the blight isn’t evil and it’s something crossing over from the other side, trying to get the magic that’s being stolen back and the people who gave the city the magic are the ones who purposely set up the shield so that it couldn’t get it back. Like they did it knowingly. (On this episode of Samantha doesn’t read blurbs and tries to guess what her books are. Like ooo, maybe this is a paranormal fantasy. So dead wrong.)

I immediately don’t trust Derrith on the name Derrith alone.

I’m picturing everything in this book so easily, so props to the author for that.

I better not need to know all these names. My brain is so stupid. (You really don’t.)

I don’t want a romance with this Jerry boy either. (We’re safe.)

What if every time they siphon something, they’re killing something in the other realm? (There ya go, bestie.)

This magic is just computer coding. I dig it.

You know there’s no way that traitor mage is evil. He’s 100% a good guy that they killed to cover up a corrupt society.

Eat the world, baby girl.

I love this girl.

Oh see, I think he’s evil. (The mentor. I am so good sometimes.)

There’s that Perramis guy again.

HE’S HER DAD. OH THIS BOOK JUICY. (We do nothing with this plotline. What a waste.)

Religion truly is the one true evil.

Is Sciona Carra? Or like is Carra gonna be her girlfriend? Or like when do we get back to the beginning characters?

This book is angry feminist and I support it. Heavy-handed, but like you know, the girlies are angry.

I feel like she’s very autism/ADHD coded.

Oh, that’s definitely Thom.
(I love being right)

Oh no because I am DOWN for this romance. (I was so young, so naive.)

This book is GOOD.

If you’re a girlie in STEM, this book is gonna hit.

No, because immediately yes.

If Ali Hazelwood wrote a serious feminist fantasy novel where the magic system works like computer coding.

She said race commentary, religious commentary, academia commentary. We. Love.

I don’t trust the clock. I assume it’s a bad news conduit. (This is a better plotline, and I stand by that.)

You’re not like other girls, Thom!

I think the clock is cursed to take energy from the reserves and bring down the barrier and then he can blame a woman for it. (Dead wrong, Samantha.)

Samantha, they keep setting him up as a feminist hero how can you think he’s a villain? Exactly. Trust no one, ladies. It’s always your closest allies. I’m like so positive he’s evil. It’s gonna be so embarrassing if he’s not.

I don’t know if I like this sort of fetishization of power dynamics. You shouldn’t like someone because they offer you total deference or because they try to dominate you. That’s weird. Equality, baby. (And it’s the beginning of the end.)

I am live laugh loving. (This is what they call irony.)

Wow, I can’t wait for them to hate fuck.

Was that a Shrek joke because I did just read that in Donkey’s voice.

Dude, I have such a bad feeling that they’re the blight. They’re sniping the native people.

I really hate being right sometimes.

How dare she hit him? I do not want this romance anymore.

Why is this low-key turning into a colonizer romance because I do not want that.

The effortless sexist rage this book triggers in me. The problem is it’s not even exaggerated. Like this is all shit every single woman has heard.

Dude, this book is so good. I don’t even care that I guessed it.

This book said fuck your religion, and Sam said this book fucks.

And the trader mage was actually siphoning from the city to try and prove that it was killing people and that’s why they killed him. (Ehhhh-)

I would just like to point out that I clocked that bastard as evil the second he was on the page.

I love books that I can guess and I don’t have to wait very long for the characters to catch up to me. And what I’ve guessed is still enjoyable to read. Formulaic in a good way.

Me: what a stupid title
Me: what a brilliant title
(Me: what a stupid title.)

Fuck your submission. The girls. Are. Angry.

Listen, I love this book, but it’s a massive bummer. I just don’t know how you solve racism and our consumptive society, and I don’t see how this has a happy, hopeful ending, but like I don’t want a sad ending. Girlypop literally has to solve the modern world to have a happy ending. How do? (Simple, don’t! UGH!)

Live laugh lobotomy. I am literally just a girl.

They better not give her dad a redemption arc. That’s all I’m saying. (We’re safe.)

He really just said we kept women out of power because they have too much empathy, and ain’t that the motherfucking truth.

God’s plan 🎶

You know, pet peeve when the love interest has to save the heroine from rape. That’s yuck.

You know from 60% on, not live laugh loving. Got unenjoyably cliche. Got cheesy.

Take a shot every time this book brings up her green eyes.

While I appreciate that our revolutionary girlypop in her twenties doesn’t succeed because if it were truly so easy, someone else would’ve done it already, I don’t know how this book gets to a happy ending from here. (Simple, it doesn’t.)

Who’s afraid of little old me? 🎶

If Ali Hazelwood wrote Defying Gravity.

Dude, this is getting so bad. The first half of this was five stars, and this back half is 3, maybe even bordering on 2.

Like it’s a girl thing? Girl, come on.

Cool, so they flee with next to no supplies and they’re injured. Into the middle of winter. Yeah, they’ll survive that. What a garbage ending.

But you didn’t get all the mages? Two of those sons are still out there.

Girl, what was that?

How do you fumble that bad?

Post-reading:
Brother, ew. What’s that brother?

How do you fumble a book this badly? Like genuinely, I don’t understand.

The first 50% of this book is excellent. Is it a little ham-fisted with its rah-rah feminism? Absolutely. Is the dialogue predominantly clunky? For sure. But it’s well paced. It’s cinematic. That plot fuckin moves. It’s delightfully predictable. It really gives its audience that dawning sense of horror.

And what does it do with that horror and all the questions of morality that it poses? It drop kicks them into bad YA dystopian platitudes. It’s incredibly disappointing.

The scope of this book is its undoing. You would really have to solve all of modern day society’s big ethical conundrums to get a happy ending, and you just can’t do that in a few hundred pages. Everybody dies is a shit ending. I’ll take it over an afterschool special, everybody gets a redemption arc type of ending any day, but I never wish for death as an ending.

The magic system in this book is really cool. I’ve never seen magic done like it’s computer coding before. That was really fun.

The women in STEM experiences feel authentic, if straight out of an Ali Hazelwood novel. And I don’t think it’s out-of-pocket to compare this book to hers. There’s quite a few cliché romance moments in it. But the romance subplot is… calling it bad is generous. It’s a colonizer romance. It doesn’t work. It feels inappropriate. It feels gross.

I think her mentor as a villain is very fitting. I clocked it the second he was introduced, but it was a satisfying corruption arc. It just had nowhere to go. She wrote herself into a corner and could not get out. And again, I sympathize with the author because there’s really no way out of it. She didn’t write a world where there is an easy solution. I don’t know what the solution should be. I was really relying on the book to come to some revolutionary idea, but it’s just more of the bummer existential crisis that is humanity‘s current state. The path we’re on is untenable and unethical, but there’s no quick fix easy solution. And the book’s ending is a complete cop-out from even attempting to answer that dilemma.

I don’t think this book needed its rape scene. It felt cheesy. I never like when the love interest has to save the heroine from it. This book had so much to say when it came to religious commentary. It really went for the jugular, and that part of this book was so successful, that this felt trivial in comparison. Rape should never feel insignificant. I bring it up all the time, but Ninth House really did redefine my standards for that subject. That book made it jarring and it pulled no punches. And that’s the only appropriate way to do it. Everything else is just gratuitous.

But back to that religious commentary. I think that’s really what made me love the first half of this book. It was so adept at pointing out the hypocrisies that religion is based on. It illustrated the mental gymnastics people go through to cling to their religion, even as it’s falling apart around them. Religion is absolutely a weapon of the patriarchy. It is not beneficial. It is not moral. And that tirade felt so fitting in a novel about academia. And I really thought this book had something to say when it made its main character a racist and a bigot. She and the audience were set up to get the wake up call of the century. And it never comes.

I don’t think the writing in this book is so bad that it deserves a two-star, but I do think that failing to deliver on the moral crisis your book instigates is so offensively irresponsible and underdeveloped that I can’t give it anything else.

This book wasn’t done. You can’t end your book without answering the question you center it around. I went into this book thinking the title was ridiculous. Just before the midpoint, I was convinced that the title was brilliant. I was convinced that this book was going to deliver a story about choosing family and humanity over the false promises of religion. And if it had stayed on track, this could’ve been a five-star. It could’ve earned its title. Instead, it’s just disappointing, and I’m back to thinking it’s a stupid title that’s not worth your time.

Who should read this:
Feminist fantasy girls
Dystopian fans
Unique magic system fans
Ali Hazelwood girlies

Do I want to reread this:
If you had asked me at 50%, absolutely. Now, no, I’m mad.

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