This was a goddamn masterpiece of a dark academia story. The world-building is brilliant and the magic system is brilliantly crafted. I don’t think my review will be able to adequately explain how good this book is. It is definitely a contender for book of the year.

“The men and mages of Tiran will do what they do, and the lot of everyone else is to accept it. It doesn’t have to be that way.”

This book almost broke me in the best way possible. The first chapter alone is so trauma-filled that I had to pause before continuing. It hits you hard and fast but then draws you back in with fascinating magic and some really great characters. Sciona and Thomil are characters with such well-defined motivations and are able to have such incredible growth arcs.

“Because good people can turn desperate when the horrors are upon them - especially people whose culture of plenty has left them with no systems to cope with scarcity or cataclysm. Good people will turn monstrous when it’s down to their survival or someone else’s.”

And there are so many moments that have such impactful real world parallels that it is kind of scary. M. L. Wang’s writing is so well-paced and original and I cannot wait to read more. I’ve always heard that Wang’s The Sword of Kaigen is the best standalone fantasy book (and I will be reading that soon, I swear), but I think Blood Over Bright Have also deserves that title.

Thank you to @delreybooks for my copy of Blood Over Bright Haven! All thoughts are my own.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it lived up to all of my expectations. It is clever, dark, and addictive. M.L. Wang explores morality, belief, civilization, and systems of power. She does not shy away from hard questions or pull her punches. This is one that will stick with me for a while, just like The Sword of Kaigen did.

The magic system here is incredibly unique. It is an elegant system with clear rules and limits (and major consequences). The plot was good, quick paced and addicting. There are relatively few characters, but they all feel like complete, complex humans. I loved that our main character is deeply flawed. She is a part of the system and believes in it's goodness wholeheartedly. In the beginning, you see that she has the same ingrained prejudices as all the rest, so it makes her growth so much more visible and interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing an ARC of this book!

Blood Over Bright Haven is a heart-pounding, immersive, devastatingly brutal masterpiece. I devoured this book in under 48 hours, and I will be thinking about it for years to come. Blood Over Bright Haven contains a unique magic system, magical university, danger, and deceit.

Perfect for fans of adult dark fantasy/sci-fi blends.

I received an ARC from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for this ARC Copy!

I don't even know where to start with this book but OMG I loved every minute of it. I loved the world building that only feeds you what you need at the time and answers your questions slowly but in such a way that just makes you appreciate it so much more. The characters writing was phenomenal. I was was shocked and left with my jaw on the floor more times than I can even remember, and it felt like every single big reveal was so impactful and visceral that there is no way to not love this book.

This book was ok for me- a dystopian fantasy with an interesting magic system. The world building was good, but I felt the focus on classism and colonialism was being hammered to the reader and would have benefited from some editing work- I started to feel like I was reading nonfiction or a text book.

I'm not usually a dark academia fan but I loved this one. It felt bigger than most other DA books. I loved the characters (the main character got on my nerves sometimes but because she was supposed to) and the magic system was just really cool. A great read overall!

Okay thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc - jumping right into it! I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this book. Truly. It has dark academia, tackles topics such as oppression/classism, racism, biases - truly so many topics. 4/5 for me bc while enjoyable, the lead character is like peak yt feminism to me and I just 😃😃 would read something else by this author in the future!



https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6630399804

4.5 stars rounded up.

I literally could not put this down. Sciona really did *that* She’s crazy and flawed and I thoroughly enjoyed her character. I loved Thomil and Carra too, though I am least sure about the ending. I haven’t finished Sword of Kaigen but I suspect a similarly bittersweet ending in line with what ML Wang has done here.

I might just be susceptible to all the Wicked movie ads lately but Sciona really gave me some (musical) Elphaba vibes I’m not sure if this was coincidental or on purpose. Regardless, as an Elphie lover I loved to see it.

This book is unbelievably, breathtakingly amazing. The themes of sexism, racism, and prejudice are both painful and eye opening. Sciona's character development is truly unlike any other I have seen. The magic system in this book is also the most interesting, well thought out, and unique I have ever read. Absolutely loved this book!

the first few chapters of this book was really good but then i took a break and came back and it was just really hard to get into, i felt like everything was being over explained which i usually don’t mind but i was struggling with a reading slump so it just made it even harder for me to want to sit down and read. this isn’t really the books fault, i just had a hard time connecting to the story because of the break i took.

This is a book that will stay with you. I’m pretty sure I’ll need at least a week to recover… Maybe a month? Maybe until the end of the year?

That first chapter will pull you in. Then punch you. And trust me when I say, the author does not pull any punches. What she does do -

Imagery that is both vivid and haunting
Seamless worldbuilding (like I have a vision of the whole city in my mind.)
Characters that grow and change
Themes that might be a bit heavy but are woven in throughout. These are reflected through each character and can be seen influencing and
affecting them in various ways.
Gender differences
Race differences
Class differences
Twists (no pulling punches there either!)
An ending that will leave you breathless
Magic system - a unique one!

A word on the magic system. It might seem a bit overwhelming at first. (There’s helps in the BACK of the book. Not sure if they’re in the audio.) Think of it like maybe Minecraft? Or computer programming? There’s a typewriter that needs a spell (typed) and a map (place to get energy with coordinates). Just go with it. It’ll grow on you and make sense eventually.

Bottom line - read this book. Then come discuss with me. PLEASE!!

Thanks to @netgalley for an eARC. All thoughts are my own. Also, I got the audio from Libby and it was FANTASTIC! (I used it for about ⅓.)

Stars: 4.75 (It’s maybe a little slow in the middle. But the end more than makes up for it!)
Content: Strong language
There’s some trigger warnings here.

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.

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!