I have no words for this book, it was...utterly phenomenal. Unless something insanely unexpected comes up I'm more than comfortable saying that this will be the top book I read this year. Everything about it was breathtaking, and I'm in awe of Wang and her abilities as a storyteller. This is a novel that everyone should read, and I think it should be right up there with the likes of Sanderson and Rothfuss. Wang has crafted a insanely intricate world full of elements that are both completely new and fully familiar. She's added thoughtful commentary on gender and race, as well as creating a complex female lead that is brilliant but selfish, but who changes throughout the novel. Now that this book is getting a wider release (aka a publisher has picked it up) I have no doubt there are going to be people (mostly men) who pick it up and complain that the lead is unlikeable, and hell yeah she is, but I was here for it. Anyone who tries to say that great characters in great fantasy novels aren't exactly like her is lying, the only difference here is that they're all men and she's not. Honestly I think my only real "complaint" with this book is that I wanted more. An epilogue or something, hell, I would certainly be up for a sequel, but I can see why Wang decided to leave it as she has. I am just blown away by this "debut" and I can't wait to see what Wang comes up with next. There's no doubt in my mind I will be seeking out her other self-published work, and I am eagerly awaiting anything new she plans to release. I also plan on harassing anyone I possibly can at work to buy this book, and I have already hyped it up to several customers and a shelf-talker is all set up to go out with the release tomorrow.

This was relentlessly fantastic and one of my favorite reads of 2024 so far.

ML Wang created a world mirroring our own with such unique and inviting fantastical elements that made me completely hooked from the emotional action packed first chapter, to the very last page.

The magic system was unique with scientific elements that were still understandable. Wangs writing style allows the reader to be unrestricted in imagination while also feeling that every concept was concise and purposeful.

The characters were very flawed, making them all the more real. The attachment I felt to the characters was apparent very early on. Many people will likely have a hard time with this story because of the FMCs credulous, immature nature at the beginning, but it would be a disservice to not see this story to the end for the simple fact of watching one of the most interesting character arcs I’ve read on a page. I felt extremely satisfied with where they all ended.

The way the story touched on racism, self-proclaimed privilege, genocide, and religious discourse was shockingly true-to-life. I couldn’t help but compare a lot of what was going on in Tiran to the events happening in our real day to day.

What left the biggest impact for me and what I will think the most about for days and months to come is the debate over whether actions have consequences, or if having the right intention but the wrong outcome is simply enough.

I look forward to reading more from this author.

UGH. What can I say about this book. I think if you liked Babel, you'll like Blood Over Bright Haven. Even if you didn't like Babel, I think you would like Blood Over Bright Haven. I could not put this book down over the few days that I read it.

The magic system is loosely based off of what felt like coding and it was really interesting to see a world based around this time of power. It delves a lot into so many social issues and our biases even as someone who means well. It brought out so many emotions in me and I cannot wait until this book is out in the world.

Drop every book you're reading and pick up Blood Over Bright Haven. This story centers on Sciona, an ambitious mage, and Thomil, her determined assistant and a refugee in Tirana, as they confront what feels like a constant, high-stakes “trolley problem.” Together, they navigate a patriarchal society rife with colonialism, xenophobia, sexism, and so many more complex issues. Wang skillfully intertwines these themes with the characters' moral dilemmas, questioning the cost of betterment and what is worth that sacrifice.

This story goes beyond just a gripping plot; it’s thought-provoking, reflecting on real-world issues and posing essential questions about justice, societal progress, and accountability. By the end, it left me with a deep sense of reflection. If you’re looking for a novel that’s as socially relevant as it is captivating, Blood Over Bright Haven is an absolute must-read.

No woman has ever been granted admission to the High Ministry of Tiran—and Sciona Freynan is determined to be the first. To beat the odds, she must be the best, the brightest, the most ruthless in her pursuit of magic, especially when partnered with Kwen janitor Thomil rather than a respectable lab assistant. But as their research progresses, they draw closer to an awful truth—a long-buried history that could upend everything Sciona knows about magic, Thomil’s people, and the deadly Blight that hunts outside the city’s walls.

Blood Over Bright Haven truly left me at a loss for words. I have some gripes, yes—the magic system, though interesting, is over-explained, and some conversations (particularly those between Sciona and the archmages) feel heavy-handed and drag toward of the middle of the book. Those gripes, however, are vastly overshadowed by the sheer weight and brilliance of what Blood Over Bright Haven gets right. Wang’s dark academia has real stakes, and the secret at its heart is cruel and compelling. The plot drives forward with agonizing precision, seamlessly slipping between tender moments of unexpected connection and the inevitable brutality of colonial rule.

Wang’s writing doesn’t pull a single punch, and I turned the final page feeling uncomfortable, challenged, heartbroken, and hopeful. Bright Haven tackles the intersections between marginalised populations with both fearlessness and rare nuance, and never has an author so perfectly captured the condescension present in male-dominated spaces or the deliberate ignorance of systematic racism amongst those who benefit from its privilege. Though this isn’t a book that is particularly easy to stomach, it is undoubtedly a GREAT book, and a true must-read for dark academia fans and newcomers alike.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (4.5 stars)

This is my first experience with M.L. Wang's writing, and the enthusiasm surrounding her work is entirely justified.

The initial chapters took some getting used to. The book opens with an action-packed, gripping scene, but quickly transitions to the main character Sciona's perspective, and thqat took a moment to fully grasp and understand. The setting changed drastically, but it was able to show the two sides of the coin.

However, after about 60 pages, I found myself completely immersed in the world. Sciona is prickly and flawed, yet profoundly relatable, making it easy to root for her by the story’s conclusion.

In a remarkably short span, Wang establishes a captivating atmosphere. The stakes feel exceptionally high, and the conflicts resonate deeply with our current political landscape, all while retaining a magical essence and feeling like its very own story. I loved reading something so unique, this experience was entirely new for me.

I plan on sharing this review to my fable, goodreads, and my tiktok account.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Del Rey for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was about 35% into this book and knew in my heart that this had - if not 5 star potential - certainly the potential to be one of the best reads of the year. Yes, it was heavy handed but I enjoyed the world I was launched into. The opening sequence was intense and chilling. I loved the magic system and the way it mirrored coding or formula writing in Excel (which I use a lot). The reader is introduced to seemingly colorful characters oozing with potential narratives. And M.L. Wang was clearly trying to establish a base of real heart into the story.

And yet, this is by far my most disappointing and frustrating read of the year. Not because it is terrible, but because it doesn't capitalize on its potential.


Sciona is a mage in the patriarchal city of Tiran, a protected magic-based technological oasis in a land otherwise afflicted by The Blight - an environmental disaster that randomly strikes and kills anything or anyone in its path. Tiran utilizes magic for many of its marvels such as its railway and electrical systems. But most importantly, the mages of Tiran use magic to shield the city from The Blight. 

The indigenous who live outside Tiran, "the Kwen", often seek refuge in the city as second-class citizens. Or perhaps third-class citizens as Tiranese women are the true second-class. They are allowed to study as mages but their promotions are capped. There has never been a female "High Mage" in all of Tiran's history.

Perhaps until now. If Sciona can prove her worth, she may be able to assist in the development of a secret, prestigious project that would cement her legacy as one of Tiran's greatest mages in all its history.

Yeah, what's not to like about that setup? Now Sciona isn't the easiest to like on the surface because she's arrogant and a little obnoxious, but I enjoyed that about her. Sciona isn't the friendliest person in the world as so many singularly-obsessed individuals can be, but I found her easy to sympathize with because of what she was up against. I was all in on Sciona. And I wanted to see how author M.L. Wang explored these relevant themes of oppression, misogyny, religion, racism, classicism and more. 

There were elements here that reminded me of Harry Potter in a slightly more adult form, so this was so far up my Diagon Alley that I was positively giddy in the early goings of the book. I enjoyed the dynamic between Sciona and Thomil and the incremental headway they made trying to understand one another. Their relationship is the strength of the book and I loved it. I was just less clear by the end that it should have been the core focus. 

Clearly, there is a really good story here. I just don't think it's been cracked.

There are essentially three major issues with author M.L. Wang's follow-up to the popular, Sword of Kaigen. The first is - despite there being a good story buried here - the plotting is nearly non-existent. There is almost nothing that happens in the middle portion of the book, virtually nothing that happens at the start of the book that triggers developments later on beyond the obvious main thread.

Now I was not bored by the middle section. That's not the problem. The problem is while I wasn't bored, it becomes clear later on that this portion of the book was underutilized in setting up a satisfying narrative later on.

There's a lot of messaging with a lot of speeches. Now I enjoyed some of the debates being had between the two central characters: Sciona and her Kwen refugee assistant, Thomil. Both of these individuals are oppressed in drastically different ways and there is one conversation in particular I thought was absolutely fascinating. However, because we are focusing primarily on the potential - for all intents and purposes - white savior of the story, it throws some of that messaging off balance. I like the beginning of the story, I like the idea of the ending and I like the idea of the journey in between but the execution wasn't as interesting or as impactful or as satisfying as it should be.

The second problem is the clumsy way in which characters are utilized. Outside of Sciona and Thomil, the characters in the Academia setting established in the first act have almost nothing to do for the rest of the book. And too often these characters seem to behave only in ways that the story required them too - it never feels organic because we never really get to know any of them. There is one turn by a key character towards the last act that is so extreme and feels like it popped out of thin air. And it almost feels like Wang is aware of this as the book then spends time trying to explain this turn after the fact like a Band-Aid. It feels tacked on.

Now I loved what Wang was going for with this ending. But again, the execution was just so clumsy and for a character we are told again and again is so smart, I found myself second guessing her over and over and with good reason.

This leads me to the third problem I had with this book. It is so incredibly predictable. I am not one of these people who is always two steps ahead in a thriller or mystery novel. Yet I don't believe there was a single reveal in this book that I didn't see coming. Now I'm not that smart, it's just that everything is so obviously telegraphed, the themes are so heavy-handed that there is no doubt as to where its all headed.

Despite my issues, I love aspects of this book. I enjoyed much of this book and I loved this world. I loved the premise, I loved the themes Wang layers in the story. I do not dislike this book. I am just so incredibly disappointed because I know I could have loved it if only the execution was there.

One of my absolute favorites of the year! M.L. Wang creates such complex characters amid terrific magic systems and worlds, yet also brings very strong themes into play as well.

The horror when we learn the true cost was something I felt just as fully as our characters. Expert storytelling, theme exploration, characterization and pacing. M.L. Wang can do no wrong in my opinion.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang is a dark, bloody, challenging novel perfect for fans of Babel by R.F. Kuang and the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik.

Sciona Freynan is a mage, and the first woman to ever pass the test to be admitted to the High Magistry of the city of Tiran. When she finally does become a highmage, however, she is confronted by sexism, harassment, and a conspiracy to hide what powers the industry and magic of the city. Together with her Kwen assistant Thomil, she works first to uncover and then to reveal the ancient secret of magic.

It’s true that this novel is dark academia, but unlike many of this genre where the narrative follows the lives of students, here we follow those in the very highest positions of the University of Magics and Industry. The magic system is extremely interesting, with spell writing reminiscent of writing computer code.

I appreciate that the novel does not shy away from the horrors of exploitation and imperialism. You watch, instead, as the protagonist has her naivete shattered over and over again. It makes Sciona seem much more real, and the character development much more high stakes. Although, I do empathize with Thomil’s frustration when things go the way he predicts.

The author did a great job of leaving hints and breadcrumbs for the reader so I could piece together what was happening just before the characters did. This made it a very engaging and engrossing read, and all the more satisfying when what I suspected was happening was right.

I do wish we had gotten more of Thomil’s POV. Ironically, like the powerful Tiranish often overlook the Kwen living alongside them, it felt as if the narrative forgot about Thomil until it was absolutely necessary to have his perspective.

This quickly became one of my top reads of 2024, and I can’t wait to pick up Wang’s other work, especially Sword of Kaigen. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Del Rey for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Moods: dark, tense, mysterious, emotional
CW: racism, misogyny, violence, death, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts

Blood Over Bright Haven is perfect for fans of Babel by R. F. Kuang and other anti-colonial fantasy. This brutal, unflinching tale wraps itself in the isolating narcissism of academia, with main character Sciona blind to anything but magic and research. When she is confronted with the awful costs of that magic, her entire world is shattered. But not nearly as shattered as the lives of the many Kwen refugees residing in her city of magical splendor. It may take a significant time for Sciona to overcome her naivete, but when she does Blood Over Bright Haven becomes a remarkably gruesome and desolate tale of revenge and justice. As hard as it was to confront the real-life parallels of this book, I could not look away for a moment. By the fifty percent mark, I was neglecting the rest of my tasks to power on and finish. A compulsive and reflective novel that asks hard questions about justice, justification, and authority. I'm sure this will be on my frequently recommended list for a long time.

“Religious people often prefer to be right rather than compassionate.” - Karen Armstrong

I had to take over a day to contemplate Blood Over Bright Haven to write my review. Not because I was debating the rating, but because I wanted to think about how to approach writing the review. There are so many themes I could focus on when it comes to this book; I could even focus on all of them. This review would be very long if I did.

The conclusion I came to was that I can’t talk about the themes because I would end up spoiling the book. Once you start talking about the themes you can’t stop. They bleed into one another. It’s an intricate web of social, political, and cultural issues…just like our real world super issues no one knows how to solve.

The narrative prose and dialogue is where Wang shines brightest in this book. It’s beautiful language arranged and presented with perfect timing and so it hits exactly as it should with every line. Fantastic styling and construction with every paragraph. Every review I’ve seen/read has pointed out the uniqueness of the magic system and I have to say I’m in total agreement: The magic completely fascinated me. I found myself actually slowing down and thinking my way through the magical equations more than once just for fun. The worldbuilding wasn’t as strong, but I don’t think it really needed to be, because the world wasn’t as important as the people or characters and the characters were absolutely fantastic from the smallest role to the largest.

An above-average standalone novel is worth more than any average duology or trilogy, in my opinion, and Wang has delivered a dark, violent, magical, innovative, seething fantasy I can see becoming an absolutely classic in the genre.

I was provided a copy of this title by the publisher and author via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Dark Fantasy/Paranormal Fantasy/Political Fantasy/Standalone Novel/Urban Fantasy

This book was bloody, intense and brutal. Sciona and Thomil's stories were both so beautifully intertwined and I loved their relationship and all its rocky realness. This book has a myriad of themes from racism, classism, religion, and misogyny all encompassed in a dark academia magic setting. There was a lot to unwrap here but I would whole heartedly recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for this earc!

Really interesting set up for a book, with a dark and violent look into themes of misogyny, racism, and colonialism. I think that the way that the magic system was set up was honestly brilliant, and the tie in to the fantasy religion was well done as well. I also really enjoyed the follow through for the natural consequences of the character's actions.

What I didn't love was the long on-page explanation of colonialism, oppression, etc. I think that the author is trying to explain complex ideas in an easy to understand manner, but it felt like sitting in on a college 101 level class for some of it instead of feeling like the dialogue was natural. I would have preferred to see some of those themes play out directly in the world, maybe with more single chapter POVs from Kwen characters, instead of receiving it quite so much like an academic lecture. I also felt like the book kept the characters at a bit of an arm's length, which isn't a problem because the plot itself is such a gut punch, but definitely blunted the emotional impact.

Definitely for fans of Babel, and I might also add To Shape a Dragon's Breath as well.

I really wish I would have liked this book more than I did, the premise was intriguing and had a lot of room to be a fantastic read, but for me, it just felt less. The magic was the best part of the book but everything else just fell short, there weren't any characters I felt attached to the story itself felt slow, uneventful, and the plot twists and surprises were predictable. The authors writing style was wonderfully done it just did not draw me in and keep my attention.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang was such a phenomenal read.
The character developments and themes were so well-executed.
And the world-building was intricately crafted.
The magic system was so unique and intriguing.
An entertaining and engaging dark academic fantasy that sucked me in and held me completely captive.

Thank You NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine & Del Rey for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This story started off feeling like a dark academia with a fun magic system, but quickly morphed into something with powerful messages about sexism and caste systems, prejudice, logic vs. ethics, and leaving your world/community better for the next generation(s).

I loved reading about this book's magic system: very logical and similar to coding. For an academic fantasy, the pacing was really good throughout with certain chapters sucking me and making my eyeballs move too fast. 😂

This is one of those books that I don’t feel like my words here after reading won’t do it justice, so just know I HIGHLY recommend.

I am absolutely blown away by this book and will most definitely be thinking about this one for a long time.

This is 100% fantasy with a smidge of romance so make sure you don’t go in with false expectations or you will likely be disappointed.

I went into this without reading the synopsis, just excited to read an ML Wang book. I completely recommend going into books blind because the blurbs can absolutely be spoilers and I have so much more fun not knowing what I’m getting into.

This book has an insanely unique magic system which took a lot for me to fully comprehend in the beginning. It tackles tough subjects like sexism, racism, and imperialism in a completely unique fantasy world. I truly could not put this book down, even though I was SO STRESSED because I could not even fathom how the conflict was going to be resolved once I hit than 50% point in the book.

Sciona (FMC) is certainly a flawed character but her yearning for knowledge and understanding along with her empathy allowed her to exhibit such great character development.

Thomil (MMC) is a man with a tragic past living in a world designed to hate his kind for no reason other than that it was the “will of God” or some BS. I thought he was an excellent character and broke my heart on multiple occasions.

This is going to be one of my top reads of 2024 for sure. Thank you so much to Del Rey & NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN had a really strong start that literally had me shedding tears in chapter one. So I'm sad to be here now, alongside Micky's shiny review, and not be singing it's praises. Because there are a lot of things about this book worth championing. Where I think for me it failed to find footing was, mainly, the lack of tension. And I mean that in a variety of ways.

First of all, the concept of this may not seem all that rare but the unique way that Wang spun her tale, her particular brand of darkness at the heart of this utopic world, definitely made me sit up. I did sorta see the potential for this to be the conflict but it still shook me a bit. I loved that, even though, of course, it is so vile. What shook me more, and what I really appreciate that Wang did, was how at every turn, we got to witness the apathy, the complicity, the acceptance, instead of, in similar stories with similar turns of events, becoming a surprise reveal that necessitates action. I was less appreciative of the constant haranguing and rehashed dialogue of it all -- it got a little (lot) tired after the initial realization that an argument for being a better person wasn't going to have any positive result, and yet we still had to suffer through it anyway. But I think the author was just trying to hammer it home. And I use hammer purposefully because some of the constant banging on, well, yeah, it was painful.

Much like Sciona could be. Her lack of self-awareness made her the perfect conduit for this story because she was so self-righteous, so oblivious, so imperfect, and her arc is hard won because of this. Even in the throes of coming to terms with what must be done, what she can't not do, she still drops hurtful generalizations and prejudiced offhand comments, and it was agonizing. But I suppose it made her human, more real, less the idealized champion. Her character represented so much of what we see in the world around us and it was tough to endure. But where the end of this book leaves her is a triumph.

But back to the tension. The sense of being under threat was very much missing. I felt, well, almost no tension at all. Not in the stakes or the brutality or the resistance or even the aftermath. Even the touch of romance had very little. It all (excepting chapter one, of course) felt a bit dulled. And the magic, well. I think it would've been better had it felt.. fantastical. Instead of, like, keyboard typing? It took some of the impact out of it all.

Having said that, I did peruse a few reviews and it seems as if many of the themes -- the overwhelming sexism and conservatism, patriarchal structure, racism and xenophobia, colonialism, and so much more -- are also present in the author's big hit THE SWORD OF KAIGEN but done better. I had planned to read that anyway but after this experience I may make more of an effort to get to it sooner than later. Because, again, there's a lot of strength and important and critical dialogue being said here. Speaking for myself, I just don't think the execution worked -- but I hope it does for you.

Thank you to Del Ray, Penguin Random House Audio, and ML Wang for this ARC

I read “Sword of Kaigen” by ML Wang earlier this year, and it was heartbreaking, eye-opening, and an emotional rollercoaster. Going into this new book by Wang, I expected nothing less, and incredibly, it exceeded my expectations.

I think it is almost impossible to build a vivid world, explain a magic system, and have incredible character arcs all in a standalone novel under 600 pages, but yet again, Wang somehow does it impeccably and with ease.

Similar to Sword of Kaigen, this book explores moral and ethical issues that will stay with me for a long time. The concepts of gender injustice, anger at a corrupt system, xenophobia, and colonization are just the tip of the iceberg. While set in a fantasy realm, it reflects some of the situations in our current world. I cried, I got mad, and I gasped at the twists. My emotions were all over the place with this stand-alone fantasy novel.

Moira Quirk's narration elevated this plot to a whole new level for me. Her voice made the scenes more emotionally charged, and I highly recommend listening to this novel if you can. Hearing the scenes from a human voice makes these themes even more intense and realistic.

The pace of this one is also steady. You won't be able to put this one down between the magic system, the world-building, and all the tension.

If you love fantasy books, you need to read ML Wang’s books, specifically Sword of Kaigen and Blood Over Bright Haven. This book is a dark academia fantasy novel with mystery, tragedy, magic, and morality questions. Do yourself a favor and definitely prioritize this one on your TBR.

Imagine you did the impossible, earning your way to becoming the first female highmage in a world where sexism flourishes. After spending your entire life yearning for this moment, everything comes crashing down when you learn the horrific, evil truth behind your coveted position. Will disillusionment be the end or will you do everything possible to change the way of the world you no longer know?

This story follows Sciona Freynan, aspiring highmage, and Thomil, a refugee appointed as Sciona’s assistant, as they navigate themes of sexism, morality, religion, racism, prejudice, colonization, and disillusionment. The book starts out as dark academic tale, but quickly changes into a metaphor of social justice. Covering these topics, this book is both thought provoking and emotional, extremely heavy at times, and made me wonder what I would do in a moral quandary like this.

If you are not into high science fiction/fantasy, this may not be for you. I am a fan of these stories and yet I struggled to get into this book at first because there is extremely intense world building. The universe this story takes place in has a unique magic system entangled in, and it was difficult to understand at first. I did enjoy how it was written in as the reader is learning about the magic system as if we were Thomil. While this was something I had not seen before, I don’t think the painstakingly detailed explanation was necessary and hindered the storyline. Around 30% of the way in, the book started to pick up and I was getting into the groove reading.

I struggled to connect with the FMC Sciona and found her extremely brash, irritating, arrogant, and childish for being the intelligent late 20something year old she was meant to be. I would argue that her character arc was redeeming and I do believe that she had to be written the way she was to get the story’s point across (but that doesn’t mean I liked it). I had high hopes for connecting to her as I have also faced sexism in the workplace (although, hers is more extreme) being a female in engineering.

On the other hand, I was immediately drawn and compelled to Thomil from the first chapter. We are thrown into this universe seeing the devastating ways of their world cause the downfall of not just Thomil’s family, but the remaining members of his tribe. The two characters end up falling in love by the end of this book and I don’t understand the need to have the romance between Thomil and Sciona at all quite frankly. It didn’t add to the plot and seemed like a way to check the box that there was “romance.”

One thing I did love was that the initial scene and the final scene of the book feel like the perfect bookends to this story. The story starts and ends with the same characters, 10 years apart, in the location that changed everything. This seemed like a beautiful, full-circle moment.

Overall, I rated this book 4 stars because there was heavy world building that left me a bit confused at first and took away from me getting really excited about the book. I also felt like the “romance” was unnecessary with how the plot was written. Once I got past the confusing elements, it was incredible and thought provoking. Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for giving me the chance to read this as an e-ARC!