M.L. Wang wrecked me (in a good way) with Sword of Kaigen, but she DEVOURED me with Blood Over Bright Haven! How she manages to top the masterpiece of Sword of Kaigen astounds me. But what she does best is weaving a narrative that is both emotionally charged and thought-provoking, using characters with complex backstories to further drive the plot. The world-building is fantastic with a magic system that feels entirely fresh and unique. The magic, which operates like a mathematical equation, sets this world apart from typical fantasy settings and lends the book a dark academia atmosphere perfect for autumn and winter reads. I seriously don't know anyone who hasn't loved this book as it is a masterclass in storytelling. M.L. Wang isn't afraid to write gut-wrenching, honest stories, and this book proves that she is one of the best at what she does.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing and Del Ray for this advanced copy of Blood Over Bright Haven.

ML Wang has absolutely done it again with this incredible book. On the surface, this book is about Sciona trying to gain recognition for her bright mind as a mage in a male-dominated field. But keep reading! This book is so much more. This is about a culture and country choosing to overlook the systemic racism and inequality within their system. Tiran is built on the blood, sweat, tears, and the backs of entire group of people viewed as “less than” and slaves. Hmmm sounds familiar here in the States.

Thomil and Sciona forge together the most unlikely friendship as she is forced to work with the janitor as an assistant. Sciona struggles internally with achieving the dream of becoming a great mage while coming to knowledge the deadly secrets of her society’s magic.

Though I found problems with the book, this is a prime example of how an imperfect book can, in fact, be 5⭐️. It has been over a month since I’ve finished this novel, and it has not left my mind. ML Wang can absolutely gut her reader for the greater good of the plot without remorse. I would probably rate her grocery list 5⭐️ at this point!

Blood Over Brighthaven by M.L. Wang

⭐️: 4.5/5

I was not expecting the storyline form the blurb- tbh it is so much better than the blurb and I would’ve been even more inclined than I was to want to read it.

This is really a story about racism and the effects it has on society and the physical world. Wang’s writing is excellent and her magic system is really unique- I can already see a lot of writers wanting to use it! It’s a mix of science, math, and maybe cartography!

Her FMC is relatable to me because of her ambition. I don’t think we get to see too many women depicted with ambition in a way that’s both positive and negative. This one nails it. It’s a double edged sword.

TW: racism, slight gore, slight homophobia

Approx. 440 pages

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for making ML Wang's book available via NetGalley. They have had no influence on my review.

I've been a fan of speculative fiction for as long as I've been reading on my own. BoBH's synospsis appealed to me because it is fantasy with a mystery to solve. I didn't realize it had been self-published last year, so this is my first time reading it. At first, I appreciated that that number of POVs was limited. However, since the story focused on the subjugation of an entire race, I wish more of them had been more prominent in the story. In fact, I might have preferred that the main POV was Thomil or Carra instead of Sciona.

This story might appeal to people who enjoy a more scientific approach to magic, as is found in the Foundryside trilogy (by Robert Jackson Bennett). However, the darkness also reminds me of "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and Fullmetal Alchemist.

The story gripped me and I had to keep reading to find out what happened. Some of the "secrets" were predictable, though that may be due to my own cynicism and probably by authorial intention. The ending, however, was a surprise. It felt darker and more realistic than I might expect based on my experiences with other stories, but it felt right.

If I could change anything, I would have edited out the one character who is a very cliche villain. The story worked better when it was grayer instead of black and white. Still, I enjoyed reading it and will seek out other books by the same author.

There are some books that build a world that is alien to us and some that pull at the core of all that is rotten in our own, dress it up, and then slowly unravel it for all the world to see. Blood Over Bright Haven is the second kind of book.

Wang has a gift for pacing, characterization, and dressing up hard truths in absolutely beautiful prose. Her understanding of what makes people tick, and what hopes and denials they might cling to when their worldviews are threatened, is unparalleled, and her gift for storytelling is up there with the likes of Jemisin and Kuang.

Blood Over Bright Haven is a stunning force of a book about the dangers of unquestioned doctrine, unchecked misogyny, the horrors of colonialism and the systems of oppression that it creates, and the evils nurtured by pride and denial. It is not only an excellent entry into the dark academia genre, but also very much the kind of story that the world needs right now.

⌨️🩸ARC REVIEW 🩸⌨️

Blood Over Bright Haven By M. L. Wang
5/5 ⭐

It's hard to even put into words how much I recommend this book. This is my 136th book of the year, and, right now, it's my favorite. Do yourself a favor, and read it.

The story follows a woman trying to break the glass ceiling and become the first female highmage. Along the way, she uncovers dark truths others would rather stay buried. The magic system is so interesting - its like spellcast coding.

Please read if you like the following:
🪄 Intelligent, driven main characters
🪄 Fighting for social justice
🪄 Interesting, 'logical' magic systems
🪄 Fully realized female rage

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the advanced copy of this fantastic novel.

🏷️#netgalley #delrey #bloodoverbrighthaven #bookreview #bookrecommendations #bookstagram #books #booklover #bookworm #bookstagrammer #reading #bookish #bookaddict #booknerd

I did not like the writing style. I felt like I was thrown into a story that had things going on, which I didn't understand. Maybe a guide would've helped. Like what is the Blight?! What are some of these terms mentioned? Snow lions? Are they shifters? And where is Thomil going and why are these people dying? Why are they going extinct? From rivals or from the Blight?!

The idea of there being direwolves, snow lions etc was actually really cool and different tribes of people.

"The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen.

For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.

When Sciona finally passes the qualifying exam and becomes a highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome - and, instead of a qualified lab assistant, they give her a janitor.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago, he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power.

At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together, they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever - if it doesn't get them killed first."

NEVER underestimate a janitor! NEVER!

I just don’t think I’m a dark academia girl. I love ML Wang’s writing and Sword of Kaigen may be my top read of this year so I was excited to get an ARC of this one. But man, the world building in this book is crazy. The magic system is unique but it takes a long time to understand it. And I got a bit bored. It was also kind of predictable. I will keep reading whatever she puts out but this one is just not my fave.

This book so good! Sciona is a bright Mage who lives for her work. When she gets an assistant named Thomil, everything that Sciona has ever believed is turned upside down. This is a unique, high fantasy story that is heavily political but in a good way. Highly recommended!

Exquisitely dark, this one, darker than I usually prefer. It didn't make me feel good, but it was so well-done--and so different--I can't help but rate it highly. I checked out the author's blog post from last year when she self-published it, and it sounds like it didn't make her feel good either, but she needed to write it to get it out of her head. I'm glad it's been picked up by a traditional publishing house, not because that legitimizes it in any way, but because she'll get a wider readership.
The protagonist and magical system were particularly different--Sciona had a lot of biases and lacked empathy for a good portion of the book, but she was also believably written with the ability to examine herself and change her mind. Her choices yielded questionable and sometimes horrific results (and also made me want to fall to my knees and wail), but I appreciated her fallibility. The big reveal of the book was something I didn't figure out, but I think people who read more closely might. I prefer the gut punch I got, and the anticipation I experienced for the rest of the book--how will she fix this? I liked Thomil, the other main character, a lot, although I couldn't love the harshness of the Kwen religion, which regards intentions as meaningless. When taken to its logical end, it's just a horrible philosophy, but I see why Wang had it in the book. The book manages to address racism, sexism, class conflict, and toxic religious beliefs without feeling like the author was working off a checklist. I could see the representation of ills in the real world without feeling hammered with it. There's also a very good representation of the fallout of horrible decisions made by people with good intentions who are trying to right a wrong, although I don't know if that part was the author's intention or just my interpretation. I don't know what better alternatives there were for Sciona either. I was anticipating her second move (her "final word"), and I kind of wished she'd only done that, but I don't know if it would have been enough to bring about change.
A worthwhile read by a talented author. Just keep something lighthearted in reserve for when you're done. My next read will be a romance.

I'm not sure what I was expecting for this book. I haven't read the author's previous work, but because I heard a lot of good things I was curious about this one.

I'd say this book is what dark academia is supposed to be. It is a harsh societal critique that offers no easy solutions, but explores how people respond to injustice, even if it doesn't immediately fix everything. I love how in depth this book went, and how unforgiving it felt, even towards the main character. While the main character discovers some ugly truths about society, the book doesn't hold her by her hand, and forces er to acknowledge how she was complicit in things she didn't know about.

The magic system in this book was interesting, and very detailed. Sciona is among the best mages, and the first woman to be promoted to highmage, so she knows exactly how everything works and the book spends a lot of time explaining this. I didn't find it hard to follow at all, and I liked how much effort the author put into developing this magic system. The magic system involves siphoning the appropriate amount of energy, writing the correct action, and typing in all this on a magic typewriter called a "spellograph".

I adored the characters in this book, Sciona especially. She is clearly a flawed character, she has a big ego and strives for greatness, to be remembered among history and this causes her to neglect people around her. While she claims she is working her way up to open the door for more women to be admitted, she is mainly in it for her own gain. She is messy and arrogant, and slightly unhinged. I like how the book presents her as flawed with these traits, she's not better than other people/other women even if she might view herself as 'not like other girls'.

Thomil is the male main character, and while most of the book is from Sciona's POV, the opening as well as some scenes later on are from his POV. Thomil is Kwen, part of one of the tribes living in outside the city of Tiran, but ten years ago, Thomil and his tribe fled to the city due to harsh living conditions as well as 'the blight', something that kills people outside Tiran by tearing them apart. Now, he works as a janitor in the highmage labs, where he's constantly underestimated because the Tiranish believe Kwen to be stupid and backward, and only use them for hard labor under bad conditions.

When Sciona is assigned Thomil as an assistant rather than an actual trained mage, Sciona decides to roll with it, and finds Thomil is actually much smarter than people give him credit for, and is among the few who can actually challenge her ideas, and I liked this aspect of their relationship. While Sciona generally has more favorable opinions of the Kwen than the average Tiranish, her prejudice and religious beliefs heavily influence her relationship with Thomil at the beginning, and I liked how realistic the book was about this. Sciona is not some special prejudice free person even if she does try to do better, but the book never coddles her either, and Thomil does not forgive easily.

There's romance in this book, but it's very minor, with nothing really happening until towards the end, and most of the relationship building between Sciona and Thomil is not necessarily romantic. I was not super invested in the romance, though I was invested in the characters and seeing them work together.

I'd advise to mind the content warnings for this book. There's on page sexual assault, misogyny, racism, as well as gore

I'd recommend this to people who love dark, heavy books that critique society, such as Some Desperate Glory

“All those lights and wonders of technology, bought with blood.”

Wang takes these dark and difficult themes (oppression, gender inequality, sexism, colonialism, classism) and writes an absolute masterpiece that truly moves the reader both mentally and emotionally. How can we, as people, do better?

This was absolutely gorgeous. From the magic system, to the characters to the story itself - just beautiful.

Sciona starts the book as majorly unlikable but had the most amazing character growth arc that I've seen in a very long time. Watching her have to untangle the things she was taught and think outside the box was an incredible journey.

The magic system was both simple and complex - I found it completely fascinating.

Overall, I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes high fantasy or academia-type fantasy for sure. Or rich worlds with interesting character development.

Thank you for the arc!
This book hit like a gut punch. Perfect for fans of Babel by R. F. Kuang, this fantasy novel explores how those in power get there by stomping on those below. Sciona and Thomil were fantastic main characters, as their experiences rubbed against each other. The ending had me wide awake until 2 a.m., I couldn't get enough of M. L. Wang's writing! One of the best books I've read this year.

where do I even begin? I feel like I need to go stare at a wall for a few hours and contemplate on… everything… after finishing this book.

This was such an incredible read. It’s a story of hope and loss and grief and faith and intention.

There is so much packed into this book it’s hard to know where to even start. There’s questions of morality, is intention what counts most? Or is the result what counts most? Just because you intend to do something good, doesn’t always make it a good action.
There’s so much grief and loss piled onto each other here and it’s heart wrenching but it also shows how every action, every person, every decision makes such a big impact on the world around us.
Hope is a fickle thing too. We can hope for the best but we also need to plan for the worst. We have to be able to find that balance and not lose hope for what is right and good in the world because it’s worth hoping for.

It was so interesting to see Sciona’s character arc evolve throughout the story. In the end she had to learn to live with and work with her flaws to do the right thing and do good for the world and others. Sciona is a character that meant well, her intent was not to cause harm or hurt, but she was selfish to a fault. She struggled to get out of her own head enough to see how much her ideas and decisions and actions would truly impact the world around her.

I really loved the conversation about morality in this story too. It really hits hard. Is intention to do good all that matters? Or is the outcome of your actions all that matter? Or is it somewhere between?

Much like ML Wang opened up discussions about war and propaganda in Sword of Kaigen, she now gives us a fantasy setting where a young woman Scions and her assistant Thomil are breaking the boundaries and stereotypes society has put into place for them whether it be based on gender, race, or class. A high stakes fantasy story where one woman’s actions can change the future of the world with everyone around her, this book will not only open up discussions, but will make you think on how it relates to the world we live in today, for fans of Babel this will stand on its own and hold its own place in the fantasy realm.

Rating: 5/5
e-ARC review - Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

I'm still in shock, I'm gutted, enraged.
How can I book have all this power over me? It was one of the best reads this year.
I couldn't stop reading, I HAD to know how the story ended. This book was so well written, had such a raw feeling. I still fight words on how to describe it. If you loved Babel, you SHOULD read Blood Over Bright Haven.
This one is an insta favorite.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was my first M.L. Wang and a highly anticipated book on my list. The opening of this book was heart pounding and drew you into the World but abruptly the pacing slowed and 1/3 of this book was little to no action. The magic system and world building had too much over explaining with a lot of repetition. I feel like every page turn I was waiting to get back to that action packed first chapter. The themes of imperialism, misogyny, xenophobia were prominent in this story. Showing two characters with different statuses and upbringing come to understand one another and take down a bigger evil. Although this storyline has been done time and time again (Pocahontas, Zootopia, almost all disney movies), I think Sciona and Thomil as character is what kept it fresh and interesting. The back half of the story did ramp up again and M.L. didn't hold back in showing the dangers of societal actions (and the actions of the past) that can affect people around you.

M.L. Wang did a wonderful job developing an emotional impactful story with deep character analysis of Sciona, Thomil, and all the secondary characters. You wanted to root for Thomil and Sciona but knew it was doomed from the start. It got a bit "white savior" at some points and I'm not a fan of oppressor/oppressed romances. Honestly, may have been a good fantasy without romance added. Sciona was driven by her desires and ego with a single minded mission to accomplish. It was frustrating to follow her story and sometimes I felt like screaming at her actions. It was a deep contrast to Thomil who had to think for his people and their future in a tyrannical and cruel society. I did love Carra's character. She showcased that deep, guttural rage someone would feel when all you want to fight back when you have been living in harsh conditions.

I would recommend this read. This was an interesting dark academia fantasy that may have some people look inward to some of their own small prejudices. It got really dark in chapters and I had to take a break from reading multiple times. I truly appreciate these types of stories for readers and cant wait to see what M.L. Wang has next.

Thank you Netgalley, Del Ray Publishing, and M.L. Wang for an early copy for my honest review.

This was an absolutely wild, brutal ride, and while it was a bit heavy handed at times, I really enjoyed this story. Immersive storytelling and wonderful introspection make this a fantastic read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.