Thank you to Cornerstone (Random House) for providing an ARC via NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I want to tell people to read this book. Not to simply recommend it, but to demand it of them. Fantasy is no stranger to discussing flawed systems or the lies that protect it because fantasy loves to hold up a hero who changes everything. Blood Over Bright Haven is a book that changes the approach and resolution of revolutionary stories. A bold tale of resistance and complicity which throws complex emotions to the centre stage. The flawed, heartbreaking and occasionally hopeless nature of emotions challenged the main character and readers together to confidently shine a light on the reality of the bias of societal structure. This is a refreshing, memorable read. The consideration of the book’s themes alongside an intelligent academic fantasy setting will appeal to readers wanting more from fantasy.

Through the pursuit of education and truth, this book becomes a strong reminder of how those in power gain from shaping people’s thoughts. In this way, it holds up a light to our society using the magic system as a mirror for structures of power. To explore the specific details of how Blood Over Bright Haven achieved a powerful journey through character and worldbuilding, read on, but I hope I have already inspired you to consider this story as your next read.


The next part of my review talks about the strongest aspects of the book in detail. Whilst there are no outright spoilers, I would only read on if you are seeking to decide if you want to read the book or have already read the book.



It’s a magical academic setting, huzzah! The author built an elaborate path to understanding magic through the academic setting. Rather than staring hard at a brick to move it, Wang showcases a detailed step-by-step method for accessing magic. This level of thought and dedication will appeal to avid fantasy readers. The source, the method, the transfer and the end result are each handled with individual care in a new system of accessing energy/magic.

As much as I love a system to admire in its own right, it was further enhanced by its thematic role in the story. What is magic but another form of power? Fantasy has told us magical stories in many forms, from the underdog borne with great power to the hero who fought for power. Blood Over Bright Haven demonstrates a magical system that is protected and passed down to selected people creating a purpose-built sphere of power. Through the use of academic institutions, you see the protected circle and power of knowledge.

Not only does this mean reproducing the power system, but there is more than one dark side to the education system. How it handpicks truth, creates a hierarchy of intellectual superiority and rewards dangerous levels of productivity for society’s selfish gains. Education is a powerful, beautiful force, but I really appreciated how the story explored the broken side of it as well. Furthermore, rather than education being a structure on its own, the author shows how religion, law and history are all intertwined to create a rigid canvas of what society will look like. A powerful reminder of how societal structures and classes are not a by-product of living, but ultimately a collective choice, carefully maintained by the people it serves.

What brings the most out of the story is who is telling it. Sciona, the outcast of the University, the heroine of our hearts? The academy is exclusionary, but Sciona is the one to stand up when told to sit down. She is the first woman to become Highmage. Being excluded whilst being a dedicated student gives her the voice of admiring the prescribed messages of success and power, whilst also being able to view the institution as flawed and unfairly selective. Her complicated feelings ensure the story is more than a lecture to audiences, but a deeper look into systems and what they do vs what they should mean.

What made this book stand out, even more, was how it ultimately became a story of Sciona looking outside herself after success was sought out for her own gain, challenging us all to think about who benefits from our involvement and actions on a wider scale. The book’s ability to constantly cast a wider net ensured the story focused on being an individual existing in a society, rather than an individual on their own. Most books about change ignore this important part of revolution by centring on the concept of self. This grounded approach of focusing on society itself challenges readers to think and I applaud this book for talking about hard truths without an ego.



Now, I would like to talk in more depth about the characters themselves. A major part of what made this novel stand out. They were well-developed and demonstrated how a flawed society will inevitably shape flawed people.

Blood Over Bright Havan strongly focuses on two characters, Sciona and Thomil. These characters represent two parts of society and were hand-selected as the leads because they best voiced the story’s themes. The characters stood out in their own right as the complexities in the book extended to them. Specifically focusing on their relationships on what the truth means.

After showing a determined young woman fighting the system, it is easy to romanticise Sciona. Her strength and dedication are easy traits to admire, especially as she showcases these traits with her own worries rather than someone with no doubts. Sciona had her own superiority complex as she valued certain qualities above all else. Even as she fought the system, she was still a part of its issues from how she treated loved ones to strangers. This nuance provides the extra, rich layers showing it was never about simpling overcoming struggle, but a question about society itself.

On one hand, she is a privileged character who has to face the responsibility for her actions. The story successfully showed how she will always fail to understand the reality of the issue whether through the pain caused or how society will respond to itself, for she has lived too long in illusion. This shows Sciona in a different light and the risk of following society. Yet, we have already seen her as one willing to stand against the system, but now she has to think about doing it for someone else rather than her own gain. A poignant change.

Whilst she remained the centre of the story, it was ultimately not her story, as she was a tool for the story to challenge complicity from within. But, her story arc ends up being the most important one. It is not a simple journey and I appreciate how it doesn’t demonstrate her as a saint for ease. From self-interest to meaningful change, action is required rather than simply meaning well. Anything less is complicity. This novel is a triumph at bringing this point home, rather than appointing a hero to worship. It is why I think this book is worthy of praise above many other stories of revolution and it is why this book deserves an attentive audience.

On the other hand, Thomil is the voice of the powerless. As Sciona is the main character, their relationship is the main role in the story. It changes both of them in different ways. Their time together was a crucial part of the journey, but his page time wasn’t just about proving his hardships were unjust to another. Wang remembered to show Thomil as a person were complex feelings, rather than a catalyst for change. It portrays what the reality has been like for him to live with the horrendous actions of others and the various ways it affected his life. The pain is not simply an emotion used to invoke sympathy, but a truth that can’t be normalised and dismissed, erased or diluted for accessibility. The language invoked his feelings of desperation, rage and loss, and awareness of how society will value his truth. Thomil became a character whose voice will stay with me for his unflinching look at this reality.

Rather than leading him down a path to an almost idealistic solution, it told a story about the continuous cost of society’s failure and the flawed reaction of humans. Softly embedded in the story was the hope that slow change can occur, to hopefully promise the future does not have to be the same even with the sad awareness that it will never be enough for what has been taken. The tentative way he viewed hope was powerful in a different way to explosive stories and why his own journey was heart-breaking yet triumphant.



Conclusion
It is hard to capture the remarkable way this fantasy novel broke down society to highlight systematic oppression and our collective complicity with a grounded resoluteness. The fantasy elements were compelling in their own right with a rich magic system and history, but the themes outshone it all, using the characters’ emotional journeys to question societal systems. A revolutionary tale whose truth forgo the usual flair of storytelling and asks more of its readers. To value change itself, rather than a single person with shiny armour carrying the pursuit of change on their own shoulders. The story carries the danger of buckling under the weight of loss but encourages us to look to the future with action in our minds. It is a magical story, but you cannot ignore the truth at the heart of it. A story to stay with its readers, for more than one reason. After all the power of a good fantasy story has never been one thing.

This book made me realize what lured me to dark academia in the first place. Wang blends fantasy and academia so well together in this extremely dark and challenging book. Her world-building was phenomenal and the depth and love she poured into her characters was the icing on the cake. The main themes of this novel focus on racism and sexism, two important topics, and she discusses them both well. We can see through her characters the effects of these institutional systems on people from both sides and see how when faced with the harsh truth of reality, some may turn away while others will look it in the face and challenge their beliefs for a better world. I absolutely loved every word of this novel!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review

At times brutal, this is an ambitious dark academia standalone with elements of gaslamp fantasy and sci-fi, which explores the horrifying reality of brutal colonialism, the stealing of land and natural resources, and religious zealotry. While a bit wordy, with a big focus on the academic side of magic and mages, the slow beginning pace ramps up at the 45% mark and you're hurled into this great unravelling of the truth FMC Sciona has always believed in. There are dark themes tackled, from classism and racism to SA, suicidal ideation and straight up gore, so please be aware of them before picking this book up. Overall, I was very sucked in to the world of Tiran, a magical city beneath a protective barrier, and the Kwen - the wild lands beyond, inhabited by nomadic tribes constantly moving to avoid the mysterious and deadly Blight.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the storytelling in Blood Over Bright Haven and relatable, likable characters,. Loved every single second reading it.

Rating - 5⭐️

I feel like this review would never do the book justice but I’ll give it a go anyway😭

If you loved Babel then I can guarantee you will love this book. Or if you love the Dark Academia genre in general, you will love this too!!

This book masterfully deals with many themes such as sexism, privilege, oppression, and power.

This is one of the few magic systems in adult fantasy that I’ve actually been in awe of. It was very highly detailed but did’t really feel info dumpy in my opinion because the descriptions and explanations were written so well that I could easily understand the complex world building and magic system. (There’s also a terminology guide and map available but I never needed to use them).

As for the characters, Sciona had such a great character arc and I honestly found her so frustrating in the beginning but I loved that she made me feel that way because she was an intentionally flawed and unlikeable character. However, I became so proud of her growth by the end of the book.

Sciona and Thomil?? LOVEEEE THEMM!!😩🫶🏻 I loved their dynamic and the growth of their relationship. The way they both interacted and went back and forth challenging each other’s beliefs, ethics, and principles. I loved how Thomil was a sort of catalyst for Sciona to open her eyes to the world she was raised in.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for a review.

Whilst I loved the premise of this book, I found the actual exectution of it to be overly complicated. I can't tell you a single thing about the magic system. The world building is very racially coded which I found interesting. The characters were very interesting - I found Sciona unlikeable at first, but as I read she became understandable. She's very real and human.

This was a brutal, gory, and challenging book to read, with content warnings for misogyny, attempted rape, racism, blood and colonialism.

I'm so disappointed because the hype surrounding this one was insane, but I just didn't enjoy it at all.

Sciona was insufferable, I think she's meant to be this strong woman who wants to bring down the patriarchy, but she just comes across as incredibly self-serving. I do think that this could have been better with more POV chapters for Thomil. We get a few dotted throughout the book, but other than that we just view him through Sciona's eyes, and despite her claiming to be better than her peers, she still believes him to be a stupid Kwen, talks to him like a toddler and only really starts to see him as anything more once they come to the realisation of what the blight is... This also meant the romance didn't work for me at all, not only did Sciona look down on him but he lapped up any attention she gave him, despite her people being the reason his family was dead. It was like a limp enemies to lovers.

I also just didn't get the magic system. It was a little convoluted, and I don't understand why the Tiranish people had to create the blight to use magic, when the Kwen used it for centuries before them without any deadly side effects. The writing seemed juvenile in places, which lead to the characters feeling the same, despite Sciona being in her late twenties, and because I didn't really gel with the characters, I didn't really care when any of the big plot reveals happened.

I know this one has had some rave reviews, so this might be a more me thing than the book itself but it just did not work for me in any way. DNF'd at 70% (I tried, I really did.)

I devoured the first 60% of this book in the space of an afternoon and then had to force myself to slow down and properly appreciate the rest of it.
Bright Haven was a fascinating look at what can happen when religion and one group's sense of superiority over another is taken to extremes, while also making statements about the Ivory Tower world in which academics live.
The main character, Sciona, was far from perfect. At times it was genuinely unpleasant watching her unravel her biased and that previously mentioned sense of superiority over other people. Watching her overcome that was satisfying and felt well-earned, especially through her interactions with Thomil. Thomil himself was also fascinating to read about, although I do find myself wishing we'd seen more of him. Given that the book opens with him, I'd expected his character to spend less time shunted off to the side of the story in favour of the main character. In some ways, it sort of goes against the spirit of the message, in my opinion. I do understand why it had to be done, but that doesn't mean it didn't feel like a missed opportunity.
Between the characters, the Academia and the message, I really enjoyed this book. I do feel like the end escalated very quickly, maybe to a somewhat over the top extent, but I also couldn't put it down, so perhaps it doesn't matter.

A captivating standalone fantasy novel from first page to last. Set in Tiran, a city of mages living through a golden era of wealth and prosperity, the story centres around Sciona Freynan, the first ever female highmage inducted into the magical brethren who control Tiran's fortunes, and Tomhil, one of the last surviving members of a tribe from outside the city's magical barrier. Together they will uncover a terrible secret, the truth behind the power and resources at Tiran's disposal.

The copy cites Fullmetal Alchemist as a key comp, and as a lover of everything Elric brothers, I just had to see if it lived up to these lofty claims. It didn't disappoint. With one of the most intriguing magic systems I've seen in some time, and excellent world building for a relatively short standalone fantasy, there is so much to love here. I'd be lying if I said that I wish this could have been a little longer, to really expand further on the lore behind Tiran, the Kwen and the ancient mages who harnessed the dark power at the heart of this brilliant tale, but these are minor gripes. A truly wonderful novel from a new favourite.

Excellent world building with a really unique magic system. I loved reading from both of the main characters perspectives and this book took the characters and the reader on an emotional rollercoaster.

I did figure out what the ‘big reveal’ would be by the second chapter but it was still really satisfying to see the characters put it together and deal with the ramifications of this. I’m also pretty sure the author wanted you to figure this out before the main characters do as the themes of book (inequality, racial prejudice, misogyny, religio-centrism & dogmatism) are very evident from the start.

A thoroughly enjoyable stand-alone fantasy with a immensely satisfying conclusion.

M.L. Wang’s The Sword of Kaigen has been on my TBR ever since it blew up on TikTok and I have been so eager to get to it. So when the publisher reached out to see if I wanted an eARC of Wang’s book Blood Over Bright Haven, I absolutely jumped at the chance, and I am so glad I did. This is an insane standalone fantasy - superbly and intricately plotted with a focus on the dark in dark academia. The themes explored in the novel are similar to those in R.F. Kuang’s Babel, but in my opinion, done much better and with more nuance in BOBH.

The character work done in this book is some of the best I’ve ever read, with the protagonist Sciona being equal parts insufferable and lovable.
She truly goes on a journey that feels authentic. She acknowledges that she faces prejudice as well as feels it against others, and how to deal with that.

The magic system was absolutely insane and so different to anything I’ve read before. M.L. Wang feels like a completely new voice in the fantasy genre, and I feel so lucky to get to read their work. This will absolutely make my top ten books of the year, no doubt about it.

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.

An incredibly unique take on colonialism that’s about as hopeful as it is heart wrenching.

thw characters and their relationships were so well written; in particular I loved Thomil. Sciona’s arc over the book was astoundingly well done for a relatively short amount of pages available and it only made the ending more painful.

The magic system was so interesting, but I will admit I found the religion difficult to grasp.

An engaging adventure. I really enjoyed this.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this.

What a triumph of Dark Academia, an incisive look at colonialism + all the oppressions that rise from it and an utterly innovative and meticulously researched book this is! To me, this is sheer brilliance. This is an unravelling of systems of injustice in education. A study of what persecutes the people, and what can be done to stop it. This is a story of hope even in the most dire situations that might seem cartoonishly evil to those who have have been lucky to not face it themselves. It is both wonderful and so wonderfully upsetting. I am in awe of M.L.'s writing, storytelling. I am in awe of the worldbuilding, of how hard it must've been to get it ever so carefully right . The magic system in this is mathematical: it is an equation that had to be picked apart just so and quite frankly, it is bonkers. But the map it places for the rest of the story to take place is so important and grounding, and it's a real testament to the author that it's as brilliant as it is.

Character-wise, though there is little to like about Sciona at the beginning and throughout, there is much to admire. I love characters aware of their flaws, of their ego and how much it bolsters them into action, and Sciona was exactly that. She was utterly frustrating because though she could recognise the oppression being beat down on her as a woman, she never quite understood her role in an oppressive system, nor the privilege she wielded over others (Thomil, Carra) because of it. Her ignorance wasn't groundbreaking, however. M.L. Wang's complete understanding of how women in our world may behave based on race and class shone through in her narration of Sciona, and despite her flaws, she made for a compelling main character. And Thomil! Oh Thomil, whose genteel nature mismatched his outer appearance. Who was judged on views that had nothing to do with his character. Whose oppression was never just a footnote, always heavy handed. Some may argue too heavy handed, but no, oppression is just like that, especially to people who are not privy to it like others. It was never a shock, but it always came as a jar because of how much it mimics the real world. As Sciona became a witness, her surprise petered in and out, and at some points, this was more annoying than his actual oppression because why are you surprised? This is the system, these are your beliefs. Unravel them.

One thing I loved about this book was how nothing was ever right. What is the best way to act when you've seen injustice? Through peace? Through violence? History has taught us the latter and I am inclined to agree. Hurt festers in the heart of the oppressed, and we can see that in Carra in particular, whose hurt has been forged into well-deserved fury by time. But what happens after all the violence, when the people you've loved have left you, and the only thing that is left for you is death? M.L. Wang tells us it's hope. It's the children. It's cyclical nature of survival: we keep moving, and we do better.

Anyway, this book comes out on my birthday(29/10), and I'll be turning 27, the age I believe Sciona is in the book. Perhaps that's why I felt close to it upon reading and seeing the traditional pub date at first, but the contents of this one will be cemented to my memory for years to come. It has quickly become one of the best books I've read this year and I will never stop recommending it.

Dare I call this book a masterpiece?

M. L. Wang has this incredible ability to imbue every character lacing these pages with vivid life, even those we're meant to hate. The interactions between Sciona, Thomil, Carra and others are utterly fascinating, and the development of central characters like Sciona - who comes across in the beginning as both sympathetic and irritating in equal measure - is carefully pulled throughout the narrative. <spoiler>I especially love how, even till the end, Sciona is still so humanely flawed, still in many ways prideful and pig-headed despite her development. </spoiler>

This book handles intersectionality very well in my (admittedly privileged!) position. Central themes of gender inequality, race and wealth are both rich and certain in their portrayal, interwoven masterfully with the plot and its primary beats. Characters represent the best and worst of their environments and do an excellent job at presenting the injustices surrounding much of the worldbuilding.

This book also handles its length rather well, especially surprising for me given my personal recent beef with books that could use a shaving. The magic system is explained piecemeal enough to not come across overwhelming, and this information is presented both naturally within the narrative and through the book's interesting snippets of the Tiran's literature, which relevantly open every chapter.

The formatting of this novel is similarly lovely, with a very approachable and easy-to-read format for newcomers to fantasy, while having that special touch for experienced genre-lovers.

A new favourite!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This is a great book. I love a good well-defined magic system and this is a really good example of that, combined with great world building and compelling characters. This is is not light reading, and deals with some very heavy themes. I think it's great for books to explore these themes but in some cases it can be overdone - and this book was on the edge of that for me personally. Overall a great read especially if you like dark academia!

I went into this not knowing to expect, but wow it blew me away!
Blood Over Bright Haven combines a dark academia theme with issues of racism, misogyny, and patriarchy. The plot, which takes place in a world where magic and coding collide. Our protagonist is the flawed but ambitious Sciona, whose journey upends her firmly held beliefs and the expectations of society at large. The world-building is elaborate, and the magic system is well integrated into the story despite its complexity.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley.

This book was phenomenal! I fully expect this to be one of my best books of 2024. It was so surprising, so though provoking. Considering the length of this books, the amount of world building included was so impressive. I was also impressed by how accessible and clear the fairly complex and clever magic system was, explained in a scientific, but easy to understand way.

This book was infuriating at times, not because of the writing (which was excellent) but because of the ignorance of those in power and the horrendous sexism our female main character experiences. Despite being one of the most talented mages ever seen, she is continually dismissed for being female, told her weak female brain can’t handle things, that she can’t cope with being at the university, that she should be having babies and serving a husband rather than studying. This is necessary to understand her motivations and conflicts, but so many of the male characters were rage inducing! And that’s not even getting started on the treatment of the Kwen, which I’m deliberately avoiding so as not to give any of the plot away.

This book was so evocative, the world brought to life so clearly, with the university at the centre and the continuous drive for progress regardless of cost. This explores serious moral issues and characters are often faced with information that challenges their world view.

Loved this book, can’t recommend it highly enough.

This was one of my favourite reads of the year so far and definitely one that I’m going to think about for a long time.

The novel starts with Thomil who is part of a clan who loves in an area called Kwen which is plagued by a blight. Thomil and his family are running to get to the save haven of Tiran – a shining city with a barrier to protect from the blight.

There is a passage of time, then we meet Sciona. A female mage who is about to go through an examination to become a Highmage. Highmages are extremely skilled and highly respected – the majority of Highmages are also male and Sciona is bidding to be the first female highmage in a decade.

This novel has a unique magic system which blends science and study rather than being elemental or intuitive which I enjoyed. The worldbuilding and explanation of this magic system and the ‘rules’ of this world, it’s class-system, teachings and ways is very accessible and not too complex so it’s very easy to get into. Very visual while still allowing you to build your own picture.

The character development in this is great – it’s a standalone and quite fast-paced. The character development is believable and realistic and (in my opinion) quite emotional – if you like character development and good characters, you’ll like this. The main cast of characters is quite small but they all have their purpose to this story.

If you like a novel that doesn’t shy away from commentary and diving into themes, you’ll also like this. I feel M L Wang is so good at exploring themes and weaving them into the prose so that it doesn’t take away from the story itself, nor does it feel like she’s trying too hard to make a point.
I found the overarching theme in this to be duality. You get explorations into 2 differing ideologies, the powerful and the weak, male vs female (this is a big one) and also right and wrong.

Sciona has become one of my favourite female protagonists of all time. She’s clever, unapologetic and has a balance of being rational and emotional. I found her quite astonishing in some parts of this and I’m sad that I don’t get more of her!

Overall, highly recommend. M L Wang is becoming an auto-buy author for me!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this as an ARC – I will 100% be purchasing a copy when it comes out.

The world in Blood Over Bright Haven is fantastically compelling. It centres around a society built on the idea of ‘Truth over delusion’ which harbours at its very heart so many lies, maintained by religious taboo and existential fear. It’s absolutely delicious.

Sciona is selfish and egotistical and ruthless and brilliant, and I love it. She is the kind of ambitious person who I feel would absolutely pull the ladder up after her if she thought leaving it would mean sacrificing any of her success. Her first thought is always for herself, or very occasionally the people in her immediate vicinity who she overlooks the entire rest of the time. I think that’s a big part of what makes her such an interesting character to act as the filter through which the events of the book are processed. Her context adds a lot of depth to the world and the story that makes it incredibly compelling to read.

One of the things I think this book did particularly well was exploring the gradual process of changing your beliefs. Sciona discovers things that shake the very foundations of the world in which she lives and the principles that have governed her life, but her first instinct is to hold on. She continues to make decisions based on how she expects the world to be, as though it would warp to her expectations even after she has learned that they’re wrong. It felt like a very realistic response, and it was really fascinating to see how she and her thought process changed as the book progressed.

I highly recommend this book and I think it fits into the dark academia subgenre well, though I think its focus outside of the magic itself is more on the wider implications rather than limited to the academic sphere of influence, because the whole world the book is set in runs on the academic work that Sciona is a part of. I’m not really explaining it very well but to me it meant that it felt more expansive than something purely academia-focused in a way that I really enjoyed.