This book grabbed me by the lapels and held on TIGHT! While reading this, I was consumed by it. I could not stop thinking about this at work, while driving...while existing lol. The writing is phenomenal, the character development is flawless. You will be emotionally scarred after reading this. This is a solid dark academia/fantasy stand alone. The MC is a woman in her mid 20's and I LOVED that. It made the character more relatable to me because I am the same age as Sciona (the main character). This is definitely added to the list as one of my favorite books ever...along with The Sword of Kaigen. I think I have a new favorite author.

Brutal and unflinching, yet peppered with so many pure, tender moments. Beautifully written. Somehow both otherworldly and alarmingly close to home. Incredibly cool magic system and worldbuilding so clear it feels tangible. Everything is done well in this book. Everything.

This read really made me reflect and stretched my feelings to the max. I lost count of the number of times I gasped or clapped a hand over my mouth. Wang shocked me in ways few other authors have. Very eager to check out their other work now. 

ML Wang, un nome una certezza: dopo questa lettura e The Sword of Kaigen, si conferma come autrice di cui leggerò i libri senza pensarci due volte.

La mia lettura è iniziata al quanto alla cieca, senza eccessive ricerche riguardo ai grossi temi affrontati dalla storia. Le alte aspettative e il mio eterno cinismo mi hanno reso un po' scettica sullo sviluppo adeguato della storia, soprattutto visti i ritmi del primo arco narrativo molto frettolosi e densi. 
Sono estasiata nel dire avevo completamente torto.

Tiran, città emblema dell'innovazione e cuore pulsante della civiltà, dimostra come il progresso avrà sempre un costo, che inevitabilmente viene pagato con il sangue. La grossa ferita che traspare nel corso della storia non viene sminuita con un misero cerotto di eccessivo eroismo e ingenua positività:

Sciona non diventa magicamente l'emblema dell'altruismo e amata dal popolo, Carra non cresce come bimba indifesa e innocente, e Thomil è chiaramente eroso da un decennio di maltrattamenti.

I personaggi appaiono così vivi e autentici, rispecchiando la realtà in cui vivono attraverso i loro difetti e le loro azioni non sempre sagge. 

Ho apprezzato particolarmente la fine di Sciona: fino all'ultimo ho temuto che il suo sacrificio sarebbe andato a cancellare il peso delle conseguenze delle sue azioni perdonando il fatto che per tutta la sua vita fosse parte del sistema oppressivo, a prescindere dalle difficoltà che ha dovuto affrontare lei stessa.

Si nota come l'autrice rispetti il lettore, in quanto non usa il banale elemento shock rivelando informazioni senza fondamento, e preferisce far fiorire i temi trattati attraverso le esperienze dei personaggi e conversazioni organiche tra di loro(looking at you Babel). 

Mi trattengo dal dare il punteggio pieno per il ritmo troppo veloce iniziale: trovo che alcuni momenti emotivi molto intensi abbiano perso parte del loro impatto per l'eccessivo susseguirsi di avvenimenti. 

Detto questo, blood over bright haven mi ha dato nuova speranza con la ricerca di fantasy di mio gusto in grado di trattare tematiche serie in modo realistico e rispettoso, e per questo devo molto alla Wang. Non vedo l'ora di leggere altro dalla sua brillante mente.   

“In this city, girls like that get themselves killed.”

Positives

This book is definitely the best one I have read this year. It was well written, fast paced and ingenious. It had me in the chokehold from the very first chapter. I saw Emily fox on bookTube recommending it so I decided to check it out and the book did not disappoint. M.L Wang has become my new favorite author and I am interested in checking out more his book soon.

I shedded a few tears around 40-45% mark. There was some painfully beautiful writing there.


The book starts with the last 40 survivors of a tribe that once numbered in tens of thousands, migrating towards a city where powerful and wealthy people have created a barrier to shield themselves from blight, using magical technology.

In the city, we follow a 27 year old girl, Sciona, who is about to face the greatest test of her life that will determine if she is worthy to be a Highmage. If she succeeds she will become the first female highmage in history. On her journey to prove herself to a magistry dominated by men, she befriends a person of an "inferior race", Tommy, and together they discover the ugly truth about the magistry, the values her city is built upon, her past, and the cost of magic. She is confronted with a big question: Is having good intention at heart enough in the grand scheme of things, or does one need to consider the consequences of their actions as well?

"Is it better to be safe and broken or dead?"

The book is thought provoking. It clearly draws inspiration from the real world where privileged people, in general, have a history of exploiting and oppressing the poor, people of color and women.

The ending was the most amazing part of the book. I was on pins and needles during the last 20-30% of the book. Most books disappoint me at the ending, but the author did a superb job with the ending. It was so masterfully knitted into the fabric of story. It didn't seem like an after thought where author tries to make everyone happy by writing an ending that doesn't go with the vibe of the book.

"When you said ‘symbolism,’ I thought you were going to say it was a penis thing"

The book is fast paced, easy to read and cleverly conceived. The magic system is one of the best I have read in a while. In this world magic isn't something you inherit, it something that can be learned. Mages draw energy from other realm that is used, after coding magic formulas into a spellograph, to do magic. Drawing energy from other realm is complicated as both drawing too much or too little enegery can have negative  consequences. Sciona is an expert in mapping energy sources in the other realm. Mapping is crucial because energy is a limited resource, but mapping is hard since no one can see the other realm clearly.

The author has created a rich and  complex world, inspired by steampunk, that is both fascinating and horrifying. There is bit of info dumping but it is done in a very classy and interesting way. I had a great time learning about the magic system. I wish we had more books set in this world, but for the sake of the people in this book, I am glad it’s a stand-alone.

Her only distinction among these mages was that she was a more honest monster than any of them

Critiques
My only critique is the feminist message in the book. The problem is not the message but the explicity of it. I am not giving it 5 stars because at times the author was being too preachy and pushing his believes on the reader.  We also kept hearing about the absent father but that story arc didn't go nowhere. I'd have liked more explanation on that.

Favorite Quote

“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.

This is such a powerful statement. I wish more people could understand this. The world would be so much more peaceful and harmonious if we did.

Trigger Warning
Sexual violence, suicidal thoughts, racism.

4.75
Writing:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ 
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ 
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
World Building: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

4.5 stars!

video review | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCUSn7t6IOY&t=141s

for fans of fullmetal alchemist? the way i bought this immediately.

oh mannn... there's so much to say but also so little. this book is incredible. it's an amazing example of standalone fantasy, an amazing eample of a straight up well crafted novel, and I think the standard to which dark academia should be trying to reach as a genre.

to me, dark academia is more than a Pinterest aesthetic, but should be about works confronting the violence or corruption of institutions, using academia or an academic setting as a vessel, and this book does it wonderfully.

the reason this isn't a 5 star read for me is because there were a few things about the ending I didn't love, most of which have to do with my penchant for hopeless romanticism. the ending of this book suits the story that came before it, but like many outcomes in real life, I wish somehow it rose to something happier.

not to say that this book has a tragic, grim-dark ending, it doesn't. but I do think M.L Wang was aiming for a more hopeful feel than what I felt.

this is a novel about the violence in the world around you, and what it takes to confront it. the story unfolds and ends in a way that makes sense, and feels inevitable. and the mid-way reveal/ plot-twist in the book is PHENOMENALLY done. i can't stress that enough, one of the best reveals I've ever read.

there is so much to think about in this novel, I can see myself re-reading it to fully absorb some of the passages. it's brazenly political, anti-colonial, and anti-imperial, and confrontational of the complicity those in society have in the violence of their systems. it's fast-paced with excellent characters, and a world that I would love to see Wang explore more of. 

this is a book that should be on the radar of any fantasy reader, especially those that like political fantasy, and I highly highly recommend it.

“She was going to show Tiran something they have never seen before. She was going to show them Hellfire.”

M.L. Wang’s The Sword of Kaigen is one of the books I loved so I just had to pick up Blood Over Bright Haven. Sadly, I didn’t love this one as I did TSoK but it is still a good book. Blood Over Bright Haven discusses racism, classism, feminism, and religious bigotry.

Thomil’s POV started the book and it set my expectations higher. It was so dark and intense that I was literally on the edge of my seat as I read on. Unfortunately, the pacing after that felt slow for me, especially during the first half of the book. 

Sciona grew up in a very religious society that is deeply misogynistic and racist. As much as Sciona cries misogyny, it doesn’t change the fact that as a Tiranishwoman she has more privilege than the Kwen—especially the Kwen women. Even though I dislike Sciona, I still couldn’t help but root for her. The Tiranishmen are a hundred times worse, I wanted to squash them all especially Cleon Renthorn, that man is my enemy I don’t care if he’s fictional.

I felt like the talks about feminism and racism were only discussed through the experiences of Sciona and Thomil. I am in no way dismissing their experiences or belittling them but I would’ve loved this more if Sciona interacted with women outside her family but she’s not like other girls. With Thomil, I felt like his character only revolved around Sciona. I wish we were shown more of the Kwen community in Tiran. Also, the romance??? That was a weird addition and felt unnecessary to the story.

I understand why people gave this five stars, but it sadly didn’t work for me.

blood over bright haven is a powerful book that meditates on important and relevant themes of truth, power and survival through a magic system that makes physically literal the horrors of societal development at the price of human lives.

through her opposing tiranish and kwen characters, wang masterfully explores the warped logic the powerful uses to justify the exploitation of the powerless, and the toxic dynamic between them. it is nuanced and fully fleshed out, satisfying in its truth and takedown of the hypocrisy of it all, as are her main characters, esp sciona. all this is further propped up by the strong writing and distinct worldbuilding. 

the novel could be a bit shorter, however, and some of the plot points are surprisingly predictable for me, thus lessening the impact of their reveals overall. this book also makes me realize that dark academia isnt for me - this being my second time reading one - as i find the incessant loop of studying and research dull for the most part. in capable hands like wang's, though, this book is a must read regardless of genre preferences.