Reviews with content warning for Rape - Blood Over Bright Haven

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

45 reviews

ashley_mrose530's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book deserves every bit of hype that it has gotten.
To start off, Wang's writing is so poetic and detailed, it left me in awe in the very first chapter. She had a way of making me feel for these characters that I didn't even know yet as I watched them all die, in the first chapter! The imagery was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time in that chapter and it just kept on going from there. The world building was also fascinating. The magic system was set up almost like a computer animation programming system which was so interesting and inventive. I loved learning more about it as I read.
The character arc that Sciona goes through is phenomenal honestly. She starts the book of completely driven and focused on one thing to the point that she ignores everything else including her family and even her own self - her emotions as well as her well-being. But as she gets closer to Thomil, she develops more empathy for those around her and starts paying attention to the structures her society has in place and how they affect people who are different from them and that changes how she sees everything. Her arc is just perfect.
I also really loved the book ends and full-circle feel we had at the end.

At the beginning we had Thomil and his tribe running toward Tiran under a barrage of blight killing them. It was chaotic, tense, and heartbreaking, but Thomil and Kara made it so there was a little bit of hope there too. And at the end we have a very similar scene where Thomil and Kara are running with their tribe, but this time they are running away from Tiran and the guards that are trying to stop them and it's still chaotic, but it's much more hopeful as you wish for them to be able to start a new life without the plague of blight and all the harm the Tiranish had caused.

It was really poignant and beautiful to have those two scenes match and book end the story.
In short, Wang's writing and storyline kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I loved every minute of it.

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arykalden's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I remember taking a pause around page 170 I’m thinking about all of the events and conversations (some very uncomfortable!) that are already taken place and wondering where the story was going to go. Wow.
Our FL is smart but rather willfully blind. She’s so focused and ego driven that she doesn't bother to remember names or get to know people or question the world she lives in. That being said, the book is about her growth. Gaining an understanding of the issues and taking action.
Our ML is both very straightforward but has built all these layers to survive. I enjoyed reading his perspective.
I could go on and on but I rated it 5 stars. Go read it for yourselves.

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bookaquarius's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I finished Blood Over Bright Haven and it was a ride. I thought it was captivating and explicit in its themes, but I don’t think I’d return to it again. It’s Dark academia not in the leaves are turning orange and we wear burgundy plaid jackets way, but in a literal people are getting k*lled here way. This story explores themes of sexism, racism, immigration, eugenics, oppression, and other related topics. We follow Sciona and Thomil as they work together on a project for the contingent of mages Sciona is newly inducted into. Discoveries are made, beliefs are challenged, many screaming matches are had. Sciona will frustrate you to no end as she inundates you with all of her most foul beliefs about “lesser” ethnic groups.

I would disagree that this story is about a white feminist bc I think the story overall is about much more than what Sciona believes. It’s not even that simple to call her a feminist. She serves herself & her quest for power foremost and only vaguely cares about the fringe benefit to other women. I think for the majority of the book she cares about her ability to leave a mark on history, not /women’s/ ability to leave a mark. Also, to the extent “white feminism” is just a term to describe someone who can’t or won’t care about intersectionality, I don’t think this really captures her character. For me, Sciona wasn’t supposed to be the bad feminist or the revolutionary. I think the main point of her character was to demonstrate the concept of “decolonize your mind.” She paid for that work morally, symbolically, and physically and in the end it really wasn’t even about her or what these revelations meant for her. She ultimately wasn’t going to benefit or be rewarded for the work at all. It was her duty to do the work primarily so that the people she helped to oppress and k-ll could go on to shape their own fate how they saw fit. I like that the narrative took the consequences way beyond what she could control or foresee and that she had to confront, right up until the end, that it’s not up to her to sit in judgment of how people respond to decades or centuries of violence unleashed upon them without remorse.

Beyond Sciona specifically, it’s also a story about how academia can be a tool for obfuscation and oppression as much as enlightenment. Especially when a powerful few academics get to choose what history is preserved and how it’s told.

Spoilery?? ⚠️ TO ME…Sciona was Ace and that kiss shouldn’t have happened (kidding!! …. or am I?)

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taroroot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bookishvicky's review against another edition

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4.75

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing group for a digital copy of Blood Over Bright Haven for a fair and honest review.

“It was a beautiful thought– for a different world that was just, kind, and not about to collapse.”

Today is November 7th, 2024. And I am sick reading this book. I had to skim read the final ten pages for how much I wanted to scream and cry and throw up. This was not the thrill of Maeve Fly throw up, but rather the raw, hopeless, pulling out your hair kind.

M.L. Wang– you are a genius. You have delivered us a beautiful book about imperialism, racism, capitalism, classism, sexism; and you’ve done so in such a realistic way I almost want to refuse to review this book.

While the opening chapters were a touch slow and difficult to get through, the climax seemed to last half the book. I was sickened reading things I’ve seen on social media in wake of police brutiality and recently with the election. I don’t believe I can give this gorgeous book justice with my words.

“The path to God wasn’t laid for women like her. It was laid on their backs.”

Blood Over Bright Haven is bleak. It’s horrible. It shows the cruelties of men in power, language of war and conflict that negate human life, dangerous ideas that men in power in my country tote in our helpless faces. This book is violent and disgusting. This book is a raw, horrifying, nauseating truth.

This book is so important. I cannot recommend it enough.

However-- the characters are one kind of dimensional, and I feel like at times Sciona was very much white feminism-ing her way through some of the book. The end was... i dont know. On one hand, how else would it end, on another, it's so bleak and a bit white savior-y. I'm undecided. Maybe this book is actually horrible. I don't know. It's. Wow.

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antonya's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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dani_reis's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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cam_reads22's review

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4.5

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takarakeireads's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Ok I have mixed feelings about this. Preface: I finally read an arc I had from the self-published version, so I don't know how much/if any editing was done since it's now being trad published. I hope they did, because I think there is a lot of potential here! Also, I have read this author's other book Sword of Kaigen and was in the minority of people who didn't like it, so I went in with some heavy skepticism.

What I liked:

As one of THE biggest Babel fans out there, this had similar vibes. They are still VERY different books (and this doesn't even touch Babel on many levels), but yes I've seen the comparison and I do think it's generally appropriate.
This is a good dark academia book, and those elements were done really well. I liked that the magical school setting was more like a graduate/research setting. Definitely set this apart from many university set dark academias I've read.
The world building was interesting and unique. Wanting to learn more about it kept me reading. Related to that there's a mysterious nature to the first half of the book as Sciona and Thomil unravel things. And when those things start to come to light it's definitely a page turner.
I think the commentary this book is making on real-world-issues is very apt and important, and is also done well.

Neutral:

There is quite a bit of brutal, gruesome and disturbing things that happen right from the get-go (and even more later on in the book) so just be aware.

What I think could've been improved:

Once the main 'reveal' happens I think we spent too much time with Sciona's hand-wringing and reckoning with what to do. Like yes, it's shocking and world changing, but at a certain point I just needed her to get on with it. I felt myself just wanting the ending to come.
But then the actual climax/ending of the book happens super fast, and also very late in the book (like at 90% in I checked to make sure this was a standalone) and that didn't leave enough time for any resolution. After I finished I still had a LOT of logistical questions about how this world goes forward. This unfortunately was also my issue with Sword of Kaigen...
So generally there were some pacing issues.

In the end I do think this book is worth a read if you're a dark academia fan. I just don't think it's the best thing I've ever read.

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