Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

45 reviews

ddnreads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

OMFG WHAT WAS THAT????!

It's illegal for a book to be this good 😭 the book finished me fr....


This is a book about female rage, a sort of coming of age (?), on how the so called "civilized" people built their power upon the taking, salvaging, emptying indigenous land. 

This is a reflection of how our "modernity" works. And to take that literally....

A critic of academic world of how mostly they don't live up with the truth nor knowledge...

So neatly written, so atmospheric, I can see the red. When ML WANG wrote Blood Over Bright Haven she meant it. Mother is mothering 🧎🏾‍♀️🧎🏾‍♀️🧎🏾‍♀️🧎🏾‍♀️

Of you're into high fantasy, dark academia, toppling down tyrannical government, while dealing with hope and internal conflict of your feelings.... READ THIS BOOK.

Thanks so much Del Rey Pub for the arc through Netgalley in exchange for honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Slavery, and Police brutality

cbressler80's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

I found this book difficult to rate but I think I have landed on a 4. Was this book well written for the most part? Yes. Were there difficult themes going on throughout that parallel with today’s world? Yes. Was this a difficult read emotionally? Yes.  Did I cry? No.  This however is probably one of the first times I needed to take emotional breaks from what I was reading because the evil in it for myself was hard to take. My criticisms of this book more have to do with the ending.  To take a book that deals which such a HUGE moral issue and then not have some type of epilogue was difficult for me. I also had a pretty descent idea of what was coming so when it happened it didn’t have the emotional punch maybe it should have had. I also ended it still feeling very hopeless.  It’s possible that that was the intention of the author, to leave you that unsettled so you would think about this in a way such as what would I do if I was living in this world? Overall I am glad I read this book but it’s going to be like some other books I have read where I’m glad I read it but I never want to read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

stijlwaters's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

A very good read, and a really delightful magic system and world—both of which serve the overarching message of the book. Really incisive and well put together, but my only complaint is the dialogue could really stretch on. I tend to prefer a bit more show than tell.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

libraryindreams's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow, so when people said her books was really good, and yeah, I totally agreed with them because after finishing it, I knew how good it was.

I knew it was set in academia, but what I didn't expect was how truly academic the world was. Like, it was so vibrant with all the magic of coding, mathematics, portals, etc. It just gave me all the academia atmosphere I wanted, and I loved it. And the best parts of this book were absolutely the main case that affected all the characters, putting important subjects that many people dealt with in real life. It all brought back the characters to question their morality, what's right and wrong, and then the outcome direction of their actions. By the end, the author showed how every intention or action that was taken eventually needed more time to grow, with a lot of hope so it could develop for a better impact. I was definitely in awe of how this concept was used by the author in her plot, making me as a reader reflect on that in my life because we could see these things happening a lot in a lifetime. For other subjects such as friendship that formed when ugly truths came out or the sprinkle of romance that was poured between chaos, it was something I enjoyed too.

Altogether, I liked how this book ended and the way she completed the story. A very acceptable ending, even though along the way it was so infuriating and somehow heart-wrenching. What a solid plot book, and it was an amazing experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

soapsoapsoap's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, War, Classism, and Deportation

rj_bruce's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Really loved this self contained story. I enjoyed the magic system and how thoroughly it was explained. The real highlight was the characters and how their strengths tie directly into their weaknesses. Scionas fight against misogyny while being pretty blatantly racist towards Thomil and the Kwen was a great dynamic to watch play out. The mystery of the blight and how the in-world magic works was another highlight

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

kinnisha's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

mmiamuse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

e_len's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This book wrecked me.
It took me a long while to finish it, because I kept picking it up and immediately putting it down, not in the mood for something so heavy, so infuriating, so painful.
M.L. Wang knows like no other how to invoke emotions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Rape

insomniacsun's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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.

She had always belonged here among these insatiable men, her brothers in greed and ego. Her only distinction among these mages was that she was a more honest monster than any of them, and she would die an honest mage of Tiran: finely dressed and filthy-souled, taking with arrogance what was not hers to take.

E invece ML Wang decide di colpirmi con questo: una morente Sciona che accetta le sue colpe, che accetta di non essere poter assistere di persona al segno che ha lasciato sul mondo, che accetta di non essere riconosciuta da Tiran come il genio che il suo ego nutriva, che accetta di essere ricordata per aver perseguito la verità solo da Thomil e Carra. 
Come posso non adorare un personaggio del genere.

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.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Police brutality, Car accident, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Torture, and Medical trauma