Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

34 reviews

armandbaguette's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying and Death

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

daydreamsofareader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexual assault, Vomit, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

zypeee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.75

I don’t even know what or how to write this review. A well written very compelling story, but a terribly horrific subject matter. It’s hard to like something so terrible. Read with caution. See trigger warnings. 

A very driven young lady, rejects the crushing male dominance of her society to prove herself amongst the top magic wielders. Only to find out that the magic she has loved above all else comes with a deadly cost. Good does not always win. Books don’t always have happy endings. Some are just sad tales of what could easily become our realities, and in someways were and still are. 

Phew. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

coltonchase's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

lemilysnikda's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Bullying, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, and Classism

beonie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Blood over Bright Haven had a solid plot, though there were some choices I would’ve done differently—Sciona is meant to think differently, but a few decisions felt rushed or a bit silly. The book was tense, fast-paced, and well-written. While most relationships felt a bit shallow, Sciona and Thomil’s bond was wonderfully developed. The message was quite dramatic and on the nose, but it hit hard—I cried a lot during the final quarter. I really enjoyed the setting and the magical system. It's a good read, but you should be stable when reading and prepared to be crushed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Murder, and Deportation

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

izz_reading's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment

pierrereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

sammymilfort's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have no words 

This is probably one of the most important pieces of literature I will ever read 

“To hope
To hope, Highmage Freynan”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chimericsoul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

3.0

This had a lot of social/cultural/colonialism, war, patriarchy etc type themes. It fully used the fantasy/sci-fi genres scope to lay everything out for you to engage with in whatever way is usual for you. 

Personally I didn’t need that because I’m already there. It wasn’t cathartic and I’m glad I didn’t buy this. 

These works are more for people on the fence, oblivious, or the in group. They are important. But children of immigrants, outsiders, othered etc will find this just traces familiar constellations mapping out the path of what happened before leading to where we are now and asks us if we can ever evolve or heal. 

Protag could be autistic or improperly socialised/attachment issues… Their actions could be exemplary or typified. 

At the end of revolution a new paradigm must pop up in its place. There wasn’t any satisfying new ground to speculate beyond what we all have already known and experienced. But there was some hope, at least. I would have liked there to be a push beyond that. It’s all very ambiguous. 

Perhaps, the author themselves was grappling with the synthesis of all of this and may explore further in future works. Examining the aunt and cousin in later part of this book, society in aftermath of such events. These are what could be expounded upon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt