Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

14 reviews

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

rnbhargava's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

The book has themes of genocide and also has a section of the book with the setting in an ongoing riot status. There is a scene that’s a sexual assault. Complicity in institutional segregation and genocide is the major theme of the book.

thenoboshow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rebeccakoury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

First 5 star of 2025. This book blew me away. There are so many important messages interwoven. The magic system was mind blowing to me and my jaw was on the floor multiple times. I often wondered how this story would fit in it's 400 pages but wow, just wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

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

quiteawful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt

tinybluepixel's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Infertility, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

dani_reis's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

cam_reads22's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

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