A review by tej_reads
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

 Blood Over Bright Haven nearly ruined me. 

BOBH is a fantasy, academia standalone set in a world where magic takes a mathematical spin that feels a lot like coding, mages use a spellograph to program their magic to achieve certain ends. The city of Tiran is a protected safe space away from the blight that affects that otherworld’s. 

I found the magic system interesting and very entertaining as someone who understands the fundamentals of coding, it felt familiar and so easy to understand and even if you didn't the way that Wang uses characters to explain the magic system is also wonderful in its simplicity. Without spoiling anything, there's no large information dump at the start, instead what you need to know about the world is broken into extracts at the end of a chapter and through Sciona's conversations with other characters. It does make that first few chapters slow as we find out feet in the new fantasy world but stick with this book you will be rewarded. 

Don't credit me or anyone else for your success. As it is, other people will try to credit me in order to tear you down. Be cold, be hard, and don't give them an inch.

The main characters of Sciona and Thomil were so interesting because of Sciona's racism against the Kwen and how she had to educated herself on the Kwen to overcome her racism, which in my opinion she never did. Sciona is just as proud at the end as she is at the start, you do kind of hate her but that the same time you want her to succeed, it's odd. Part of me roots for her to fight against the sexism, misogyny, racism, religious and academic supremacy, colonialism. I enjoyed how bold some of the sexism and racism was written because often in reality, it's not hidden and it's not subtle it's overt. I am also aware that she never lost that ego that made her superior to everyone else and I'm glad. She is a character that defines "complex female main character", she is imperfect and wonderfully so. BOBH is a perfect example of anti-hero done well, also she's a woman in STEM so how could I not race through this. 

Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort.

Thomil's journey was heartbreaking to read, and we never really find closure in that story line but I'm glad, it truly emphasised for me, the want and hope for a better life, free from oppression. 

You are going to suffer, BOBH will have you feeling everything but you are going to enjoy every second of it. 

Blood Over Bright Haven publishes 29 Oct 2024.

 Thank you to  M. L. Wang, Del Rey and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.