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

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read The Sword of Kaigen last year and loved it. It was one of my favorite books read in 2024. Now M.L. Wang brings another fantasy standalone book, similar to TSoK in a lot of ways that seem to be her style: the emotional things, compelling storytelling, great characterization and a unique magic system; but at the same time BOBH stands on its own, and in my opinion is an improvement. It covers a lot of social issues like misogyny, racism, elitism, classism, religion, indoctrination, politics, that were well woven into the story.

The magic system is unique and intricate, never seen something like it before. I understand how it can be confusing at first, then I realized it was basically algorithms and coding, and it clicked. The spellagraphs and conduits, the elaborate spells, and the truth behind the magic, everything was so well crafted and played an important part of the story.

Sciona, the FMC, is the perfect example of someone being fed with propaganda to the point where they’re so indoctrinated that they follow it without question, and blindly following a religion is also a main theme of this book, because the High Magistry and the magic in this world is basically treated like religion with its own bible and everything. She starts with the goal of being the first female high mage, and she does (not really a spoiler it happens within the first chapters), but it’s everything that happens after that makes the story and her character interesting. How she deals with the institutional sexism, her relationship with her family, her relationship with her mentor, and her reaction to the “dark secret” behind magic, it made her such an interesting person to follow

Thomil, the MMC, gives you another perspective. While Sciona faces misogyny in an environment dominated by men, he faces racism and classism for being a Kwen, who are treated as less than human by the Tiranish people. He became an integral part of this story and Sciona’s journey. He was the balance to her character, helped her see things in a different way than wasn’t just the Tiranish faith, made her question everything. They clashed very often, but it was precisely this that moved the story and contributed to developing their characters.

The ending was heartbreaking, but also poetic. The perfect balance between chaos and peace, that portrays the idea of “one door closes and another opens.” A tragic ending and a hopeful new beginning.

Would I like a sequel? Of course, I’d wouldn’t mind seeing what happened to this world after the ending.
Is it necessary? I don’t think so. This truly is a standalone with a great, satisfactory ending.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings