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docofthedarkarts 's review for:
Blood Over Bright Haven
by M.L. Wang
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5/5 Stars
Format: E-book
Spoilers: No
This was my first ML Wang novel, and all I can say is wow.
Blood Over Bright Haven is a standalone novel that falls pretty squarely into the world of fantasy and dark academia. It deals with a lot of heavy topics, including sexism, racism, classism, how indigenous/native people are treated by conquerors/colonizers, religious indoctrination, and the treatment of women in a heavily patriarchal/religious society. it manages to do all of this in one book, with a world that is built beautifully, and with some of the more interesting character dynamics I have seen.
The characters are so wonderfully done. Our main protagonist is an incredibly grey FMC who becomes the first female highmage in the history of the city. Her character arc is fascinating, given that she needs to. learn about her own biases and oppressive tendencies despite being herself oppressed throughout her life. The villains are well written, and there is a ton of character development.
The magic is a mix of computer programming science and magic, which comes at a heavy cost. The social dynamics of the world are fascinating, albeit a bit on the nose compared to aspects of our modern society. And the story itself was just really well done. There were some incredibly interesting twists and turns. The opening chapter drags you into the world with a bang, and the closing chapters bring us full circle.
Ion terms of weaknesses, for me the middle section working in the lab was a bit slow, and sometimes the monologues/expositions of the characters felt a little forced and unnatural. Sometimes it felt like the themes were bashing you over the head a bit as well, and there was some descriptive repetition. Overall though, these were minor compared to how well the rest of the story was done.
This was an excellent book, and I am really excited to jump into The Sword of Kaigen.
Format: E-book
Spoilers: No
This was my first ML Wang novel, and all I can say is wow.
Blood Over Bright Haven is a standalone novel that falls pretty squarely into the world of fantasy and dark academia. It deals with a lot of heavy topics, including sexism, racism, classism, how indigenous/native people are treated by conquerors/colonizers, religious indoctrination, and the treatment of women in a heavily patriarchal/religious society. it manages to do all of this in one book, with a world that is built beautifully, and with some of the more interesting character dynamics I have seen.
The characters are so wonderfully done. Our main protagonist is an incredibly grey FMC who becomes the first female highmage in the history of the city. Her character arc is fascinating, given that she needs to. learn about her own biases and oppressive tendencies despite being herself oppressed throughout her life. The villains are well written, and there is a ton of character development.
The magic is a mix of computer programming science and magic, which comes at a heavy cost. The social dynamics of the world are fascinating, albeit a bit on the nose compared to aspects of our modern society. And the story itself was just really well done. There were some incredibly interesting twists and turns. The opening chapter drags you into the world with a bang, and the closing chapters bring us full circle.
Ion terms of weaknesses, for me the middle section working in the lab was a bit slow, and sometimes the monologues/expositions of the characters felt a little forced and unnatural. Sometimes it felt like the themes were bashing you over the head a bit as well, and there was some descriptive repetition. Overall though, these were minor compared to how well the rest of the story was done.
This was an excellent book, and I am really excited to jump into The Sword of Kaigen.