katrinarose 's review for:

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

4.0

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I think if this had been a few hundred more pages, it could be a 5 star for me. The magic-system and plot were brilliant, and most characters were very realistic and well developed. However I felt it was missing a bit more political world-building, a few extra characters (maybe another POV?) and character relationships which left it feeling a bit simpler than it could’ve been. The themes were so relevant and painfully real, but they were also overly blunt and I feel Wang could have written them with more subtlety and trust that her readers can make the connections themselves. Despite these things, this was an excellent, unique book that I would recommend to anyone wants more of themes in Babel by R. F. Kuang, or a short standalone fantasy that is very unique and packs a punch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Rape, Suicide, Cannibalism