Spoiler-Free Review

It’s been a while since a book really chewed me up and spit me out, and that’s exactly what Blood Over Bright Haven did.

Click here for content warnings. Many thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

What’s Blood Over Bright Haven about?

The city of Tiran’s first female highmage and her indigenous lab assistant discover a horrifying secret that could destroy their city, if it doesn’t destroy them first.

This book blew me away.

I have so much to say about this read, and yet as I sit here to type out my words, I find myself hesitating to put my thoughts together coherently. Because it was just genuinely that good. I’m practically gobsmacked. So let’s take it piece by piece.

I’ll start with the magic system, since that’s one of the first things that made me realize I was in for a truly unique reading experience. In this world, magic operates a lot like computer programming. Dedicated magical practitioners, called mages, use machines called spellographs. Imagine something akin to a typewriter, with a large hoop attached that can generate a black and white mapping image. The mapping image shows the user where to identify pockets of energy, which they can siphon to generate spells. This kind of distinctive magic system reels me in as a reader, and ML Wang did a great job educating the reader on how it works without ever info dumping – an amazing feat considering it’s a standalone, as well.

Setting was another area in which this book excelled. This story takes place in Tiran, a magically protected city in its industrial era. In Tiran, magehood is both a research field as well as a pathway to city leadership. The magic and the setting combine to create a somewhat gaslamp fantasy mixed with a dark academia vibe.

But despite the magic, it’s a serious read. Blood Over Bright Haven manages to pack in a wide array of themes, including justice, faith, ambition, prejudice, selfishness, and even the weight of a soul. And ML Wang did not pull her punches. The resounding message was clear: our so-called “great” nations do not and cannot exist without the exploitation and genocide of someone else. It’s also an apt exploration about how racism and sexism coincide; where there’s one, there’s always the other.

This story even explores the ways in which religion can be used to oppress, deny, or elevate as it sees fit, and how it can be used to delude others and even oneself.

Blood Over Bright Haven also nails its plot points and pacing. The midpoint has an absolutely sinister plot twist and changes everything, and the second half of the book had me both hooked and dreading what would come next at the same time. I couldn’t look away, even as it ripped my heart out. I cried.

We also have to discuss the masterful character-building and growth arcs shown here. Our main character is both likeable and unlikeable – Sciona is selfish, overly ambitious, single-minded, and prejudiced. She admittedly cares little for others. And this is exactly what enables her to rise above her station. Despite her flaws, she also craves the truth, and she’s too intelligent to accept incomplete answers.

Thomil provided a much-needed counterweight to Sciona, both in worldview and in morals. He’s a Kwen, which means he’s indigenous to the world outside Tiran’s borders, and therefore treated as a lower-class citizen. Thomil is a janitor when we first meet him, and he’s only “promoted” to lab assistant because the other highmages think it’s a funny way to protest Sciona’s placement as the first female highmage. Rather than giving her a trained assistant, they give her a janitor. But Sciona, being too proud to back down, accepts Thomil to the role and trains him. What ensues because of their partnership changes everything.

Blood Over Bright Haven was crafted with heart and intelligence. I cannot recommend it enough.

Should you read Blood Over Bright Haven?

If you like dark fantasy novels, academically-oriented magic systems, and heavy-hitting themes, this is the book for you. It’s also a standalone.

Mark your calendars: this one releases October 29, 2024.