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A review by msorendreads
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover!" doesn't seem to apply to actual books. At least, not in my opinion. I do frequently judge books by their covers --guilty as charged, it is how I pick out books I'm interested in. Blood Over Bright Haven is no different. The initial glance of the cover, with the typewriter and flames, immediately caught my eye. Upon further review, it was clear that this was definitely a book up my alley.
I started Blood Over Bright Haven on January 1st and couldn't put it down --given it's Winter Break for me, I was able to finish it within 24 hours. A combination of religious and racial commentary as well as feminist prose, M.L. Wang combines three of the most controversial topics for a book to create a dark academic piece that builds lore around treatment of the Kwen people as well as women.
A little preachy at some points, and more academic than fantasy in others, Blood Over Bright Haven is pretty good. It could be better, though you'll be hard pressed to find The Perfect Book™️the second day of the year. The main character, Sciona, is a brilliant, if not a bit rude and stand-offish, mage whose goal is to become the first ever woman archmage in her city (truthfully, the entire time, I was picturing Elphaba while I read it but Sciona is not green so I don't know why). The whole basis of the first quarter of the book is dedicated to Sciona proving she is absolutely the best magic user amongst the men she works with. All while teaching a Kwen man --Thomil --about magic because her colleague thought it would be funny to make the janitor her assistant. If you're hoping for romance, don't get your hopes up too high, though.
The Kwen very obviously represent a minority group, often being insulted and called savages, monsters, heathens, etc. throughout the story, even by Sciona. Thomil is introduced in the start of the book and he's an important part of the narrative, though he mostly just calls Sciona out on her comments and unintentional racism. However, he's also introduced as the opposite to Sciona's hyper-intelligent, "believes in another deity so we may not get along" love interest. Sciona has interalized bias, being raised to believe that the Kwen people are less than those of Tiran --the city in which they live, founded by God who sent tablets to the founding mage then told him to create the utopia they live in.
Does that sound familiar? God, stone tablets that gave all the rules and commandments, utopias and the tablets disappearing again? If you also thought, "Mormons?" then you and I shared the same thought process. From then on, I read the book as a woman losing her religion and learning that just because she was taught it was okay doesn't actually means its okay.
While it's not my favorite book, it is still a solid read. I do recommend it, if you're interested in religious trauma and feminism with a side of being called out on casual racism.
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War