Blood Over Bright Haven Paperback – July 17, 2023

Tldr; I loved and hated Blood Over Brighthaven. The author continues to create worlds I want to immerse in and characters I love and hate.To start the full review, I have to say that I spent the majority of the book severely disliking Sciona. I think most people can be put off not liking the main character.The thing is, my feelings towards Sciona are multifaceted. There were moments I couldn't stand her and moments I empathize with her. The way Wang presented people as groups was also in a way, at least in my belief no better than how woman are considered in life.Sciona. Sciona is presented as the outlier woman archetype that is too absorbed in her work to participate in the world around her. My pet peeve with this is simply that different things matter to different people. Meaning that some people may want to be a non conforming genius scholar and another might want to be a homemaker. Neither should be degraded.Alba and the Aunt.I feel that the last decision the aunt made was a bold emotional choice and it kind of gutted me. 10/10 there. Along with Alba I felt what she felt and although their characters were portrayed as the type of women that are antiquated and can hold progress back, were redeemed and I love the author for it.I like how the author came back to this in the end and perhaps that says it all as well that no one should be degraded because everyone's struggles are different and have their own strength.The KwenThe struggle is real and the philosophy of intention vs consequences was brutal. I loved it. These characters were good and Thomil was awesome. You made me think here Ms. Wang. I hope to see more in this universe.The Mages.These were solid keepers of the truth and protectors of the greater good. I could go on about each but I just finished the book.Bringham - I just feel sad for this guy. With that even after what he's done is a testament to the book overall. Truth is not black and white.Cleon Renthorn - @#%# you.I loved the book and will probably reread it again once I need a break from my backlog. Bravo Ms. Wang. Another great book for your current and future fans.

Wow.4/5 for me. I did figure out most of the twists except the last one fairly early in the book. But I don’t think it was meant to be a secret. She even spells it out later that most people in the magistry figure it out. I also knew our FMC would be sacrificing herself and I would be set up for a sad read and that the romance would be very subtle and not truly realized.I wished it was longer, but it was succinct.The main FMC I hated at first, even though she does redeem herself. I found myself wishing she would come up with a better action plan for changing the world they lived in. However, I realized that this is a more realistic view of a story. Martyrdom.People die when trying to make great change to a civilization.I loved how Wang used love as the ultimate change mechanism for our FMC protagonist. It’s also never fully realized and spelled out for you but subtle in the way she writes it in. So subtle the FMC can barely register what has happened to her own thought processes and then evolves to even reflect on how horrible she has been to everyone she knows.What more can we ask of ourselves than to evolve so fully as Sciona. She takes her greatest character flaw and makes it her strength while also maintaining that it is still her greatest weakness and flaw.I love the themes in this book, very overt so as not to miss them.I love her writing as she starts with one character and then finishes the book with the same character but it’s just a glimpse of his life really while you have to infer the rest of it. He is the mechanism that produces change but he’s not our full story.He’s such an amazing character I wish there was more.This was excellent.

4.5 ⭐️I love that I went into this book blind, just put in the library hold after being influenced and read when it became available.This is the book to read to be radicalized. And if you read this and you’re not afterwards, I’ll truly be baffled by your values.We touch on so many poignant topics, especially with the political state of the U.S. and the world right now. It discusses overall government and religious influence, genocide, racism, classism, sexism, you name it. I thoroughly enjoyed how we got to witness the deeper, complex conversations between the MCs. And that it shows how thoughts can change if exposed to alternative cultures and thinking, and being able to give the space to be open minded to admitting ignorance.Only negative comment is that while I did enjoy these open conversations, it felt a little too heavy handed at times. I wanted to see something that made the reader look a little harder for those themes, but maybe that is me wanting this to mirror everyday society with the constant micro-aggressions we just tolerate. And I felt like the climax happened a little too early so the resolution was a little prolonged.But all in all, this is a book I think everyone needs to read right now with everything happening in our world.