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dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
๐โพ๏ธ
๐โ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐จ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ญ.
๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.
What a reading experience this was. Coming off my love for Sword of Kaigen, I jumped into this one with very high expectations. Chapter 1 had me totally invested, but then the pacing and the plot was a bit slow. I kept setting it aside for other books. It wasn't until around the 40% mark, that the story completely captured me and wouldn't let go until the final word.
Looking back, I now appreciate that the initial slow pace served such a crucial purpose. Those early chapters meticulously constructed the magic system, established the deep-rooted tensions between the people of Tiran and the Kwens, and laid out the intricate mechanics of siphoning. All of this background was absolutely necessaryโwithout it, the emotional gut punches and complex conflicts of the latter half wouldn't have hit me with such force. Switching to the audiobook was a game-changer, too. Moira Quirk's narration was spectacular, giving voice and emotion to all the frustrating twists and turns.
Sciona's character arc was so well done. My initial dislike of her feels intentional in retrospectโher self-centeredness made her difficult to root for. But witnessing her worldview shatter transformed her completely. As the first female mage, Sciona constantly battled against the expectations and judgements from her male colleagues, forever having to prove her worth in a system designed against her. This pressure sadly manifested in her early treatment of Thomilโher biases against Kwens reflecting the same prejudice she herself faced. Her journey from privileged ignorance to painful awakening makes her growth all the more powerful.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ: ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ง๐.
Blood Over Bright Haven is everything I wanted in a standalone fantasy. This was such a timely, rage-inducing, heart-crushing read that deserves all the praise it's gotten and more. Please if this book isn't on your radar, go pick it up!
๐โ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐จ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ญ.
๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.
What a reading experience this was. Coming off my love for Sword of Kaigen, I jumped into this one with very high expectations. Chapter 1 had me totally invested, but then the pacing and the plot was a bit slow. I kept setting it aside for other books. It wasn't until around the 40% mark, that the story completely captured me and wouldn't let go until the final word.
Looking back, I now appreciate that the initial slow pace served such a crucial purpose. Those early chapters meticulously constructed the magic system, established the deep-rooted tensions between the people of Tiran and the Kwens, and laid out the intricate mechanics of siphoning. All of this background was absolutely necessaryโwithout it, the emotional gut punches and complex conflicts of the latter half wouldn't have hit me with such force. Switching to the audiobook was a game-changer, too. Moira Quirk's narration was spectacular, giving voice and emotion to all the frustrating twists and turns.
Sciona's character arc was so well done. My initial dislike of her feels intentional in retrospectโher self-centeredness made her difficult to root for. But witnessing her worldview shatter transformed her completely. As the first female mage, Sciona constantly battled against the expectations and judgements from her male colleagues, forever having to prove her worth in a system designed against her. This pressure sadly manifested in her early treatment of Thomilโher biases against Kwens reflecting the same prejudice she herself faced. Her journey from privileged ignorance to painful awakening makes her growth all the more powerful.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ: ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ง๐.
Blood Over Bright Haven is everything I wanted in a standalone fantasy. This was such a timely, rage-inducing, heart-crushing read that deserves all the praise it's gotten and more. Please if this book isn't on your radar, go pick it up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism