Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang🎧Moira Quirk

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.

Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but Blood Over Bright Haven ended up being underwhelming. The beginning of the book was really interesting and held my attention, and I appreciated all of the details surrounding the magical system and how it worked, but the characters themselves were difficult to like. It's hard to enjoy a story when you can't relate to the main characters and their beliefs/ideals. The story also felt entirely too long. It started to drag after awhile and I lost interest. 

I contemplated DNFing this one around 40% but decided to Google the ending instead. Once I learned what happened, I was curious enough to finish the book to see how everything would play out. I think the author did a disservice to her characters, and I wholeheartedly disagree with how this story concluded. It feels like a lot of it was done for shock value, and some of the sacrifices felt unnecessary. I can see how some people would view the ending as hopeful or inevitable, but the whole story revolved around how smart Sciona was. She comes up with solutions to hard problems all the time, they talk about her being the greatest mage of her generation, but she couldn't come up with anything better at the end?

I will say that Moira Quirk (the narrator) was absolutely phenomenal. Her range of voices made every character feel unique, and I could easily identify them by how they sounded. I absolutely loved that aspect of this book. Honestly, she was part of the reason I kept listening. 

All in all, it wasn't a bad story. The world Wang created is incredibly described and explained, and a lot of time goes into making sure readers understand the intricacies of magic and how it works on a fundamental and theoretical level. I had no trouble following Sciona's explanations of her work, and Thomil asked predictable and relatable questions that allowed me to better understand the process. 

I do think the story as a whole could have been shorter, and I wish the pacing hadn't been so slow, but I feel like we'd lose a lot of the explanations and dialogue related to the worldbuilding if it were shorter/faster. It was also hard to justify and understand the main character's choices when I never felt a connection to them. I remained an outside observer the entire time, so I wasn't as invested in their lives as I should have been.  

Definitely give this one a shot if you like intricate magical systems and complex worldbuilding. Saying this book is dark academia was a little off the mark, and I'm not sure how it relates to Fullmetal Alchemist, but I will say that Blood Over Bright Haven was unlike anything else I've read before. (★★★☆☆)