Havenfall
Author: Sara Holland
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Series: Havenfall #1
Release Date: March 3rd 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
A safe haven between four realms. The girl sworn to protect it–at any cost. New York Times bestselling author Sara Holland crafts a breathtaking new contemporary fantasy perfect for fans of Melissa Albert and Holly Black.
Hidden deep in the mountains of Colorado lies the Inn at Havenfall, a sanctuary that connects ancient worlds–each with their own magic–together. For generations, the inn has protected all who seek refuge within its walls, and any who disrupt the peace can never return.
For Maddie Morrow, summers at the inn are more than a chance to experience this magic first-hand. Havenfall is an escape from reality, where her mother sits on death row accused of murdering Maddie’s brother. It’s where Maddie fell in love with handsome Fiorden soldier Brekken. And it’s where one day she hopes to inherit the role of Innkeeper from her beloved uncle.
But this summer, the impossible happens–a dead body is found, shattering everything the inn stands for. With Brekken missing, her uncle gravely injured, and a dangerous creature on the loose, Maddie suddenly finds herself responsible for the safety of everyone in Havenfall. She’ll do anything to uncover the truth, even if it means working together with an alluring new staffer Taya, who seems to know more than she’s letting on. As dark secrets are revealed about the inn itself, one thing becomes clear to Maddie–no one can be trusted, and no one is safe . . .
Sara Holland takes the lush fantasy that captured readers in Everless and Evermore and weaves it into the real world to create a wholly captivating new series where power and peril lurk behind every door.
my review
I received a free copy for an honest review.
A summary of my experience: Well, that was a lot better than expected.
Maybe it as because I have been having the worst reading luck and had been reading THE WORST BOOKS recently, but I am so happy that streak had finally stopped with this book. This book was good. It was actually good.
Let’s start off with the characters. Havenfall had an excellent portrayal of trauma with our protagonist Maddie Marrow, and the characters all had extremely consistent and behavior that correlates with what we have interest from them as characters. Even better, the book was able to have so many layers of different twists within the plot-lines without ever throwing the foundation of each character out the window. these “twists” not only made sense within the story, it was still realistic because we can still “see” the characters doing the actions implied.
Speaking of the story, how the hell can we not mention just how many goddamn twists there are in this book. This book is literally twists within twists within twists.
(I’m so sorry that it was so unnecessary. I would leave now).
But what surprised me even more was not just the fact that there were so many twists, but that it all works. It had a consistent pace throughout the entire book (I didn’t get any whiplash, yay). And it was slowly revealing a twist that makes me original think this must be it, before it totally took that though of mine and cremated it. That’s how I’m going to describe it.
For those who are thinking about reading the book, obviously I can’t elaborate upon the twists any longer. But if you are looking for a book that doesn’t give you whiplash in its pacing, it has consistency in its story-line and character behaviors, as well as twists that actually make sense (and not just there to shock you), this book is for you.
about the author
Sara Holland grew up in small-town Minnesota among hundreds of books. She graduated from Wesleyan University and worked in a tea shop, a dentist’s office, and a state capitol building before heading to New York to work in publishing. These days, she can be found exploring the city’s bookstores or finding new ways to put caffeine in her bloodstream. EVERLESS is her debut novel .