I finished my 15th book of the year! That means I remain one book ahead of schedule for my Goodreads reading challenge. There’s a lot of story in this short book, and I actually have opinions for once, so I decided to write a review about it!
Havenfall came out March 3, and I almost immediately bought it. I really enjoyed Sara Holland’s other book, Everless. I haven’t read Evermore yet, though. Oops. I was surprised to see Havenfall is only a little over 300 pages, but there was still a lot of story in this book. Anyway, here is the synopsis from Goodreads:
A safe haven between four realms. The girl sworn to protect it — at any cost.
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…
What I liked
Like I said before, there is a surprising amount of story and action packed in those 300 pages. This makes for a fast-paced read, where you won’t spend entire chapters being bored. The plot was so that I kept asking questions and made guesses about what would happen next.
I really enjoyed the setting, too. The writing is very descriptive, so I had no trouble imagining what the scenes should look like. I’m always intrigued by the idea of multiple worlds or realms, so I loved that aspect of the book. All the characters were really intriguing, too. There wasn’t a single one without a secret, and it made for very mysterious interactions. I truly wanted to know more about every character I read about.
What I liked less
I’ve said it like five hundred times, but this story is short. It’s fun and fast-paced, but also feels somewhat rushed at times. The plot will jump a little, and there’s really no sense in why or how. Especially the ending left me a little confused. It was just so sudden, it didn’t feel complete yet.
It also made some plot points slightly predictable. I said before that the book kept me guessing, but it wasn’t hard to guess what was going to happen. Although there were definitely twists I did not expect.
I enjoyed reading about all the characters, but the main character did annoy me sometimes. Maybe I’ve reached that point in my life where I don’t entirely relate to teenage characters anymore. I’ve spent quite some time internally screaming to just get an adult. But obviously that never happens. However, I liked her a lot more at the end of the story than at the beginning.
Final rating: 3.75★
Overall I enjoyed this book! There are points of improvement that I hope to see in the sequel, but I’m definitely intrigued enough to be excited for the next book.
You can find more of my reviews here!
Cover image by Jeff Finley via Unsplash
