Haven by Mary Lindsey
Haven by Mary Lindsey
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
“We all hold a beast inside. The only difference is what form it takes when freed.”
Aaron “Rain” Ryland had to grow up tough to survive life on the streets in the city with his mother. Nicknamed Rain early on after his mother said that Rain was the dark cloud that followed her in life Rain never expected to amount to much or succeed in life. When Rain’s mother passes away suddenly however Rain thinks he’s been left all alone until a court orders him to head to the small town of New Wurzburg to live with an aunt Rain never knew existed.
After arriving in New Wurzburg Rain finds himself drawn to a group of kids that seem to be on the outside of the rest of the students in school or more specifically Rain is drawn to Friederike Burkhart. There is just something different about Freddie, the tough as nails leader of the group of outsiders, that grabs Rain’s attention. Freddie tries to warn Rain that danger surrounds her but Rain has never backed down from a challenge a day in his life and he’s not about to start now but he never expected that a whole new world would be found in this little town.
Haven by Mary Lindsey is a young adult fantasy read that would best be described as a bit of Beauty and the Beast meets Twilight with a gender swapping tale that breaks all of the genre molds. Gone is the story featuring a weak female that needs to be saved replaced with a street smart and tough male lead that doesn’t back down from anything.
The story begins a lot like Twilight in the fact that the main character gets sent to this supernatural town to live with an aunt that is a cop. But quickly a reader finds that Rain is nothing like the timid Bella and Freddie is nothing like the sparkly vampire in the fact that there is a beast lurking inside of her.
There was a whole hidden world to discover within the pages of Haven that was rather well done with giving the town it’s own unique take of the tales that we have known. The town is full of Watchers and Weavers which are other names for what most would call werewolves and witches with mentions of the world containing vampires and zombies to add to the layers of world building. With all the rules of this unique world slowly built throughout the story it certainly became quite fascinating to learn about.
The plot within this book was also unique to those it’s compared to in other ways beside the main character being a tough male lead. Once a reader is introduced to the dark world hiding in the small town the author also infused a murder mystery into the story along with the politics of this world. A lot of different unique supporting characters and details of the world are brought in to keep the pages turning until the very end.
When finished reading Haven I’d rate this one at 4.5 stars and it certainly became a book that I’d recommend checking out for the young adult fantasy fans. I would warn though that this does contain sexual situations so it may not be suitable for the younger readers.
I received an advance copy from the publisher.
Carries Book Reviews 
Thank God that except for the beginning this isn’t another Twilight! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Carrie. I’m hoping to finish reading a really horribly written book tonight, and this is next on my list. I’m going to need an awesome read to scrub my brain.
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I really enjoyed this but maybe it’s because I did love Twilight too. I really wouldn’t mind at all if she continues this and dives deeper into the world, still politics to be decided and lots of possible openings to continue onwards. 🙂
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I loved Twilight, but then Bella really got on my nerves.😒
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Hopefully these characters will be different then! There’s a couple of side characters I wish were in it even more, loved them. 🙂
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That’s what bothered me about the Twilight series. So I had a love/hate thing going on with it.
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I swear by the third book I wanted both Edward and Jacob to tell Bella to get lost and go have a beer together! Sorry Carrie!😏
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LOL!!! Maybe they should have. 🙂
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😏😏😏😏😎
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Lmao!!! I completely understand I was feeling it at the beginning. I loved Edward and Jacob but she aggravated me especially in the movie which I seen first but everyone insited the books were better. Not much in my opinion but not trying to be a hater. Whatever tickles your pickle and chokes your chicken!😘
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Books are better at least 99% of the time. 🙂
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Exactly! Besides like Forest Gump!😨
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I didn’t mind Bella until watching the movies….Kristen Stewart, ugh.
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Yeah that might have did it for me to be honest. I watched the movie first!
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Yep, that would do it. LOL Really the Bella in my imagination was much better than the one on screen.
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Than that may be a big chunk of the problem!!
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Could be. 🙂
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Fantastic Review Carrie! I’m glad you enjoyed it!!😁
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Thanks Dani! 🙂
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