Single Sundays: While this blog may be focused on reviewing book series as a whole, we can’t forget about the good ole’ standalone novel! On Sundays, I will review a novel that is considered to be a standalone novel. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Haven (from Goodreads):

“We all hold a beast inside. The only difference is what form it takes when freed.”

Rain Ryland has never belonged anywhere, He’s used to people judging him for his rough background, his intimidating size, and now, his orphan status. He’s always been on the outside, looking in, and he’s fine with that. Until he moves to New Wurzburg and meets Friederike Burkhart.

Freddie isn’t like normal teen girls, though. And someone wants her dead for it. Freddie warns he’d better stay far away if he wants to stay alive, but Rain’s never been good at running from trouble. For the first time, Rain has something worth fighting for, worth living for. Worth dying for.

(Former title: Hide from Me.)

Author: Mary Lindsey
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Heat Rating: warm **suggestive content**
Point of View: Third Person, Single
Publication Date: November 7, 2017
Source & Format: Xpresso Book Tours–eARC

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

It’s been a long time since I read a YA paranormal read so I was long overdue. What drew me to Haven (originally title Hide from Me when I requested the copy) was that you don’t know what is happening in this town. What is so unique about Friederike? I loved the anticipation of finding out.

I also liked that it’s the female lead who is the “unknown”. Lots of paranormal reads have the male lead as the intriguingly mysterious interest and it’s the everyday, regular girl who finds herself thrown into this new paranormal world. But here, Rain is your everyday person and Friederike is the mystery.

The Concept / The World:

I really enjoyed that this book took its time with revealing everything. While I did find it a little slow, it does build nicely by giving you bits and pieces at a time. I had a lot of fun trying to put everything together before the big reveal.

I don’t want to go too much into the specifics of the world because it is a spoiler (to me) and half the fun of this book is figuring out what the paranormal aspect truly is. What I will say is that for a standalone the world it is pretty full and complex. I never found the history of the world to be overwhelming (I thought the mechanics of it all worked well) but all the characters were a little much. There’s a lot of names (and relationships) to remember.

The Plot:

Like I said, this was slow to start. It’s a very long book so it takes its time to get to the action. You also get introduced to a lot of characters so you are trying to sort everyone out in your head. I thought it reached a bit of a lull in the middle where not a lot was happening as well, but it picks up near the end which is great.

What I did like is that the true nature of the town and Freddie is a mystery. I liked not knowing what was happening or why things were happening in a certain way. It’s been a long time since I read a novel where I didn’t know the paranormal twist so I enjoyed that. (I recommend not reading any reviews on Goodreads because they seem to spoil it if you want to be truly surprised).

I don’t like to compare books to other books in my reviews but I have to say that at times this book reminded me of Beautiful Creatures–in a good way. Not that these have similar plots but they have a similar archetype. You’ve got this nice boy who gets intrigued by this mysterious girl and learns that the town he lives in (nor his family) is anything like he thought. This story made me very reminiscent of that.

I wish there was a little more action though. It was a lot of talking at times with vague conversations because no one wants to let Rain in despite his best efforts. But in the meantime, I enjoyed him building his relationship with his Aunt and him trying to uncover the various mysteries of the town.

The Characters:

One thing I liked about the characters was that you didn’t know who to trust. That always makes for a more suspenseful read. However, there are a lot of characters to keep track of so perhaps that is why I didn’t know who to trust…

I liked Rain as a character. It was nice to have this story told solely from his perspective. He has great character growth from start to finish. But nothing particularly wowed me about him.

The same can be said for Freddie who I liked but never loved. What I did like about her though was that she wasn’t this perfect being like the paranormal love interests usually are (or at least were back in the day). She had her flaws too and it was intriguing to learn why.

The Romance:

This was definitely a weak point for me. While I loved the passion between these two it was a little too “unexplained” connection (almost insta-love) for me. It’s a shame in a way because I liked how Rain and Freddie worked as partners and balanced each other out as the story progressed. But the start was a little to BAM! for me.

My Rating: 3.5/5

In the end, I really enjoyed how this book came together. It took its time to get there and it was a little overwhelming at times but I was definitely entertained. It has a lot of the features I love about YA paranormal and so it reminded me why I enjoy this genre when it’s all said and done.

Read if You Like: YA paranormal, mysterious towns, romance
Avoid if You: dislike paranormal, want more action

• Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin (Low Red Moon Series #1)
• Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl & Kami Garci (Beautiful Creatures Series #1)
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle #1)
• Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Nightshade Trilogy #1)
• Evernight by Claudia Gray (Evernight Series #1)
• Falling Under by Gwen Hayes (Falling Under Series #1)

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