Review: Havenfall

Havenfall by Sara Holland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  This book was released on March 3, 2020.

This was a fun YA fantasy that takes place in the mountains of Colorado at a magical inn called Havenfall. Havenfall in kind of the central hub for several different magical worlds, and is a safe and neutral location for the inhabitants of other magical worlds to congregate. Each summer, delegates from each world meet at Havenfall, with the Innkeeper remaining the neutral party and helping to broker deals between worlds and keep things running smoothly. Maddie's uncle is the current Innkeeper, and she hopes to run Havenfall someday. When Marcus is mysteriously injured and strange things keep happening at the inn, Maddie finds herself stepping into the role earlier than she planned.

This has a good mix of fantasy elements. The magic system is interesting, and I really liked the premise of each world having its own unique magic with Havenfall being neutral ground. I also appreciated that this kept you on your toes. Maddie wasn't sure who to trust and what was really going on at the inn as she was trying to keep the inn and its guest safe. I do wish she had more self confidence and didn't blame herself for everything. I prefer stronger female characters, and Maddie presented as a character that wants to be stronger than she is, but just can't put her past behind her. To be fair, she went through some traumatic stuff as a child and teen. She also never asks anyone for help. By the end of the book she is starting to develop into the person she wants to be and the strong young woman she will need to be to run the inn and fix what's going on at Havenfall. I think she has a lot of potential! I think the character development, while slow was good and will continue to develop in the next installment.

This was a bit slow for me. It took quite a while to reveal and develop some things that I had figured out very early on in the book. That being said, they did eventually develop and were explained. Because things develop over time, there is no big info dump in the final chapters to shock you and leave your head spinning at the end. The book closes nicely with no major cliffhanger, just the promise of more to come as there is alot left unsettled at Havenfall after the incidents in this book. I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes this series in the future.

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