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libertyreads789 's review for:

Havenfall by Sara Holland
4.0

Actual Rating: 3.75.

Read from February 25 to February 26.

I was kindly given an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I was first interested in this book because it’s about a hotel on top of a mountain where the doorways to other worlds were hidden. I didn’t need to read anything else about it in order to be hooked. Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

I love the concept behind this book so much. Havenfall exists to be a neutral place where people from all the different worlds can come together for discussions, trade negotiations, etc. I also love that our main character spends her summers here with her uncle exploring and meeting all these different people before having to go home to the “real world.” I really enjoyed meeting all these different types of people and learning about their worlds. I think the setting itself sounds really beautiful and I think the author did a great job putting that picture in the readers’ brains. I was able to read about two thirds of this one in one day so that definitely speaks to the readability of this novel. It was a quick read for sure.

However, there were some things I struggled with in this novel. I didn’t think the author gave enough time for what was happening. Things didn’t really get a chance to develop. This is a fantasy novel about a bunch of different worlds and peoples and a ton of action and it all takes place in a little over 300 pages? It’s just not enough. I can’t get my mind wrapped around one thing that happened before we’re already moving on to the next. I also felt like so many different outrageous things were happening that I couldn’t suspend my disbelief anymore after the 250 page mark. It was just too much. Or, again, maybe just too much in too little time.

I really do love this world and the main characters in it. I just wish everything had a bit more time to develop. I’m excited to see where the next book goes with the way the last one ended. Havenfall comes out on March 3rd.