A review by grace_koalateareads
Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran was a heartbreakingly beautiful read. I can’t use my own words to do it justice, so here are some quotes from the book which sum up my experience reading it.

“It was hard to enter the detention centre, even harder to leave it.”

“‘Churches one of the three Cs of colonisation, Lucky said.

'And the other two?’ he asked.

'Contagion and carnage.’”

“Stories of endless months and years trapped on this island, unable to find out if the loved ones they'd left behind were alive, or in prison, or drowned; the despair of Not Knowing if they'd ever find out.”

“There’s no justice for the dead, but maybe you can still help the living.”

“Sometimes I think the only lucky ones are the dead. They're the only ones who sleep peacefully - them and the decision makers who never have to experience the horror of the wars they sign us up for.”

“How many horrors do you survive before death is a mercy?”