Haven by Mary Lindsey

Haven
by Mary Lindsey
Read: November 8 - 13, 2017
Published: November 7, 2017 by Entangled Publishing 
Source: Finished copy from Publisher
Category: YA, PNR, Shifters, Werewolves, 
Find: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Indiebound

"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. 
__________________________________________________________________

Haven is a pretty typical shifter YA PNR, except that it is told in the boy's POV. This boy Rain, as usual, moves to a small town and discovers something weird is going on with the residents. As per usual with these books, I enjoyed discovering what was going in this town along with Rain. Also, it was interesting reading this story from a guy's perspective, especially as he is the outsider in this scenario, not sure at first what is happening. Typically it is the girl who is discovering the supernatural world, so this was a refreshing twist. 

Haven is heavily romance focused and Rain's growing relationship with Freddie is a huge part of the story. However , the romance started a little too fast for me. The story also contains a lot of revelations and world set up "rules" that seemed to be revealed quicker than the story was paced, and I ended up a little bit confused at times because of it. 

Another thing that bugged me is that Rain and Freddie's relationship gets serious very quickly, but it's also completely fade to black, which threw me off. Either show those scenes (and make it an older YA or adult book), or don't imply them at all, especially to the degree they were implied. I felt like I missed some of the romance development because of that, and something about it bothered me a lot, which in turn, threw off my feelings about the entire story.

While I enjoyed Haven, I think I'm growing out of the typical YA PNR. I've seen a lot of praise for this book, and I think I would have really liked it some years ago. But while I was entertained and wanted to keep reading until the end, I wasn't blown away by it. I really did like Rain though, and I enjoyed seeing him find a place for himself and make friends. While I admire Freddie, I didn't feel like I got quite as close to her. And I didn't feel as connected to her emotionally, and emotional connection is pretty much everything for me when I read and rate a book. 

Love Triangle Factor: None
Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone, as far as I can tell. If this series continues, I hope it follows another character.