I loved this take on a portal fantasy: Looking into the lives of the people in charge of protecting the portal and the challenges they face. Even though Havenfall was technically set on "earth" the sheer proximity to other worlds made it an exciting setting. Often times we see characters stumbling into new worlds and having to learn everything from scratch. I enjoyed seeing a character who already knew a lot of the background info but was still struggling as things changed rapidly all around her. I thought the mystery element was compelling as well because so many characters were tangled up in it I was never quite sure who I could trust.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury YA for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I'll admit, I fell in love with the cover of this book. Even knowing that I am not someone who should be reviewing anything YA fantasy, I couldn't help myself. Plus it's about the center of multiple worlds in....Colorado? I had high hopes for it. Seriously -- this cover is absolutely gorgeous. Every time I look at it, I see something new.

I also thought this was the author's first book, and I was prepared to forgive a lot of things because of that. But on second look, it isn't. And honestly, I just found most of this book boring. There are 4 worlds that we know of, and one has been shut off because they have too much power and could easily harm the other worlds. (I am just realizing that also is similar to A Darker Shade of Magic, which I love....maybe that's what's wrong?) I mean I really love the concept of an Inn in the middle of nowhere that connects all these different magical places. But in actuality, this mystery in this book was fairly easy to figure out and thus I spent so many pages bored?

I think the characters just lack a lot of depth that made it hard for me to pick up. I didn't care about Maddie much, despite the fact that her mom is LITERALLY ON DEATH ROW FOR KILLING HER BROTHER? Yeah, it's a weird plot point that kind of gets ignored most of the time.

And I feel that the bisexuality of the main character is almost there for checking off boxes?

In the end, this is a good cover hiding a story that just....could have been developed more.

Havenfall by Sara Holland is a wonderful start to a new series. It has amazing world-building and character development. It has a very ambitious plot and looks forward to seeing where the story goes.

I loved it! I can't wait for the next book in the series! The main character was interesting and relatable. The story would be an easy hit with fantasy lovers but without feeling cliche or tired. I see very few bisexual main characters in fantasy and I thought it was done really well! I loved it even more than the author's other books Everless and felt that the tone of this book was much different, I would suggest this book to fantasy readers even if they weren't a fan of Holland's other work!

This drop-kicked me back into the reading groove after months of unintended literary starvation and I am so, so grateful to this book because of it. Also, I am desperate for the sequel.

I loved Sara Holland’s debut and was excited to read Havenfall. While this did keep my attention, I have to admit that the pacing was really slow. It’s filled with lots of conversation and many descriptions. Sad to say that with all of those descriptions, we weren’t really given any world-building. I didn’t really find the characters or execution of the plot to be really outstanding or interesting. While this was an interesting concept, I don’t find myself moving forward in this series.

My Rating : 4🌟
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Kindle/ Netgalley/ April2020
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<i> Thank you so much Netgalley & FFBC for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way. </i>
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Did you see this beautiful cover? I am not ashamed to say that I picked this book up for the cover. This book follows our main character Maddie as she navigates her old life by coming to Havenfall to her Uncle's inn, and all hell breaks lose, forcing her to take charge and figure how to keep the people and the Inn safe.
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First, I loved all the worlds and the people that were described. We get a glimpse of how each world operates at the start, but it becomes really interesting to figure the characteristics of them all during the story when characters interact with each other. Maddie is strong, confident and goal oriented human and how she deals with the fall of her beloved Uncle and management of the Inn is really realistic to read about. From the characters point of view, I loved the dynamic between Maddie and her long time crush/best friend Brekken.
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Second, I loved the friendship in this book. Usually when there is friendship between two girls, it can get messy or it can be amazing. This was definitely amazing. The fact that the friendship is tested to it's maximum bound is proof enough that I could fall in love with them both as the book progressed! Even when there were trying times and Maddie couldn't figure what to do with anything or how to handle the situation, you keep supporting her while reading.
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Noww coming to the plotline and the character development, Can I just say I loved that ending? It was not a surprise for me, but I loved that ending. Maddie as a character got a lot of arc and I loved watching her grow along with the circumstances. Though I didn't get to read a lot about Brekken, he managed to make me like him (Even after that misunderstood stunt that happens at the beginning). I hated a character well enough to enjoy his fate towards the end of the book and I am not sorry at all ! Though I loved almost everything about this book, it missed something and I am not sure how to pin point it. The pacing was good, the characters were good, and the writing was really well done.
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Overall, I loved the different worlds introduced in the story, it had an amazing friendship and romantic relationship, you get to relate to the main character and empathize with her as she struggles, loved the characters and the writing style and I am really looking forward to the next book! If you are a fantasy lover, definitely check this book out !

I'm not a big fantasy reader so this one took me awhile to read but I enjoyed it and the story that went with it. There is a lot of magic, mystery and of course the aspect of fantas. and lots of emotions!
Thank you for the advanced copy!

Also the cover is gorgeous so thats another thing that caught my attention with this one!

I really loved Everless so I was excited to get my hands on this book. It was very entertaining but fell short of Everless for me; it wasn't quite as exciting. Still good YA and I will recommend students read it!

Author Sara Holland’s latest offering, Havenfall, a YA fantasy set in the mountains of the Colorado, breathes new life to the portal fantasy subgenre by bringing the fantastical worlds to us through the magical inn of Havenfall— a peaceful sanctuary that serves as neutral grounds for delegates of adjacent realms to meet and trade.

It has been a hot minute since I have read a piece of portal fantasy, which seems to be a neglected YA subgenre in recent years. I am very pleased to say that this book delivered on everything I wanted in a portal fantasy, a gorgeous setting, intriguing magical races, a cozy inn to call home, and a good ole murder mystery. I love stories that take place in inns or taverns, and follow a character that would normally be in the background, or a side character. In the case of Havenfall, we get to follow along with the innkeeper’s niece.

Maddie Morrow loves to spend her summers at Havenfall, an old inn up high in the mountains of Colorado, that barely anyone knows exists. This inn harbors portals to the magical realms that sit adjacent to earth and has stood as a pillar of peace for generations, serving as a neutral ground for people of all realms to meet and trade. Havenfall also serves as an escape from reality for Maddie, as her mom sits on death row, accused of killing Maddie’s brother, and her father continues to refuse to believe such a place as Havenfall exists. It’s also where she gets to see Brekken, her icy, Fiordian boyfriend. Someday, Maddie hopes to take over the inn, once her Uncle retires. Havenfall is her home.

However, when a dead body is found on the inn’s grounds, Brekken goes missing, Maddie’s Uncle is found in a coma, and a door to a dangerous realm that has been closed off for a hundred years is cracked open, the peace of Havenfall is quickly shattered. As Maddie searches for the truth behind the murder, Maddie finds herself in charge and responsible for everyone’s safety at the inn, and she realizes those who she thought she could trust, have betrayed her, and everyone is hiding something.

Sara Holland has done a phenomenal job with this setting. I could clearly picture the rustic, glam of Havenfall and the sleepy town of Haven. I want to stay there. The realms all have different settings, their own culture, and own magic. While we don’t get to go to the realms themselves, we do get to learn about through the people that come through the portals. We get to be with the Innkeeper’s niece, and learn about the realms like she does (also, if you are not from the realm, you will suffocate after a short time being in it).

The addition of the classic whodunit murder mystery was delightful, especially in the setting of the old inn and the forest grounds around it. There is sneaking through guest bedrooms, hunting a monster in the forest, and all kinds of investigation that makes my Nancy Drew loving heart squeal. I was able to guess many of the plot twists, but I was happy that I was correct. I do think that the culprit is foreshadowed pretty heavily.

Finally, I do think Maddie as a main character is quite relatable, albeit a little “Mary Sue-ish” at times. I appreciated her ability to rise to the occasion of taking care of the inn in the time of crisis, without complaining or wallowing in self-pity. Of course she still got stressed and made mistakes, but she’s human, and humans do that under extreme pressure. I do think it is kind of ridiculous how unhelpful the other staff members were acting, but I’ll let it slide.

The ending is satisfying, but allows enough unanswered questions for the sequel. Also, I sense a love triangle in the next installment. I am interested to see where the story heads next.

So, if you love murder mysteries, charming old inns with secrets, and sleepy mountain towns, then Havenfall is the perfect story for you.

I was so grateful to get a physical arc of this book at PLA--it definitely bumped it up my TBR and I'm so glad it did! I *loved* the setting and worldbuilding of the inn and its portal doors--I thought the author did a really clever job navigating all the different tensions and tying them to Maddie's character arc. I'll definitely be recommending this book to teens who loved THE DEVOURING GRAY and Holly Black.

Love Sara Holland! This was such a departure from Everfall but just as wonderful. Such incredible world building and character development!

This was more of a 2.5 stars but I can't do half stars. This book wasn't for me, unfortunately.

The plot and world-building is good and unique, and the world-building itself seems to be the focus of the book. This feels more like a prequel than a First Book. However, there's not enough high-stakes intensity that usually goes hand-in-hand with the more life-altering situations that take place in this. The characters lack depth and good characterization, they felt really underdeveloped. I couldn't connect with any of them. The story was delivered somewhat monotonously and fell flat. Even the antagonist wasn't that great, since he only appears a handful of times and we never get to know him, his motives and motivations.

There's too much dialogue, inner monologue, and it's somewhat overly descriptive. The pacing is boringly slow. The other worlds are talked about so much, yet they're not explored-- obviously, they're going to be explored in future books but it didn't help this book. There's a lot of twists that are thrown, but they're spread out pretty evenly, at least, so it makes for a more interesting story. Also, some things didn't make sense (characters being surprised by certain things at Havenfall despite being there every summer for 10 years).

The diversity (bi main character with a married gay uncle) was great! It felt normalized rather than 'oh look at me' or either of them being the Token Bi/Gay character who's always going on about their sexuality.

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, some of it was predictable but that did not take away from my enjoyment. I love the different races that Sara Holland created and the worlds they came from. I am looking forward to reading book #2 when it comes out.

This book really has everything I could have ever wanted: portal fantasy, queer characters, magic and mystery! A pretty cover! An author I’ve loved before!

And yet, I couldn’t get into it. At all.

There was something about the pacing, something about the characters that I just couldn’t get into. I loved Sara Holland’s Everless duology. That one pulled me in from the veryfirst line. But Havenfall just… didn’t.

I had to DNF it at like, chapter 2 because I just couldn’t see myself enjoying it going forward. I’m trying to not lose myself to forcing a way through a book if I’m not going to like it. It’s never an easy decision to put down a book. I want to love everything that comes across my path, especially books that tick off all the boxes.

And Havenfall, despite promising everything I could ever want, wasn’t for me.

'Havenfall' is the first book in a new young adult fantasy duology that has a bit of something for everyone. After reading the description, I was dying to read it. I've read the author's other books and really enjoyed them, so I had pretty high hopes and expectations going in. Thankfully, I can say that (for me) it was everything I had hoped for and more. Although there were some aspects of the story that were predictable, I still really enjoyed reading it.

The characters were pretty complex, especially Maddie, our main character. She's had a traumatic past that continues to haunt her constantly and her only refuge and place that feels like home is Havenfall. Maddie was easy for me to connect and empathize with right from the beginning. I thought that she was realistic - she has her strengths, flaws, and issues just like the rest of us - and doesn't try to hide them. The other major characters were pretty well rounded and I enjoyed getting to know each of them - who they are, their pasts, any secrets they had, how their relationships with other characters changed throughout the book. There is definitely a romantic aspect to the story which normally bothers me because it always feels like it overshadows the true plot of the book. This wasn't the case with this story though. Maddie is bisexual (I think?) and a sort of love triangle develops throughout the book. I liked watching each of these relationships change and grow and what it revealed about each of the characters.

The world building was amazing - just as I knew it would be. I was immediately swept up into Maddie's world and the magic at Havenfall. The author described with so much detail and vivid imagery that I felt like I was there myself alongside Maddie. I loved learning about Havenfall, its history and secrets; the other realms with their histories, people, and landscapes; and everything in between. I hope we get to learn even more about all of these things in the next book because I was completely fascinated by it all.

The last thing I want to mention is the writing style. The story is told from the first person point of view, from Maddie's perspective. This is my favorite writing style and I'm so glad that the author decided to write the story this way. I honestly don't think I would have liked it so much if it hadn't been written in the first person. I really got to connect with Maddie during the story which is something I really love and value when it comes to reading. The closer I feel to the narrator, the more lost inside their world I can become and feel like I'm actually there experiencing everything alongside them. That was what the author did with this book and I loved it. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next book and where it will take us. I recommend this to fans of YA, fantasy, paranormal, and romance, and those who like diverse characters.

Havenfall was an interesting YA fantasy read, featuring a heroine who must run an inn that serves as a neutral meeting place for people from a group of parallel universes. I enjoyed the novel, but found parts of it to be underdeveloped and not well explained.

This solidifies it, I will read Sara Hollands grocery list and love it. Thank you to Bloomsbury YA for sending both an E-ARC and a physical ARC. I love Sara's world building, and character development. Something about all of her books is so mesmerizing. I get lost in the stories that she tells. I will forever be a fan!

—.:* quick recap!
☆ This book is about Madeline Morrow and her journey in the magical inn that runs by her uncle, Marcus.
☆ Read this book if you're a fan of well-built parallel universes, the trope of the chosen one, and (possible) love triangle storyline.
☆ You might want to consider it because it features some repetitive tropes, such as teenage runaway, the chosen ones, love triangle, magical doors as a portal to other universes, and it also has inconsistent pacing.

—.:* more thoughts!
While this is my first time reading this author's book, I'd be lying if I say I never heard of many praises towards her previous works before. Words about Holland's Everless series, both positive and negative, was often appeared in my social media feed. Though I haven't read anything from this series yet, I was particularly excited to join this tour since the moment I read the book synopsis. Some might be considered this book to be old-school for featuring many heavily-used tropes, but I personally still eager about them.

Havenfall starts with the history and origin of the four realms. Fiordenkill, where the land covers in frost and snow, the sky exposes beautiful auroras and thousand stars, and its people have power to healing flesh and growing plants. Byrn, where the land is constantly in danger of being unstable, the sky exposes two suns and three moons, and its people have the power to control elements. Solaria, where the land is full of mythical and vicious creatures, the sky exposes blazing golden lights, and its people are shape-shifters. And lastly, Haven, also known as the Earth, where the land labels as the magic-free territory, appointed as the hub that connected the other realms to conduct trades and political agreements, while its own people have no capability of doing magic and entering the other realms or even know about the existence of those other realms. Although one of the realms, Solaria, was banned from entering Havenfall after a deadly incident that took place a hundred years ago, and the door to their universe was sealed off ever since.

Havenfall isn’t about power, it’s about peace.

Everything seems to go right for 16 years old Maddie when she went as per usual to The Inn at Havenfall which runs by her uncle to spend her summer break. Everything, except the fact that her mother is currently imprisoned and on death rows for getting accused of murdering her brother. And the fact that her uncle was found unconscious after getting attacked by a mysterious creature that escapes from Solaria. All of sudden, she's in charge of protecting The Inn, a responsibility that she's been hoping for to inherit from her beloved uncle but wasn't expected to achieve this soon.

Havenfall might be dangerous, but I am equal to it. I’m part of it. I belong here, more than anywhere else.

The first aspect that stole my attention when I started reading this book was a list of descriptions about the magical parallel universes that exist along with our mundane Earth. While some people considered this particular part as an unwanted info-dumping, I personally appreciate and favor it. It was concise, well-written, and delivered important historical points that I need to know about these realms before I start devouring their storyline. It definitely helps me a lot to grasp everything that's going around the characters, especially to understand their backstories and reasonings.

I also enjoyed the short and sweet inclusion of romance in this book. While it featured a bi representation and I'm fully glad that it did, I was more invested in the general storyline of protecting The Inn and saving other characters.

We all see what we want to see, love, but there are no monsters, just people who do horrible things.

Now, while I cherished the wonderful concept of portals to other worlds and many intricate histories between all of them, there are other things that prevented me from fully enjoying this book. First and foremost, it's coming from the main character herself. Although I admire her bravery and boldness in such a volatile situation, I couldn't deny the fact that I wish she'd have more dimension in her characters. Teens are hella smart and to make her trusting everyone so easily, wasn't an original move in my opinion. This description has been used many times before, and I think it's about time for authors to be using something else in their story, rather than repeating the same old 'naive' trait in their protagonists.

The other issue that bothered me quite a bit was the inconsistency in pacing. I appreciate it when a book goes either fast-paced or slow-paced mode, but to combine these two with such an unbalance proportion, wasn't doing any favor. Well, at least for me.

However, despite all of those lacks, Havenfall was a thrilling urban fantasy from start to finish. It was a delightful first of the series that left me wanting more exploration from these magical realms.

Thank you to The FFBC & Bloomsbury for providing me with a review copy for joining the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. The quotes above were taken from an advanced review copy and are subject to change upon publication.

Sadly, this isn't the book for me. I tried a few times but ended up DNFing it. I know others who liked it, so it's a good story, but I just could not connect with it.