**may contain spoilers**

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury for an arc of this book for an honest review!!

Ok.. I’m honestly having trouble with what I want to rate this.. I’m at a 3⭐️ Right now.
There were parts in the books that were intriguing.. and parts that just fell short..

I liked the overall idea of this story. The Inn that was the magical meeting place for all the different worlds, Maddie being the next in line to run the inn after her uncle, and the back and forth with who to trust. All these kept me going. I really wish there was more about the worlds themselves. And not just the idea of them in the background.

The love interests troubled me. Brekken was there from the start.. so of course.. swoon.. but then enter Taya.. the vibe I got from her and Maddie together just felt like a forced love interest. They became friends and I think it would have been a lot better if their bond was more of a strong friendship rather than she’s pretty and oh we talked I think I like her. Considering the build up with Brekken and how they’ve been friends since they we little and last year she saw things possibly becoming more.. I felt the Maddie thing shouldn’t have gone in that direction.

With all that being said, it just fell short for me. The idea and world building is there.. just didn’t come together like I hoped.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I previously read a sneak peek and was very interested. I really liked Sara Holland's Everless duology, and the description of Havenfall sounded so unique!

I really liked the characters; Maddie was determined while also being very kind. She's also bisexual, and has potentially romantic situations with both a guy and a girl throughout the book. Her uncle, who is the Innkeeper of Havenfall, is gay and married to a man. The other characters were all very complex and exciting to read about.

I also liked the different worlds, especially Fiordenkill (which is mentioned to have a resemblance to Narnia), but I did wish that it was possible for Maddie to go into the other worlds. It's stated multiple times that members of one world can't stay in another for more than a few days without getting sick and dying, except at Havenfall. So, while there were many descriptions of the different worlds, Maddie (and therefore the reader) never sees them for herself, and presumably never will be able to.

The plot twist at the end involving Taya was completely unexpected for me, and I loved the way clues were subtly dropped throughout the book before the reveal. However, for the first 70% or so of the book, I felt like nothing was really happening, and then I felt that there was too much happening in the last 30% of the book.

Ever since hearing about this book earlier this year I have been waiting to read it but this was a disappointing read for me.

Maddie has dealt with a lot when it comes to her family. Even though her father wants her away from the inn, she is drawn to it since she also wants to take over after her uncle retires. My problem with Maddie was that she was very indecisive. She also pined over another character throughout the whole book and even when she was finally near him, it still wasn't good enough and then she was worried about someone else. She was never happy.

There was never a connection formed between me and the characters either. All of the minor characters were pretty flat and I just can't deal with that. I needed more from them and never got it.

As for the plot, it revolves around a mystery. It did keep me engaged for the most part but that was well after 30%. The beginning, besides the prologue, felt slow and a lot of information was thrown around about the inn and its other-realm doors. Besides all the information about the doors and some characters that were not from Haven, little else is known about the other realms. They really didn't play a huge part and I think that's why for me the fantasy element lacked a bit. Hopefully there will be more from those realms in the next book. I also guessed a few of the plot twists and the ones I didn't lacked the surprise I enjoy.

Overall, it was an interesting concept for a book but it was executed well enough for me. I'm hoping that book two will have better character development and more to do with the other realms.