I had an amazing time reading The Witch Haven. From the beginning I was intrigued. I love reading anything dealing with witches and magic. I considered New York to be my second home and I loved picturing New York in the early 1900s. I loved Frances as our main protagonists. She dealt with a lot. The loss of her brother, mom not being mentally stable, and surviving a horrible experience of assault. I loved her group of friends and especially the plot that made me kept me invested. I would definitely recommend this book to my students. This was great read and I actually purchased a physical copy for my collection. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to receive an early copy.

I enjoyed reading this book. I thought the characters were well developed and the plot moved at a pace that felt appropriate. I would like to read other books by this author in the future.

This book really reminded me of Libba Bray - both The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty. I liked the magic in the book, but felt that the rules weren't clearly defined. There been a few witchy YA books out recently and this is one of the better ones.

The comparison to The Last Magician is what made me request this book from NetGalley, plus I seem to be on a witch reading binge this summer.

I don’t read a ton of historical fiction, but when I do this seems to be a popular time period for me. After her mother is taken to an insane asymlum and her brother is murdered, Frances is on her own in NYC. After she’s attacked by her boss, who somehow winds up dead with her scissors in his neck, she learns she possesses magic. Frances is taken to Haxahaven Academy, a school for witches disguised as a tuberculosis sanitarium. While she’s thrilled to learn more about her powers and meet more young girls like herself, she’d hoped to do more with her magic. Haxahaven teaches girls how to control their magic – a good thing – but to primarily use it to ease the burden of household chores – not so exciting. Frances isn’t having it, and she wants more. When her brother’s friend Finn reaches out (he’s a dreamwalker), he teaches her more about magic than she’s learned at Haxahaven. After more bodies of young men turn up, Frances is convinced their deaths are connected to her brother’s, and she and Finn find themselves in the midst of a mystery.

While I liked the 1911 setting, it really doesn’t play a large part in this story. Most scenes take place at the school, brotherhood, or in the forest. The magic system is interesting – males and females have different types of powers and abilities with varying degrees of talent. Frances’s popularity level waxed and waned on my scale. She has very little at the beginning of the story, and her situation is dire, but soon after arriving at the school and making new friends she thinks nothing of asking them to take risks for her without considering the consequences for them or herself. Needing to know the identity of the murderer kept me turning the pages, but I’d guessed who was involved pretty early. The last 20% of the book takes an unexpected direction – dark and kinda creepy to say the least – but fans of morally gray characters will probably cheer. Even with the different path, the ending was a whirlwind and felt rushed to me.

This novel has wonderful diversity and representation (especially with Lena and her backstory) and also deals with topics of feminism, racism, and sexual assault (trigger warning). I’m not sure if it’s a standalone, but the ending sure felt like a second book is in the works. It had some highs and lows for me, but if you’re looking for a witchy historical fantasy that leans more on the fantasy than the history, this is a book I’d recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In 1911, Frances Hallowell finds herself working as a seamstress, living above the shop since her brother was murdered and her mother was sent to a sanitarium. One night, while working late, Frances is attacked by her boss and somehow she manages to kill him. She is quickly taken away to a tuberculosis sanitarium or at least that is what the police think. Frances is actually taken to the Haxahaven Sanitarium, a school for witches that uses tuberculosis as a cover and for protection. Frances learns that she is a powerful witch, but at Haxahaven she is not taught to use her powers to anything beyond ordinary household tasks. Frances soon becomes frustrated and becomes intrigued by a young man named Finn who is magical and is able to communicate with Frances through her dreams. Frances soon learns that she is extraordinarily powerful and that power attracts the attention of a group of men who basically run New York. Soon Frances discovers that she must decide what is most important to her, her new friends at Haxahaven, Finn and his promise to teach her how to use her powers, or finding justice for her brother's murder. Such an engaging story with both magic and historical fiction, my favorite combination!

A haven for witches sounds like the kind of atmosphere I am eager to experience in a book! Pair that with the setting of New York in the late 1800s - early 1900s, and I was sold. This book got off to a very slow start for me, and I had trouble puzzling out why. Objectively, everything was right up my alley -- the setting, the premise, the mystery, the witchiness. I'm going to blame it mostly on the fact that for half of the way, I had to read this book on my laptop instead of the comfort of my phone or other method that didn't require me to sit at a computer screen. One of my favorite things in books is when they take place mostly at nighttime or in the dark, and The Witch Haven delivered -- so once I was able to read this on my kindle, in bed at night, it really lent to the atmosphere! Anyway, I think my favorite parts of this book were the messages and moments of introspection, self discovery, empowerment, and sisterhood. I found the story compelling, although sometimes it did feel like the pace was dragging or that it was just taking too long to get to the next plot point. I found some things rather predictable, but that didn't stop me from investing myself in them anyway. This was a solid 3.5-star book for me, and if there is a sequel, I will likely read it!

This was a solid 3.5 out of 5 star read for me. The book was slow to grab my attention, but the last half had a better pace. The plot was predictable and there was lots of blatant foreshadowing. The story-line reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, but not nearly on the same level. This wasn't a bad read, but it wouldn't make my re-read list either. The plot was basic and the characters lacked depth. One HUGE praise I have for this book is the representation of Indigenous Peoples and the mention of the colonizers taking the children away and sending them to "schools" where they often were mistreated- I like that the author brought this to attention. I always have a hard time when all of the boys/men in a book all swoon over the MC and this book falls into that category. I'm not sure if there is suppose to be a second book or not, but the author finishes this book on a huge cliffhanger where the story is obviously not finished.

Great book. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Great flow. Would recommend. Great gift book. Thanks again.

3.5 stars
If you liked the Diviners by Libby Bray, you’ll probably enjoy Witch Haven! After the murder of her brother and the committing of her mother to an insane asylum, Frances accidentally murders her gross boss with magic and thus, a whole new realm of possibility becomes actualized. I enjoyed the first 2/3rds of Witch Haven, as Frances discovered herself and her abilities around her peers and the mystery surrounding her brothers death. However the last third fell short for me. The events with the brotherhood seemed intensely quick and a little too fast paced given how much depth was explored within the first 2/3rds.
Both the Headmistress and Finn’s eventual snap I feel like could have been built up more or explored in more depth before their role in the last third of the book
Overall, I’d be interested in reading the sequel to see what happened to Frances and her friends.

I loved this book and the concept behind it. The twists propelled it forward and the mystery surrounding the main character’s brother’s death! A boarding school for girls to “control” their magic with some murder thrown in! What could go wrong in this character’s journey?

5 STARS

Wow! That was a rollercoaster of a book. This was a fantastic debut! I absolutely loved every second of this and I need more right now! I feel like The Witch Haven was a book made for me. It has everything I love: Historical fantasy (set in New York!), found family, dark academia, boarding schools, witches, and of course, lots of plot twists and betrayals. I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. I cannot wait for it to be published so that I can rave about it to everyone I know!

The Witch Haven is a young adult historical fantasy set in 1911 New York City. When Frances Hollowell somehow kills a man, two nurses swoop in and tell her that she is ill and needs to be sent to the Haxahaven Sanitarium. The catch? The Haxahaven Sanitarium is actually the Haxahaven School for Witches.

This book kept me engaged from the beginning to the end. One of my favorite parts of the book was the worldbuilding. I'm a sucker for historical fantasies, and this one was particularly well-written. There was a spooky atmosphere of witches alongside the hustle and bustle of 1911 New York, where sexism and misogyny was rampant in everyday life. If I had to nitpick, I wish that the boarding school aspect was more defined, but I still loved it. The characters were also very compelling. I really enjoyed reading about Frances because I could really feel her emotions through the writing. I'm typically not a huge fan of the dead relative trope, but I could really understand her grief. Maxine and Lena were also great characters. I liked that Smith included diversity in her writing. I can't speak on behalf of Natives, but I felt that overall the book had good representation of LGBTQ+ and POC characters (however, I would recommend listening to other #ownvoices readers before me). The plot was also very engaging. There were a couple of slower moments throughout the book, but I felt that they were necessary so that the readers didn't feel overwhelmed. The ending is what really sold it for me! Although the plot twists were a bit predictable, I was still shocked by the ending and I cannot wait to read the second book!

There are a few things you need to know.. 1) This is a really fun book. I greatly enjoyed reading it. 2) If you've picked it up for the 1900's setting, you will be disappointed and 3) The prose is fantastic.

I place this book somewhere between 3 to 4 stars, but closer to the 4 stars side. It was pretty predictable (including all of the big twists), but despite that I was drawn in and would read until the late night. The author has a wonderful writing tone that pulls you into the story and the next thing you know its 5 am and you're wondering why the birds are chirping. I do wish the author had built more of the 1900's setting into the story, but at the same time I felt like it made sense. Frances is a very self centered character. I don't think she sees much outside of her own doom and gloom and because of that, its fitting that she really doesn't notice much of her surroundings beyond her day to day routine. I hope, with her growth at the end of the book, that the second novel will pull in more of that historical feeling. At the moment, I feel like this story could have taken place during any time period.

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Both Maxine and Lena are great support characters, and strangely feel more interesting than Frances. I would like to learn more about both of them. Finn is great and creepy, and Oliver is well.. I think in my head I said "there's the Mal in this book" haha.

The note at the end was a really nice touch, and probably one of my favorite parts. It had a full on creep factor that made me strangely excited for the second book. While the book has a good amount of deaths and dark tones, I do feel like it has the potential to be more. I am hoping the letter at the end of the book is setting us up for that..

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to this eARC!

There was a lot going on in this book and not all of it jibed well together. It was interesting to throw the pro-labor bent into the mix with the triangle shirtwaist factory fire being a plot point but I'm not sure it worked entirely. The romance was pretty blah and made the main character seem very dumb. But I liked the world building. Just wish the characters were more interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC of this. 2.5/5 stars.

I just...ugh. I really wanted to like this. I really did. Magic? Historical fiction? Murder? Like...yes, give me all of it. I just....couldn't.

Pros: The historical element was beautiful. The gender dynamics of early 1900s were accurate and poignant. I love how the gender ideas also influenced the magic. Women training women to control their magic, but only to take the edge off and for household chores. Women needing to control their emotions. That part was beautiful. The magic system was typical and it appeared there are different "specialties" but we didn't actually find out much about the magic system in general. Shoutout to it using actual words for spells though! Also <3 Lena's story.

Cons: The plot?? Quite literally, I don't know how to explain why I didn't really like this (which is sad since it's going to be in the Bookish box when it comes out). There was a half attempted love triangle. Frances is self-absorbed. The world is built but isn't really built. I felt like the plot, while focused on solving the murder of William just kind of took a back seat and all of a sudden a new plot was introduced 85% of the way through the book. Once again, I hated Frances and 1/2 of the stuff in the book could have been avoided had EVERYONE had better communication skills.

Look, I'm not saying this book is awful. It's cool and obviously if you like historical fiction + witches then you should read it...but it's also nothing unique. I also struggled to finish it.

I think this book was a little too long for the plot and action, but it was decently written. The girls were a little too whiney for me, but it may have just been the time period and because they were all in a boarding school together.

This was an incredible read that had me in it's clutches from the very beginning to the last page!

I loved following Frances from shopgirl to murderess and then to a school of witchcraft. Six months prior Frances lost her brother. He was murdered but the whole scenario remains mysterious and plagues Frances daily.

I loved The group of friends surrounding Frances, not to mention a plot that made me keep turning pages throughout the whole story. The setting is 1911 in NYC and to watch all of this unfold at that time was simply remarkable.

I cannot recommend this book enough! It really does have something for everyone and will keep you on your toes! Do yourself a favor and don't miss out on this one!

I wanted to love this book so much, but it just didn't live up the hype. The main character was reckless and made poor decisions. I understand that we are supposed to see her choices as a result of her grief, but I just couldn't get behind her. I wish the magic had been more fleshed out we got to see that there was more that could be done and the various types of magic but a lot was left unsaid. The plot twists were easily foreseen and I thought that really only the last 20% of the book was fast-paced and exciting.

I really enjoyed the setting, the mystery, and the sense of belonging between friends in this book. Very interesting look at the power of think you are right.

This book is.. okay. It started off very strong-- Frances Hallowell is working in a factory in early 1900s NYC when she gets into a bit of trouble after her awful boss tries to attack her. She's saved by some nurses and thrust into a world of magic at Haxahaven Sanitarium... or Haxhaven Academy.

This book was different in a good way, but I think that Smith should have spent more time building the world. There are times where Frances doesn't question things enough. The death of William also overshadows some things-- I honestly felt like it was too mystery based when it should have been adventure based.

A LOT happened at the end-- lots of action, but I was.. bored. I'm sorry to say. Anyway, I think that this would be good for younger readers. They wouldn't pick up on some of the predictability and might enjoy the character of Frances more than I did.

Finally had a kindle copy to download. It was a fast read, and I found the premise pretty interesting but I'm afraid I didn't find a lot to love about this book. I like that it was a murder mystery mixed with magic and witchcraft, but it fell short on a lot of aspects for me. Character relationships felt rushed, and I wasn't a fan of the insta-love. My hope is that the sequel is better, as is with a lot of books in a series. This just wasn't to my taste.