Review: Haven by Kristi Cook

3 peanut butter cookies.


Cover Love:
It's fine. I like the colors and the font, but it's not totally eye catching.

Why I Wanted to Read This:
I got it from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab and thought it sounded interesting. Here's the synopsis from Simon & Schuster:

Violet McKenna isn't a normal girl with normal teenage issues; she has more to contend with than most people could handle. Violet thought she was just crazy when she had a vivid vision of her dad's murder. Her life started falling apart when her premonition came true. She's had flashes of other events too. The problem was nobody believed her until she found a new school: Winterhaven.

At Winterhaven, Violet finally feels like she belongs. She quickly finds a close group friends and discovers that they too have psychic 'gifts'—as do all the students at Winterhaven. But as soon as she feels settled she discovers the most intriguing and alluring boy she has ever met, and things quickly go awry. As the attraction between them grows, intense visions of the boy's death start to haunt her. In her premonitions the secret he is unwilling to share begins to reveal itself. And to Violet's horror, she learns that their destinies are intertwined in a critical--and deadly--way.

I Kept Reading Because:
It captured my interest right away.

What I Liked (& Didn't):
Okay, it did capture my interest right away, but I felt like about 100 pages could have been taken out of the middle. There was a lull for me.

I LOVE the idea of a psychic talents boarding school! Pure awesomeness!

Violet and Aidan had very good chemistry, but my thought process started kind of like this, "aloof, unattainable, gorgeous guy. new girl at school. instant attraction. bet he's a vampire." Sure enough. But, I liked some of the new vampire mythology the author gave us.

There was also an element that came from another vampire book that I didn't see coming. It was a surprise, but not so much a welcome surprise.

**SPOILER**Next sentence only (highlight to read better)
The one scene that drove me super nuts was when Violet told her friends about Aidan to get their help and they treated her like she was bonkers. I mean, they are at a school where people can move things with their mind and shape shift, but they will not even entertain the thought of vampires. That scene super annoyed me. But again, it was a small thing I could get over.

What I Would Like To See:
I would like Violet to get stronger and more confident with her abilities. And I do want her and Aidan to stay together. I would like to see more of her friends as well.

To Sum Up: Overall a good story but there was just something missing for me. I can't put my finger on it, but I think I could have walked away from reading it at one point.

Book from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab. Thanks!