Kind of a slow book and I felt the ending was rushed. ( )

Official rating 2.5 stars.

This definitely read as a middle grade book which is probably one of the reasons that I didn't score this quite as high. I think I was expecting more of a YA book versus how low it was.

With that said, I liked the concept and plot of the story. There were parts that were definitely predictable though. The plot was definitely character driven with some parts where there is passage of time becoming difficult to understand because we became so lost in the thoughts of the main character (Shiloh). Maybe this is the B in me, but I feel like this could have perhaps functioned better as a short story with some late night wandering being taken out.

Some events of the story felt rushed; especially since the people in this story grew up having no connection to their emotions. Suddenly Shiloh stops taking the "tonic" and after a two day withdrawal, she is suddenly better and becomes connected to the emotions she never knew she had while also being able to control them just about 100% of the time. This felt very unrealistic to me.

Other parts felt very convenient as well. Gideon just happens to find an antidote to the tonic when he is trying to rescue Shiloh and she needs it most. That moment felt really weird. This moment and a few other "too convenient" moments had me feeling like I couldn't trust specific characters (and this book definitely makes you questions who you can trust).

I did like hearing Shiloh's thoughts (even though they dragged out in some spots). I felt like her thoughts and emotions were real which helped me understand her as a character.

I've been trying to put my finger on it this whole time writing the review, but I can't come up with an answer. This book feels a lot like another book I have read in the past about people being held prisoner in a school/hospital like location and one or two characters figure out what has been going on all along. I can't seem to think of what book that is though.

Overall enjoy-ability was at about a 3, but there were several things that I just couldn't get my head around. ( )

A bit confusing at first, but another few hour read.

I thought of the [b:The House of the Scorpion|13376|The House of the Scorpion (Matteo Alacran, #1)|Nancy Farmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401734230s/13376.jpg|868252] and [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1353048590s/6334.jpg|1499998] as I was reading this short book. So much is unexplained and we only find out what is happening along with Shiloh, a young girl who lives her life in fear of the doors at the end of the cafeteria opening. Why? Finding out takes at least the first half of the book, and that is not soon enough for most of my students. I think they will bail out long before that. This is an unusual miss for [a:Carol Lynch Williams|288481|Carol Lynch Williams|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1332263501p2/288481.jpg]. We loved [b:The Chosen One|5303373|The Chosen One|Carol Lynch Williams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428328370s/5303373.jpg|5370813], and [b:Glimpse|7164005|Glimpse|Carol Lynch Williams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348664894s/7164005.jpg|7516578]. I also liked [b:Signed, Skye Harper|18631964|Signed, Skye Harper|Carol Lynch Williams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387766229s/18631964.jpg|26425778] much better. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This book was enjoyable and fast-paced but overall not my style.

Opening Sentence: They came during lunch.

The Review:

In Haven Hospital, strange things are happening. When people are brought out of lunches, they come back without limbs. Every morning and night they drink a tonic. And everyone moves in slow, monotonous steps. But Shiloh is waking up, and the truth will be so horrible she might wish to be stupid and unknowing once again.

The Haven was an extremely quick read for me, so this will probably be a very short review. I’m first going to talk about the characters. Shiloh, at first, made me cringe. She was a stickler to the rules and was in pain so much of the time I was irritated. As the book progressed she developed, becoming braver, and the reason she had been so annoyingly pained became apparent. Since the story was very fast-paced, it started off running and she met the love interest within chapters. I was not a fan of the romance. The guy came on too strong, and it was almost creepy at the insta-love he seemed to have aquired for her. Some of the smaller characters like her friend Abigail had more charm and I did really enjoy the teacher at Haven Hopsital.

The things they did at the hospital were seriously messed up. The idea held an eerie fascination in my mind, helping me to speed through the book. The plot was original and unique. When I started this with the synopsis in mind I was wary — it sounded like many other books. And while I can find similarities, I was pleased with the originality of The Haven.

The sudden twist at the end didn’t really affect me much. The characters weren’t very relatable, which made sense considering they were in an entirely different situation, but I still couldn’t connect. I didn’t care much what happened to certain characters and didn’t feel much emotion. I think it’s the shortness of the story that made me not really connect, considering I didn’t get enough time with them. 200 pages is not much and 200 pages is what I got with somewhat bigger print.

For some reason this book, while exciting and hooking me almost immediately, wasn’t my cup of tea. Maybe it was the writing style. It was dark and interesting but any imagery was brief. Sometimes I would be reading fast and miss one sentence, then have to reread the whole page to find when something happened. Maybe it was the characters, who were entirely unrelatable, or the shortness of the novel overall. Whatever it was I was left with an overall “eh” feeling and it took me a long time to write this review because of my lack of things to say. I will give it this, The Haven is a cool idea that is so much more exciting than the synopsis implies. The science stuff could have been explained more thoroughly but the idea of what was being done was really surprising.

Notable Scene:

“So here it is. If you’re not obediant-” Principal Harrison tapped on the desk again, his face that grotesque contortion. “-we take matters into our own hands. Is that clear?”

Something cool slid over my skin.

FTC Advisory: St. Martin’s Griffin/Macmillan provided me with a copy of The Haven. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

In the world of THE HAVEN by Carol Lynch Williams, there are two kinds of people: Terminals and Wholes.

The terminals live in places like The Haven, where teens are kept apart from the regular population because they are sick. Often they are taken away from daily (closely monitored) activities for tests. And sometimes they come back with amputations. Sometimes they don't come back at all.

Kept calm by the Tonic, most of Shiloh's friends don't remember much. And they're happier that way. The teachers keep an eye on everything, making sure that nobody is too upset, and making sure that the students who need more tonic get it. The Tonic isn't working on Shiloh, though. And even though she doesn't want to be, she's curious. When she meets another student -- a male -- who might have some answers for her, she can't help but risk everything to separate the reality from a worldview that is seeming more and more false.

THE HAVEN is a compelling, disturbing book. The teens in the story read books like Romeo and Juliet that have been censored and rewritten in order to perpetuate the rhetoric that is being fed to Shiloh and her peers. The teens' food is monitored. They are drugged. They feel sick when coming in contact with the opposite sex. Because it's wrong. Even developing friendships is wrong. Shiloh's world is twisted and intriguing. And Carol Lynch Williams' story will leave you with a sour taste in your mouth. But that's kind of the point. THE HAVEN is an uncomfortable book to read. But it's a really fantastic read. Fans of recent dystopians like DIVERGENT and classics like A BRAVE NEW WORLD will surely be intrigued by this recent addition to the genre. ( )