Review--Haven by Mary Lindsey

We all hold a beast inside. The only difference is what form it takes when freed.

Rain Ryland has never belonged anywhere, He’s used to people judging him for his rough background, his intimidating size, and now, his orphan status. He’s always been on the outside, looking in, and he’s fine with that. Until he moves to New Wurzburg and meets Friederike Burkhart.

Freddie isn’t like normal teen girls, though. And someone wants her dead for it. Freddie warns he’d better stay far away if he wants to stay alive, but Rain’s never been good at running from trouble. For the first time, Rain has something worth fighting for, worth living for. Worth dying for.

Somewhere over the years, I became fascinated with werewolf books! Don’t get me wrong, my first love will always be vampires, but I love a good werewolf book as well! I had heard exceptional things about Mary Lindsey’s Haven, so I knew it would be one I had to read for its sheer awesomeness!

Rain Ryland moves in with his aunt after his mother died, leaving him an orphan. He’s had a tough go of things his whole life practically, living in a shelter, living on the streets…so when he moves in with his aunt, he really was expecting much of anything to happen for the remaining months until he turns eighteen. But New Wurzburg, the quiet little town that is now home, is about to become a whole lot more interesting when he collides with Friederike Burkhart.

Freddie isn’t like normal girls, in fact, she’s so far removed from normal, it’s what draws Rain to her in the first place. There’s an air of mystery surrounding Freddie though as you may have already guessed it, Freddie’s secret is that she’s a werewolf, and they are plenty of them in town! What was unexpected was the inclusion of witches known as Weavers. In fact, there’s a very detailed history between the Weavers and the werewolves, also known as Watchers. The Watchers basically act as protectors for the Weavers when they are “weaving” their magic. Weaving magic leaves them vulnerable, so the Watchers, watch out for them.

Freddie is slated to be alpha as her late father was the alpha of the pack before his untimely murder. Freddie hasn’t been the same since it happened and since his aunt just happens to work at the sheriff’s office, Rain is determined to find out what happened. He’s not going all out on trying to solve the murder, but he’s doing everything possible to find a lead or something that might have been overlooked by the police who have written it up as an accidental death.

This was a rather different take on the werewolf love story! Or really, any paranormal love story, for time and again, I am so used to seeing the male paranormal type and the human female type falling in love and overcoming obstacles! Truly, (in regards of YA) I think the last time I read a book where the girl was the werewolf falling in love with a human boy was Blood and Chocolate, which is still one of my all-time favorite reads! So Mary’s book was like a breath of fresh air in that area!

The mystery behind Freddie’s dad’s murder was intriguing, as were the politics at play concerning the Watchers and Weavers. There is definitely a lot to be learned here and I think it was somewhere in the middle of trying to learn about the Watcher/Weaver relationship that things got a little muddy. It was hard to truly grasp the reasons behind the adversity. I think that’s where my biggest problem laid, if I can’t really get an idea of their past relationship, understanding the present time one isn’t going to happen without difficulties. Though I was able to get the general idea of it all, so I wasn’t totally lost within the story.

The romance between Rain and Freddie wasn’t what you expect either and I loved that! Yes, when boy meets girl, we expect them to fall in love and have so many problems they’d have to overcome to be together. But here, Rain will learn his first hurdle will actually be to get Freddie to like him! It’s not necessarily a love-hate relationship, but Freddie has been known to keep her guard up and it’s clear that she tries to protect Rain from her world…another trope we often see in these paranormal/human relationships. Their relationship was pretty intense though in some ways and I honestly couldn’t get enough of these two.

The ending was pretty shocking! There was more at play than a simple murder mystery and the results were earth shattering! I wasn’t expecting for several things to happen, at least not in the first book, as there is a second one planned! Whether that one will be a direct sequel or more of a companion has yet to be revealed. I almost want to root for a companion sort of sequel because I felt very content with where Mary left things. It was very complete and settled with the knowledge that a future remains…for some that is! Mary definitely put a whole new spin on werewolves for me and I must say I quite enjoyed it and cannot wait for more! I am already looking into her backlist!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars