Review: Haven

Haven by Kristi Cook

( Amazon , Goodreads)

Book Rating: 2/5 Stars

Cover Rating: 4/5 Stars

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 22, 2011)

One month into her junior year, sixteen-year-old Violet McKenna transfers to the Winterhaven School in New York’s Hudson Valley, inexplicably drawn to the boarding school with high hopes. Leaving Atlanta behind, she’s looking forward to a fresh start--a new school, and new classmates who will not know her deepest, darkest secret, the one she’s tried to hide all her life: strange, foreboding visions of the future.

But Winterhaven has secrets of its own, secrets that run far deeper than Violet’s. Everyone there--every student, every teacher--has psychic abilities, 'gifts and talents,' they like to call them. Once the initial shock of discovery wears off, Violet realizes that the school is a safe haven for people like her. Soon, Violet has a new circle of friends, a new life, and maybe even a boyfriend--Aidan Gray, perhaps the smartest, hottest guy at Winterhaven.

Only there’s more to Aidan than meets the eye--much, much more. And once she learns the horrible truth, there’s no turning back from her destiny. Their destiny. Together, Violet and Aidan must face a common enemy--if only they can do so without destroying each other first.

 INTRO & SETTING: This book really disappointed me.  It had a lot of potential it didn't live up to.. The setting was a positive, though, because Winterhaven school is definitely a fascinating place, but it seems a little unrealistic. A high school with a movie theater, two cafes, and an on-sight chapel? A college, sure. But High School? Uh-Uh.

 CHARACTERS: Again, disappointment. Violet really intruiged me, part of the reason I picked up this book is so I could see what she would do with her gift, precognition, but that fell totally flat. After she met Aidan, Violet and anything about her were second- hand. Aidan is supposed to be captivating, but I found him depressing and moody, and not attractive-moody. And it's obvious what he is after a few chapters, so that leaves you exhasperated at Violet for being so oblivious to what's right in front of her. Their romance wasn't real at all- they were in love by chapter nine. Her group of friends, other girls at Winterhaven, don't have much to them. I found them shallow and annoying, and the same goes for many of the other characters.

 PLOT: This is the most disappointing part of the book. It's way overdone. Aidan won't shut up about himself being "a monster" and all Violet ever thinks about is Aidan. And the bad guys, Julius & Co., fail. There's not a real motive, at least not a powerful one, and they're defeated easily and quickly. Other than these "bad guys", the plot centers around Violet and Aidan's little romance. 

 RANT SPACE: Honestly, this is a petty book. Violet never has to sacrifice anything except comfort, and Aidan is a sob story. I lean torwards characters that take responsiblity and try to save others and not just themselves. This whole book is about saving Aidan, and while that is a worthy cause, shouldn't there be more at stake? This isn't a book I would recommend.