HavenAuthor: Kristi Cook
Publication Date: February 22nd 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages: 416
Age Range: Young Adult
ISBN-13: 9781442407602
ISBN: 1442407603
Sypnosis from Barnes & Noble:
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.
My Review:
Haven is Kristi Cook's debut novel. "HAVEN is the first book in a paranormal series set at the fictional Winterhaven School in New York’s Hudson Valley, a school that’s, well….not like other schools. Think X-Men meets Twilight." - Kristi Cook (http://kristi-cook.com/)
For me, it was more like X-Men meet's Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Twilight. ;)
Violet is the main character. She is different than anyone else she knows because of her visions, which she feels that she can't tell anyone about because they will just think she's crazy. What's worse, is her visions always come true. After the death of her father, she moves to New York with her step-mom, and is sent to Winterhaven school. When she becomes friends with a group of girls her age, she learns that she's not the only one that is different. When she meets Aidan, (enter the strong, silent type), and starts having visions about him, she's more confused than ever.
I was so excited to get this ARC from Simon & Schuster. The book sounded really interesting, and I have to say... it was! Ok, so there were some silimarities to other books, but that didn't deter me from reading it at all. It definitely wasn't original, but what books are lately? It had me hooked, and left me wanting more. (I'm also reading this for the 2011 Author Debut Challenge!)
Violet was a great main character. She's strong willed and determined. I like that she cared about people... With being different, she didn't like seeing other's be treated differently either. Although she was a bit on/off at times... Especially when it came to Aiden. Aiden is the strong, silent type that I love so much. Their relationship was great. Not too rushed, but not drawn out either. The on again, off again part drove me crazy a bit. ;) I didn't like that he kept secrets, but if he hadn't of, there wouldn't have been a story.
I loved her friends: Cece, Kate, Sophie, and Marissa. They seemed to really care about Violet, and their friendship grew really quickly. They were perfect.
Haven was the perfect mixture of mystery, romance and paranormal. If you're a Twilight fan, or a Buffy fan (Me!), then you'll love this book. I really hope that this will be a series!
Great debut novel, Ms. Cook! Thank you to Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review the ARC of Haven. I really enjoyed it!
PS- This book is released on February 22nd. You can preorder your copy now!
