I struggled to get into Haven. I requested this one based on the author. However, it is very different from her other books. While I enjoyed slower pace stories, I found it hard to stay focused on the story. I wanted to enjoy the themes explored here but lost interest because of the achingly slow pace. I kept thinking about all the other books I would rather be reading and gave up 50%.

Thank you @harpercollinsca for sending a copy of Haven by Emma Donoghue, available now. This historical fiction is definitely not my usual choice but I enjoyed it.

A quick and different read for me, Haven centres on 3 monks on a journey to spread their religion in the year 600. One monk has a dream about a deserted island and the rest of the book is their journey and first year of survival and mission. It is a very quick read but more religious than I was somehow expecting. It was a good read but not a great one.

Delighted to include this title in the Books section of Zoomer magazine. (see article feature at link)

Without question, Emma Donoghue has a profound gift when transferring idea to page. Her novels are among my favorites for her ability to describe and portray the human spirit so superbly. Haven is not an easy read. It simmers in its telling and weighs heavily in its descriptors. It will definitely not be for everyone. But if you have a deep inquisitive mind, you'll want to see this to the end. The journey of these three will stay with you long after.

DNF - I think that I might be able to appreciate this story better listening to it via audiobook so, I will be trying that out at a later date. I'm not discounting this story altogether but it just wasn't the right time & I feel like approaching it via another medium might bring more of a success for me

Ugh, I REALLY love Emma Donoghue but this book just didn't do anything for me! Sooooo slow moving and I wasn't interested in what the monks were doing AT ALL. I honestly had to force myself to keep reading and came very close to giving up multiple times. Sadly not for me but I did appreciate an early audio copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review. Recommended for fans of Edward Rutherfurd or Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth series.

It’s somewhere around the year 600 when, based on a vision he has had, priest and scholar Artt takes two monks with him to found a monastery on the remote Skellig Michael, a rocky island off the western coast of Ireland inhabited by thousands of seabirds. Artt is driven by his vision and his interpretations of the bible, and he drives the two monks, the young Trian and the elderly Cormac, to make this world according to his bidding. Cormac brings wisdom and a knowledge of how to build and grow and cook. Trian meanwhile has a deep connection with nature both on land and in the sea and is handy with boats and fishhooks. Artt is blind to their skills and their faith. Driven by strict adherence to his faith, he appreciates neither the need to secure the necessities of their survival nor the importance of showing respect for the natural world that they have entered.

Skellig Michael is a real place where there are the ruins of a monastery. On a trip to Ireland a few years ago, we’d hoped to visit it but weren’t able to make it happen. Neither, in fact, was Emma Donoghue as a result of the pandemic. Thankfully, the internet provides.I highly recommend looking up photos as well as looking at satellite views of it to appreciate the remoteness, harshness, and beauty of the environment. That people were able to live there is a wonder and much of Donoghue’s book focusses on the very real and challenging details of staying alive.

I always ask myself when reading historical fiction why the author chose to write this book now. What is it about this story from history that is interesting or relevant for current readers? For a while, reading Haven, I wasn’t sure as, like the monks, we were mired somewhat in the minutiae of daily survival. There was, obviously, an echo of the isolation many experienced during the pandemic, though this of course was far more extreme. But towards the end of the book, there is an important revelation which leads Donoghue to ask us to consider the differences between choosing to isolate rather than being cast out. It’s a moment that speaks directly to 2022.

Donoghue also uses her story to illustrate the impact of humans on natural environments. She shows that just three people trying to survive can lead to an overconsumption that is woefully out of balance with the environment. The first mention of Great Auks (extinct for almost 200 years now due to overhunting and changing environment) took my breath away.

Haven, of course, has lots to say about religious faith and it’s impossible to ignore the Haven/Heaven wordplay. It speaks to religious extremism and dogma, as well as the contrast of faith and spirituality rather than rigid adherence to doctrine. It asks us to consider the many forms that religious devotion can take and the many places in which spirituality is found. Do you need a symbol, a building, a text? Or can you access it through honest work, service to others, and in the beauty of the natural world? It shines a light on the great cruelties that are perpetrated in the name of religion.

I’m not a religious person but, as we all do, I live in a world in which religion continues to have great power over the rights and lives of others and so Haven spoke to me. It’s one of several books I’ve read that have much to say about faith and religion this year (The Books of Jacob, The Netanyahus, Elizabeth Finch, Small Things Like These). While I found it a bit slow in the middle as it seemed mired in the details of survival, the ending had powerful connections to our world today and left me much to think about. I’ll be interested to see if Haven turns up on the the Giller Prize longlist in two weeks’ time.

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for this eARC. My reflections are my own and, I hope, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

Haven was a shocker for me. I fully didn’t expect a book with so much religion. But once i embedded myself in it, i loved it.
Artt considers himself a Saint. He dreams he is meant to take two men and set off in a boat to find a haven—a religious retreat for three if you will. Only, he believes faith is ALL you need. Period. Uh oh, right?
Set in seventh century Ireland, Haven was a pleasure to read, and had a few surprises at the end. Highly recommend.

As a fan of Emma Donoghue's work, I was excited to pick up this new novel. I was not disappointed. The novel follows a group of monks who leave the comforts of their established convent to start their own on a remote island. The narrative follows the challenges, both mental and physical, that they face while there. Clearly, Donoghue has worked hard to research the time period and lifestyle of these monks. The storytelling is excellent, drawing the reader deeper and deeper into the book.

I have loved so many of the books written by this author but this one missed the mark with me. Perhaps I am not spiritual enough to understand the underlying meaning of this book but it seems to be exactly what it is described without any in-depth meaning. A monk has a dream and asks that he be allowed pick two other monks to come with him to start a new monastery . He leads with an iron fist and from his interpretation of the bible. There is a side story that doesn’t really add to the book and I was left dispirited and saddened. This may appeal to some but for me it meant nothing.

Emma Donoghue’s characters always fully ensnare my heart and convince me that they could climb up off of the pages of her books. Cormac, Trian, and Artt are as real, flawed, and in 2 of the 3 cases, as endearing as they come.

I loved the concept of this story - three monks setting out for the island of Skellig Michael; a first landing party as Donoghue describes in her author’s note. The research that went into making the descriptions accurate to the time period must have been incredibly thorough. There was a huge anthropological component to this story and I loved that.

One character carves a musical pipe from a bird bone. Another time, the monks render down bird fat to make oils and waxes. There were descriptions of book binding and ink making, and of the construction of a monastery from small boulders. Fascinating stuff!

The ending was surprising and a bit shocking; I had no idea where the plot would take us, but I couldn’t have predicted the final 1/3.

This is a short, quick read filled with Donoghue’s exquisite prose and will appeal to fans of early Irish history or those who love a character driven story!

Many thanks to Harper Collins Canada for the e-galley in exchange for an honest review!

There’s an eloquence to Donoghue’s prose, a remarkable deftness in its ability to immerse readers in her beautifully realized worlds and draw them into the lives of her unique and complex characters. I just wish it was in service to a story that offered more than this curtailed journey. The setting is wonderfully atmospheric and one can’t help but feel for this trio, sympathizing with their respective struggles, but the ending simply peters out rather than landing with an emotional resonance that pays off the hitherto fascinating build-up. There’s a late twist that, while subtly set-up in hindsight, feels a little “out there” and disconnected to the standing narrative. Overall, an engaging ride that comes up short.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Emma Donoghue's book, Haven.

Haven is a slow moving account of two monks chosen by another to lead them into spiritual isolation to rid them from temptation and the sins of humanity. The Prior led them on a journey that he saw in a vision that was his calling.

The novel travels with the three monks to their Haven where they learn to survive from natural elements and their leader. The novel was a hard read as the monks attempt to follow their vows to their leader. This was an excellent look into fanatic belief and how far it can go.

Haven tells the story of three monks who endure a perilous journey to establish a monastery on a remote island off the southwestern coast of Ireland. Guided by and equipped only with the belief that "God will provide" they face physical and spiritual struggles that threaten to derail their holy mission.

As always, Donoghue offers beautiful prose. However, the pacing did not work for me, and I struggled to understand where the story was leading. I found the ending unnsatisfying, and I didn't feel any sense of urgency in the characters as they face insurmountable obstacles. The "secret" revealed near the end was out of sync with the plot and I struggled to understand its relevance to the story other than as a predictable device to force action by the antagonist.

I was will always read anything Donoghue writes - Pull of the Stars is one of my all time favourite reads - but this story was lacking for me. While this story wasn't for me, I am eager to read her next work! I will add that the proposed cover art is perfect for this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC.

**I was unable to auto post my review to Goodreads. You can see this review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4656766827?book_show_action=false"

A real slow burn, but by the end I was really into it. It's a quiet novel, that's what it is.
A lot to think about when it comes to religion, following, and power.
I really liked Tiran, and his wonder at nature. That too is how I see God.
The book is harsh, sometimes grotesque and explores the realities of being a monk in 7th century Ireland, and as a religious studies major I found it fascinating to see a fictionized approach at what might have been going on in monk's head at this time.

Haven is a haunting tale of hubris, pious fanaticism and humility, brilliantly imagined and vividly descriptive. With its backdrop of the 7th-century monastic retreat on Skellig Michael, off Southwest Ireland, the story follows three monks as they retreat from the sins of the world. Their journey takes them down the river Shannon, and out into the open sea, blown, by God’s will, to a desolate, bleak and rugged rock where they begin their godly devotions: Trian, sold to a monastery at age 13, the youngest and fittest who knows no other life; Cormac, an elderly, worldly wise man who chose monastic life after he buried his plague-struck wife and three children; Artt, a priest, a widely-travelled scholar and scribe – a living saint.
The narrative is filled with the complexity of the natural world and the ability to endure. It proceeds at a measured pace, fittingly matching the monks’ routine vigil and their struggle for survival, but in Donoghue’s skilled hands the story is unstintingly compelling and beautiful. As their meagre supplies dwindle, Artt becomes all the more fervent and dictatorial in his zealous belief that God will provide. The irony that they have left the world behind in order to quell their sinful appetites, and now spend every waking moment thinking about food, is not lost on Trian. The author has done impeccable research to bring this story to life, not least of which is a study of the ancient art of dry-stone walling.
Now an overburdened tourist spot, photographs and videos of the Skellig monastery can be seen on the internet, and these images serve to strengthen the knowledge that this is indeed a desolate and holy place and that Emma Donoghue’s novel is a fitting testament to those remarkable men who built it. Dark, sorrowful, extraordinary. A treasure to be savoured!

I’m so sad that this book wasn’t what I expected! I love Emma Donoghue, and even though some of my friends didn’t like some of her other books I always stood up for Donoghue and have loved all of her books. I was so excited to have the opportunity to read and review Haven through Netgalley and the publisher, and even bumped other books down on my “to read” list because I was so excited and had to read this one first!

Unfortunately, this was not a very interesting book for me. The story follows three monks who receive a message from God to find an uninhabited island near Ireland. The story is extremely slow and only really involves three characters who are monks (not a lot of room for a character arc there…). I kept thinking “it will get better!” And was really disappointed when I finally came to the realization that it wasn’t getting better and it is just destined to be a slow and kind of boring book. This book is definitely not like Donoghue’s other books, it is really the complete opposite of Room, which is probably her most well known book, or Pull of the Stars another historical fiction and one of her most recent books released, both are very fast paced and exciting. I would say it is more similar to The Wonder which has a pretty slow pace and is another historical fiction, or possibly Akin which has very few characters and also a fairly slow pace. If you’re a Donoghue fan you might still want to try this book, or if you love survival stories or religious figures, or Ireland in the 600s A.D. otherwise I don’t think I could recommend this book. I’m not giving up on Donoghue yet though, this just might not be the book for me!

Thanks again Netgalley and the publisher.