nice easy to read and entertaining ya fantasy that has some nice twists and turns but sadly overall didn't give me anything i haven't read before.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

3 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy YA fantasy with strong female protagonists.

This story follows Haven, the newly crowned queen of her kingdom. She must learn to lead her kingdom as the entire world is under siege by an evil queen. She must encourage her people, form alliances, and make quick decisions. When the evil queen comes for her own kingdom, how will she react? How will she save everyone?

This one has been in my Netgalley queue for a good long time. I am glad that I finally got around to reading it. At first I didn't feel very connected to Haven or the story line, but the plot picks up fairly quickly. As the story went on, I felt more invested in the world and characters. I thought that some parts of the plot were resolved quickly, and that overall a lot happens in this book. I appreciated that Bogle added some diversity to her story, that Haven challenges tough issues like discrimination, slavery, rape culture, and consent. There are also some really strong female characters in this book, which is fantastic. This book is part of a series, which I did not know when I downloaded it. Since I was only medium on the story, I may or may not decide to keep reading it. I would imagine, however, that the world, writing, and characters only become more vivid and fleshed out as you read. We shall see!

*I received a free copy of this ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I've gotta be honest: I was underwhelmed by this book. For a 208-page book, it went on forever.

Haven (19) was okay, but she didn't particularly impress me. Her guards coddle her, and she alternates between being helpless and suddenly being a fierce warrior insistent on sacrificing herself for others. Yes, she went through quite a lot--loss of family, abduction, torture, attempted rape. And good for her for surviving it all. But I never quite found myself caring about her a whole lot. I think my favorite character was Corrin (probably ~27), but even he is slightly confusing. I'd like to know why he's got this reputation of being a womanizer but doesn't actually appear to be one. Kadia is just a lunatic with powers, plain and simple.

The book had a lot of inconsistencies. For example, early on Haven considers that her parents had once intended a betrothal between her and another character, but she figures that it's not realistic anymore because she is now queen of her kingdom (rather than one of her older brothers being king). And I guess it's impossible for rulers of two separate but neighboring kingdoms to marry and make things work. But later when he brings up the betrothal plan that their parents had intended, she's completely shocked and has no idea that it was ever an option.

I was also bothered by the many, MANY editing mistakes. I'll spare the specific examples because that would take too long. But I'll just say that I hope the book went through a much stricter editing process between the edition I read and what hit the shelves.

Two words that were quite overused throughout the book: "beautiful" and "alright." One, I take issue with "alright" even though it is technically an accepted word now. But two, everything and everyone was beautiful. And any time characters weren't fantastic or injured, they were alright. Find new words.

The story itself was mediocre (or should I say "alright"?). We've got a girl who is for some unknown reason immortal (never find out why) and becomes queen when her family is killed. We've got an evil/crazy queen who wants to take over the world and stars with the rest of the kingdoms in Warshard. Our immortal queen needs to save the world, but first she has to learn how to use a sword. There's a lot of back and forth in this book. Have does one thing for a long time. And then she does something else. And then she does that first thing again. And for some reason, the only fighters and fighters-in-training who get any mention on the page are women and children (aside from Drakkone near the end). I get that this is supposed to be a "girl power" book, but I guess this style of girl power just isn't for me. It feels like girl power for the sake of girl power, not because these are actually extraordinary women.

Note: Attempted rape.

Due to a chance of device I am unable to access this title anymore. Apologies for not reviewing before.

This was a bit difficult for me to get into - I think it may be because it reads a bit younger than I anticipated. However, it's an entertaining read, if you can get into the book.

I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. The synopsis sounded so promising. Unfortunately I did not finish it. I stopped around the 25% mark. It was just so boring to me. I dreaded picking this book up and would find myself reaching for something else. I hated most of the characters which didn't help.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Original review posted on The Book Unicorn

Actual rating is 2.5 stars.

Well, this was a rather disappointing read. I actually had kind of high hopes for this book. The description sounded like something that would be 100% my jam: a strong, but reluctant queen, epic wars, magic, and all in a medieval setting? That's exactly my kind of book. But the characters and lack of sufficient explanations, not to mention an uneven pace, kind of killed it for me.

So let's start off with characters. To be fair, I didn't mind most of the characters. I feel like they could have been fleshed out a bit more, but overall I think they were decent. Nothing too exciting, and a bit generic, but not terrible by any means. Haven got on my nerves a bit because she was so darn naive, but even that didn't bother me a whole lot. I think if I hadn't had some of my other issues, the characters would have shone through much more.

My biggest problem was the plot and world building. There were so many times when I just couldn't believe what was being said or done. I know in fiction, especially fantasy, readers have to suspend disbelief. But this was just too much. So many things didn't make sense, or were so unrealistic (even given what I knew of that particular world). I had a hard time believing in this story. Of course, part of that might have been because I still feel like there are quite a few explanations missing.

That being said, I do think the writing is well done. Bogle writes in a clear, understandable way that is easy to read and flows pretty smoothly. I know there are other books in this series, so it's possible that many of my questions and issues could be resolved in subsequent books. Although I wish she would have addressed more of them in this first book.

Haven: Chronicles of Warshard Kindle Edition
by Katherine Bogle
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review
A typical, average high fantasy novel with a 'spunky' Princess cursed with immortality. She is also cursed with absolutely no diplomatic training. Even though she was a daughter, she would have been destined to be married off and should have had the training to run a kingdom instead of relying on her family's adviser.
Her somewhat love interest is not – interesting that is.
The plot is average, good guys join together to beat back evil queen. People die, some people don't. Some old kings are cowards, young kings are reckless.
The writing itself is stiff and formal, as if it were trying to imitate Tolkein and missing the mark. It lacks the poetry of masters such as Robin McKinley.
If you are seeking a story of a princess who becomes a queen, I would recommend any of Robin McKinley's or Grace Draven's book.
This book would probably satisfy a VYA reader (very young adult) who is just discovering High Fantasy
3 stars out of 5 for anyone over 12, 4 out of 5 for 12 and younger.

* I received this ebook for free in exchange of a honest review. *

Haven by Katherine Bogle was not to my liking. I found that this book was poorly written and it lacked of development. The characters weren't likable. Therefore , The love story seemed to come out of nowhere. It could have been a great book if they're would have been more descriptions of the world, the characters, everything.