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Friday, September 9, 2011

Haven by Kristi Cook

Title: Haven
Author: Kristi Cook
Pages: 401
Published: February 22, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Goodreads Summary:
"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."


Review:
First off, I just have to say, when I first read the synopsis, I was instantly intrigued. And absolutely clueless to the fact that this book was about VAMPIRES. Yes, I said the v-word. The first 150 pages was so captivating and mysterious, it immediately drew me in. I loved the innocence of Violet McKenna, afraid and shy about her psychic abilities. And her roommate Cece, was also very lovable. Then came Aidan, the most attractive and smartest guy in the school. The hottest guy helping the new shy girl. My kind of genre.
Then, when Aidan reveals that he is a vampire, in my head, I was thinking,"Oh man, not a vampire book AGAIN." But, considering that the previous pages in the book were so amazing, I knew I had to keep reading to find out what happens, vampire or not. And I'm actually really glad I did! Even after they reveal the idea of vampires in the book, they stay strong with the idea of psychics in the school. I think Cook's choice of psychic friends (Sophie, Marissa, Cece, and Kate) was sweet and it put the story together nicely. The book's plot and characters kept me captivated the whole entire time of the story.
Violet's psychic ability as a person who can see into the future (preferably people's deaths) was very interesting. I liked how that was her ability, because each of her visions were very anticipating, especially the ones involving Aidan.
The ending of the book was a tiny bit disappointing, because there were still SO MANY QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED. It wasn't exactly a cliffhanger, because you know what happened to everyone. But just things that happened during the battle between the "Winterhaven Warriors" (Violet, Aidan, Sophie, Cece, Marissa, Kate, Joshua, Jack, and Jenna?) and the vampires (Julius, Dr. Blackwell, and the two female vampires who didn't have names).
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I thought it was pretty creative on the whole new twist on "psychic abilites". I would really love to see a sequel or companion novel of some sort, in order to complete my satisfaction. But just a great must-read that every one has to pick up once in their life! Although I don't know what the deal is with the butterfly on the cover...


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