Synopsis:
Most people think the fae are gone. Most people are wrong.
Owen Williams wakes after a horrific car accident to find his wife is dead—and somehow turned into a gryphon—and his kids gone after a home invasion turned horribly wrong. Shattered and reeling, he vows to do whatever it takes to find them.
When a fae scout appears and promises to reunite him with his kids, he doesn’t hesitate before joining her. But she warns him that if he wants to protect his family, he must follow the fae to their city, the hidden haven of Tearmann.
With enemies on the horizon, Owen needs to set aside his fears and take up arms to defend their new home alongside the people he’s always been taught were monsters—or he’ll lose everyone he’s trying to protect.
Review:
I liked this book’s version of the fae and how they came about. The first fae were human, but through a process of genetic reconfiguration, became the first generation fae (later generations are born fae and become more like their mythological species than their human ancestors.) It was a unique blend of modern-day science thrown into an otherwise thoroughly fantasy version of Earth, and one worth mentioning because the transformation from fae to human is a core element of Haven’s storyline.
The book’s main character, Owen, is a father of five leading a fairly ordinary life at the start, but things rapidly spiral out of control when his wife inexplicably begins to transform into a gryphon. He’s injured and knocked unconscious during the ordeal, and wakes up in the hospital, only to learn she didn’t survive the transformation. His grief is raw and real, but he’s forced to set it aside to focus on his kids, who have turned up missing.
Throughout the book, Owen’s primary focus is on his family, and if anyone should win a fictional father of the year award, I think it’s him. He’s there for his kids no matter what, and his loyalty to them is never in question. And believe me, it’s tested multiple times along the way. This is truly a story about a family’s bonds—those between a father and his children, and those between siblings—even though there’s a wider conflict between the humans and the fae brewing at the edges.
And that wider conflict… I suspect it’s going to become a major fixture throughout the rest of the series. Haven was building up to it, while also laying the foundation of the world’s lore and establishing its characters. This was a really intriguing start to the series.
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