The Witch Haven

By: Sasha Peyton Smith

Narrated by: Piper Goodeve

Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times Best seller

The Last Magician meets The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this “spectacular, singular, and spellbinding” (Casey McQuiston, New York Times best-selling author of Red, White & Royal Blue) historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.

In 1911 New York City, 17-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet - her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: It’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?

©2021 Sasha Peyton Smith. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mediocre at best

Not finishing. Unfortunately this is just boring. The writing is feels very…. Self published lol I don’t know how else to say it. And three hours in it’s just boring. Also, this narrator makes everything she reads sound unemotional and cheesy. Not normally this negative on reviews but it’s just mediocre at best.

If you are in love with the S sound, this narrator is for you!

It kind of physical hurts the ears, but the story seemed good. Your standard Victorian era main character. Rife with weak inner dialogue for doing…anything. I had to know, so I keep going in short bursts. Good luck!!

Good. Fun.

Clearly set up for a sequel.

Note to the author: Model T engines are not loud. It's quite easy to carry on a conversation while riding in most touring cars. Please check with the LeMay museum in Tacoma, WA for info on WWI era vehicles before the next book.

Couldn’t finish it

I got bored. The protagonist was constantly overwrought and the plot was trite. The first half wasn’t too bad but I lost interest in the second half.

A breathe of fresh air!

This book was so good! I loved every min and I soooo wanted Finn to…well I won’t ruin it but man…This book was a breathe of fresh air and so magical, adventurous, self made family and love. I can’t wait to jump into book two.

Very good book

I enjoyed this book, great narration. Solid storyline did not expect the twist at the end.

A good one

The performance is great. Really great. But the story… I have some problems with the pacing, especially in the beginning. The book is a bit too long. But I love all the historical parts and how New York is portrayed. I loved the battle between girls and boys for the control of Manhattan. And I genuinely care for Frances and her sisters. A very solid debut. I’ll be sure to read the next installment.

Disappointing.

The plot line could have been enjoyable if it weren't a plodding feminist diatribe.

Meh

So the story was ok I didn't hate it. What I didn't like about the book is that the main character was such an idiot and cry baby. I hate weak MC's it makes me feel that they aren't worth being the front of the story. Overall the book kept me entertained and annoyed, but overall good read.

typical tripe, but the ending was good

I don't remember why I bought this audiobook, though it probably had to do with its magical properties. I can't say it was a let down, because I wasn't expecting a lot from it, but still... it was not an enjoyable read.

Why do so many YA novels have to have heroines who hate themselves? Yes, girls as a whole have bad self-esteems, but why do the heroines have to be so incredibly bad? Frances continually called herself stupid, blamed herself for things that were never her fault. She was seriously narcissistic because apparently every ill that befell anyone in New York was her fault. That is self-hatred on a grand scale. She continually needed someone else to save her.

To be honest, I had a difficult time making it through to the chapter where we finally met Finn Darcy. But once he was there, it was a bit difficult to stop listening. I wanted to know exactly what was going on with that guy. It was obvious from the time he came into the picture that this would be another trifecta. I'm not sure why so many YA stories have a girl with two male suiters, but they do. And it's old. And Tiresome. And quite egotistic of the heroine to have two guys after her. Even if one of the two in this book turned out to be wonderfully twisted.

What is with the publishing industry that they can't do some fact checking. I mean, they charge through the roof for ebooks, but won't fact check a novel set in a historical setting.

The narrator was good. The bad part was her voice emphasized the main character's horrible self esteem. However, she was able to clarify each character's voice which was wonderful, even the men.

The magic system wasn't well thought out. A couple times it felt like the author took a guess at a system, but they didn't understand the importance of developing the hard magic system they were using. Instead, it was thrown at us, haphazardly.

Because of the letter at the end of the book, the author has left us with the knowledge that Frances will be, one again, facing off with her nemesis - but that was pretty much assured when she didn't kill him outright. But that final letter from him was the only thing that made me think that if I notice when there's a sequel available, it's a possibility I might check it out. After all, the author might have time to fine-tune their magic system as well as the few inconsistencies that were in this first book before the second is complete.

I kind of hope she does. There's so much possibility there. It would be a shame to waste it.