Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.
In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.
Since she was little Haven has been having visions of a past that she hasn’t lived – or so she thinks. Her grandmother has convinced her that there’s something wrong with her – a demon living in her body – so for the past 9 years she’s learned how to control the visions and has tried to be “normal”. But suddenly she’s not able to control them any longer. They’re stronger than before and the desire to figure out what’s going on…is she crazy or not and did she really have a past life or not, is taking over her life. Her grandmother, not thrilled that she is again having visions refuses to let her leave for college and is thinking of having her committed. She lives in a very small town where she’s completely ostracized because of the “demon” living in her and her only friend is Beau, another teen who’s ostracized because he’s gay. Haven finally decides, after she’s wrongly accused of setting her grandmother’s house on fire, that enough is enough and she’s going to New York to find out what’s up with her visions.
Haven’s dreams and visions have always been of the love of her life, Ethan. When she gets to New York she meets Iain Morrow, a celebrity, and he immediately knows her as Connie, his/Ethan’s long lost love. But Iain is hiding things from her and lying. Haven’s not too thrilled when she finds out and she’s not sure if she can trust him. Then she meets up with people from the Ouroboros Society and they have info about Iain/Ethan that doesn’t make him come out smelling like a rose. Who’s to be believed? Haven doesn’t know who to trust and who’s telling her the truth. She just wants to find out what happened all those years ago to Connie and what the heck is happening now.
I would really love to tell you more of the story but I just can’t do it without giving away major spoilers. The story is one that I probably wouldn’t have picked up on my own but I have to say it was pretty good. The first 145 pages or so, part 1 of the book, really had me hooked. This catalogs the time she’s in her small town, Snope City, Tennessee, and all the events she’s lived with in her short 17 years. Part 2 of the book is about Haven’s time in New York and there’s just never a dull moment. I started the book one night and had a darned hard time putting it down in order to go to sleep. Miller has a way of telling you just enough information to make you want to see what happens next.
Because I don’t really read YA books on a regular basis I did find myself getting frustrated by Haven at times. I had to keep reminding myself that she was 17 and not a full grown adult woman as I’m used to reading. There were those occasions that I felt she was too young to be in a relationship with Iain, even though they had been together in a previous life. The relationship itself wasn’t very romantic – it was everything else that I found myself interested in – which is odd since I’m such a romantic at heart! lol
Now, this book says that it’s for 12 years and up (7th grade and up – at least in my galley copy it says that) but I personally felt that it was more for 14 and up. Yes, there are some out there who have mature 12 year olds that could read this but you would really have to read the book and decide for yourself. There are no actual sex scenes in the book but they are inferred.
In the end I thought it was a very good YA book that I just had a few issues with.The book in hardcover and ebook.
Rating: 4 out of 5
I received this book from the publisher for review.
Hi Tracy:
Great review, I'm glad you enjoyed the book too. I agree about the romantic aspect of the story but like you I read very little YA so tried to keep that in mind while reading it. It's hard isn't it when you are accustomed to reading adult genres. I actually talked to a couple of my colleagues who have 12 ish daughters regarding the book's content and they seemed to feel they would be okay with it given the wealth of YA novels out there, and what their daughter’s are reading.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Much appreciated. 🙂
I'm trying to remember what I was reading at 12. Probably things I totally should not have been. 🙂
Lea – Maybe because Ethan was supposed to be the great love of her life I expected more romance but the rest was great.
I just can't make up my mind about the 12 year old thing. Maybe it's just me wanting to keep my daughter in a cave as long as possible – even though we've had the sex talk to be safe. It was more when Haven mentioned that either Ethan or Iain were running their hands over her and the inference of sex. IDK. Maybe I'm too overprotective. On the other hand I let her watch Glee – so there ya g! lolol
Chris – I started reading romance at 13 and the Harlequins my mom was having me read were NOT appropriate for my age. I, of course, loved them! lol
I think it is too bad that most of us don't review YA books as much as we could — I realize that most of our "followers" are adults, but we all have families and it is good to know what is out there. Thanks for including this book.
Thank you Tracy. I'm trying to remember what I was reading at 12 too…hmmm. I should ask my best friend – she would remember 🙂
Oh dear….I think I might have been reading Sweet Valley High! *hides*