“Lots of things that can kill you are beautiful. A high cliff. A lightning strike. A freezing cold night on the mountains.”

Maddie Morrow is the niece of the innkeeper at Havenfall, a magical inn hidden deep in the Colorado mountains that connects magical realms. The summers she spends there offer an escape from her harrowing reality where her mother sits on death row accused of killing her brother. But this summer is different. After a dead body is found, Brekken, her first love and Fiorden soldier, goes missing, and her uncle is left gravely injured. Maddie suddenly finds herself responsible for everyone at Havenfall with a dangerous monster on the loose. She works with Taya, a new and strange member of the staff who seems to be keeping secrets to try and find out what is happening at the inn. As the summer goes on it's clear that much darker things are unfolding at Havenfall and no one is safe.

The first book of Holland's Havenfall duology will sweep you away into the deep and magical mountains of Colorado with her fantastic world building and the idea of people coming together for an inter-dimensional peace conference is amazing. If you are a fan of fantasy and murder mystery you will love it. The main character is bi-sexual but it is only metioned in passing and not the main story line in the book but there is still romantic tension between both a female and male character. Seeing Maddie struggle with her life and then taking on the responsibilities of the inn she loves is an amazing character arc to read about as well. The story is a little flat overall, but still a great read.

If you enjoy this book try the second book from this series, Phoenix Flame, or Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air trilogy.