Blog Tour: Haven: Chronicles of Warshard #1 by Katherine Bogle: A Book Review

Haven: Chronicles of Warshard #1
Author: Katherine Bogle
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: FriesenPress
Release Date: May 10, 2016
Pages:208
Source: This book was given to me iRead Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: Haven (Chronicles of Warshard #1) is the 2nd place winner of World's Best Story!

     Princess Haven was never meant to be Queen.

     Her immortality has saved her time and time again, but when the last of her royal family dies at her feet, she is next in line to rule a nation on the brink of war. With no formal training on how to be Queen, Haven must rise to the occasion with the help of her best friends, and personal guard, or risk losing everyone she has ever loved.

     With war to the West, and no escape to the East, the evil tyrant Kadia sets her sights on the six kingdoms. Haven's neighbors are quick to fall under the swords of Kadia's shadow soldiers, leaving a sea of bodies and a clear path to Haven's only home. Haven must make a choice; take her people and flee to the foreign Republic across the sea or lead a last stand against a powerful dictator.

      My Review: Haven was never meant to be queen. Yet, with her curse of immortality and with her family gone, she is forced to take the throne. However, she does not know how to rule. Immediately, when she is on the throne, she finds out the her kingdom is in danger. Soon, she goes to war against an evil queen who is determined to destroy them all. Can Queen Haven defeat the evil queen and save her kingdom?

     Queen Haven is an unlikely heroine. She is thrust into a position that she has no training for. She is uncertain in her position as queen. She is often clueless and leans on the advice of others. Yet, she has a good heart. She loves her friends and her kingdom. She is willing to do everything to help others. She gradually begins to have self-confidence and learns to trust herself. While there were some actions that I did not agree with, I find that she did it on good intentions. Nevertheless, I thought that she grew stronger as a queen. Thus, Haven is a character that audiences will root for and will like to see how she grows as a character.

     Overall, this story is about love, friendship, responsibility, and self-acceptance. The message of this book is to believe in yourself. I found the book to be very slow. It is not until halfway through the book that it picks up. I think I would have enjoyed this book much better if it was shorter. I also thought that the secondary characters needed to be fleshed out. I would have loved to have known more about the villain, Queen Kadia, as well as other characters, such as her love interest. I also thought that the romance was forced because it was instant-love and needed more time to develop naturally. I also thought the world-building needed a bit more work, for it was not really fleshed out and needed more details about the six kingdoms. As I read it, I was confused about the places. This needs more work for an epic fantasy and in a war story, the places are very important. Haven has elements of action, adventure, political and court intrigue, and romance. I recommend this book for those who enjoy reading about unique heroines, coming-of age stories, and journeys of self-discovery.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Buy the Book: Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Book Depository, Indigo Chapters

About the Author:

Katherine Bogle's debut young adult novel, Haven, came second in the World's Best Story contest 2015. She currently resides in Saint John, New Brunswick with her partner in crime, and plethora of cats.  Visit her website, Facebook, and Twitter.