The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith

Title: The Witch Haven

Author: Sasha Peyton Smith
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: N/A

Hardcover, 448 pages
Publication: August 31, 2021 by Simon and Schuster BFYR
Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.
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In 1911 New York City, seventeen-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?

My Thoughts

Books with witches are my jam. Combine it with the early 20th century period and a boarding school setting and you have the perfect trifecta. We all know the history of witches. People fear what they don’t understand but what’s even more terrifying is an intelligent woman with powers. Smith did a great job incorporating that theme and picking the perfect setting of 1911 New York. While it was the turn of the century full of expansion, it was also a time of oppression of the lower-working class and women. The world building was pretty straightforward and very easy to understand. 

The world is divided into the haves and have-nots, those with power and without power, and male and female. Frances, our heroine falls in the later. After a triggering violent attack Frances discovers she’s a witch. Immediately she gets whisked away to Haxahaven Academy. Haxahaven teaches its students’ that their place in the world is in a home. The magical spells learned revolved around domesticated routines in the home such as cooking, cleaning and sewing. It comes as no surprise that Frances yearns more in life than becoming a dutiful housewife. As her brother William once said, she was destined to change the world. And that’s exactly what Frances set out to do, but as with life, things don’t always turn out how we thought they would. 

 Frances is your typical seventeen-year-old, curious, rebellious and thinks she’s invincible. I liked that she did anything she set her mind to and never took no as an answer. It was easy to see her growth and transformation from beginning to end. I thought it was done well and best of all, actually believable. All the secondary characters were also well developed and memorable. I adored Frances’s confidantes Maxine and Leah. They embodied loyalty and sisterhood. I normally am not fond of love triangles but I kinda liked Oliver and Finn. They were the complete opposite, the old childhood friend and the mysterious dream boy. But unlike other cookie-cutter YA love interests, these guy had substance and piqued my interest. The somewhat biggest surprise of all was Finn. I guessed how everything was going to end but Smith definitely shocked me in the last chapter. Talk about a cliffhanger! 

 The Witch Haven exceeded all my expectations. I went in thinking it was going to be a regular ol’ story about a boarding school but it was so much more. The story had a natural progression throughout the entire book and ended in an explosive climax that I think will surprise the reader and have them frantically turning the pages. I flew through the last third of the book. The Witch Haven is a great debut encompassing self discovery and acceptance, sisterhood/friendship, and of course a lot of heart. I absolutely enjoyed The Witch Haven, it was one of my most anticipated read...and it didn’t disappoint! I can't wait to see what’s in store for Frances and her friends.

The Memory of Forgotten Things by Kat Zhang

Title: The Memory of Forgotten Things
Author: Kat Zhang
Genre: Fiction, Middle Grade
Series: N/A

Hardcover, 288 Pages
Publication: May 15, 2018 by Aladdin

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. 

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One of the happiest memories twelve-year-old Sophia Wallace has is of her tenth birthday. Her mother made her a cake that year—and not a cake from a boxed-mix, but from scratch. She remembers the way the frosting tasted, the way the pink sugar roses dissolved on her tongue.

This memory, and a scant few others like it, is all Sophia has of her mother, so she keeps them close. She keeps them secret, too. Because as paltry as these memories are, she shouldn’t have them at all.

The truth is, Sophia Wallace’s mother died when she was six years old. But that isn’t how she remembers it. Not always.

Sophia has never told anyone about her unusual memories—snapshots of a past that never happened. But everything changes when Sophia’s seventh grade English class gets an assignment to research solar eclipses. She becomes convinced that the upcoming solar eclipse will grant her the opportunity to make her alternate life come true, to enter a world where her mother never died.

With the help of two misfit boys, she must figure out a way to bring her mother back to her—before the opportunity is lost forever.

The Memory of Forgotten Things was such a sweet and touching Middle Grade novel. The book is centered around Sophia, a twelve-year-old girl who is having memories of her mom; memories when she was 9, 10, 11…except her mom passed away when Sophia was only six-years-old. So the question is, how is this possible? With the help of two of Sophia’s classmates they find a correlation between the Memories and the solar eclipse…and the possibility of bringing back their loved ones.

The Memory of Forgotten Things dealt with some heavy issues such as death, grief and if given the chance to change the past/future, would you? Or should you? I thought Zhang tackled the topics and packaged it in such a way that was easy to understand and was very well written; especially for the targeted audience. While Sophia is the main character, her fellow classmates; Luke and DJ both had to deal with a family member’s death as well. It was interesting to see how children dealt with death and seeing the aftermath of it of how it affected the family life/those that were left behind. I liked the trio of characters and found them mature for their age. In some scenes it felt as if the children were more mature and understanding than their own parents. For example in Sophia’s case, after the death of her mom, her dad spent his days working or in a daze and asleep. And he depended more on Sophia than the other way around as if the roles were reversed.

I really enjoyed The Memory of Forgotten Things, its a story about learning to move on, acceptance, family and friendship. However, it should be noted that this book is an iota part magic/science-fiction. I initially thought this would fall under magic realism (similar to Bridge to Terabithia) but Zhang surprised me and took it to the next level incorporating fringe science, the theory of parallel universes…do they exist? Is there multiple worlds out there with different variation of ourselves? So just a heads up to those interested in reading The Memory of Forgotten Things. Some reviewers were surprised by this and felt mislead. But I am all for magic/sci-fi and actually liked the unexpectedness of it all. I highly recommend this standalone novel to everyone. It definitely poses a lot to think about!