I am never a fan of books that switch between timelines. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In this case I do not think it worked particularly well. That said I thought the story was interesting but would have been improved by not switching back and forth. An interesting read.

This is probably my oddest reason ever to DNF a book. I have a teenage daughter with the same name as the main character and the way her behaviour was described in the book, how realistic it was to my British teenage daughter, made me feel uncomfortable and I couldn’t continue with it’s subject matter of grooming.

That being said, what I did read was very well written and it was a credit to the author that the characterisation was so realistic that it gave me that feeling of unease. I was drawn in by the story, but with also having a husband with an interest in wilderness survival skills, it hit a little too near to home for me.

The premise of this book was great, however I found it to be poorly executed. I much preferred the ‘now’ parts to the ‘then’ parts but found the book contained a lot of words with little movement on the plot line. I’d rate it two stars as I felt compelled to finish it in the hope of a great ending but sadly it fell short. Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Joseph Penguin Random House and the author for the chance to review.

This has a great blurb, and I thought I was really going to enjoy it. Sadly, the writing style didn't suit me; I've never been a fan of stories told in two timelines, which this one is, and even at the end when they merge there are a lot of unanswered questions. Plus, I hated where the author chose to end the story, though I'm sure some people will love it.

I felt that Cassia fell for Mo ridiculously quickly; I know that some people are excellent manipulators, but for him to single her out and get her under his spell in two hours really strained my belief. Her father I find easier to believe as he was clearly not right to start with, so Mo was exploiting something that was already there, and over a longer period of time. I also found it odd that a character I won't mention for spoiler reasons was so careful with Cass after she was injured, but did nothing about the massive bleeding wound in her head?

There's a great plot here, but between the double timeline and the inconsistencies, I couldn't find it. I'd try other books by the author because I think it could just be this book that didn't suit me, and I do think other readers will enjoy it very much.

A dark, disturbing tale set in a commune. I struggled with the narrative, not the descriptive writing and failed to finish.

This is the first novel I’ve read by the author and I was drawn to the synopsis as I find books about cults and communes fascinating.
It’s a dual timeline novel set in the present as teenager Cass looks back her dysfunctional family’s experience living on an off grid commune,
I felt that the novel started off with an intriguing premise and it’s well written and characterised. I did find the pace slow and as the novel progressed the plot became increasingly less credible.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I loved the Betrayals so was excited to read this latest from Fiona Neill, and wasn't disappointed - another pacy thriller with a human mystery at the heart. I found the setting / theme of this novel really unique and intriguing, a really intense but believable portrayal of an off-grid community. I liked how the different characters brought to life different ways / reasons for engaging with this kind of lifestyle (which from personal experience I found accurate!), from real 'earth mother' types, to more superficial engagements, to darker motives still.
I was truly hungry to find out what had happened and found myself coming back to it and speeding through the last sections.
I did find the very very ending a little flat (not in what actually happens, which was a good and satisfying twist) but the way it's delivered - in a few sentences as if in a rush??) but it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of this highly readable and exciting thriller, a great holiday read.

This is difficult book for me to review as I struggled to connect with both the story and the characters but I did persevere until the end. What I do have to say though was the book was extremely well written and I did want to continue reading because of this. So sadly this just wasn’t the book for me at this time and I am sure I will be in the minority and others will like it better. Please don’t get me wrong this wasn’t by any means a bad read it just wasn’t one for me but based on the writing I will be interested in any future books by the author.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House, Michael Joseph for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Suspend your disbelief and jump in to Cass's summer of self sufficiency.

The age old story of family joining a commune meets teenager who got out.

This was fun, with a very sinister overtone, the narrator really grips you.

This story started off with promise but got weird fast. The then/now device seemed cumbersome towards the end, when it was clear that the timeframe was not very long between the two. The weird power dynamics between the sixteen year old protagonist and her older oppressor were disturbing to say the least. Not one I'd recommend, I'm afraid.

Nobody does dysfunctional 21st-century families like Fiona Neill, and the one she writes about in this novel is painfully recognisable. The members are seen through the eyes of the teenage Cassia (Cass) and they include a father with a midlife crisis, a long-suffering mum, an adolescent brother and a, sometimes, bothersome little sister!

They would have stayed like that if, Rick, the father hadn’t suddenly decided they should all go back to nature and spend the summer living a life of self-sufficiency in a commune in the middle of nowhere, and that’s where the trouble starts!

Mo was the person who got them into all of it and it’s clear from early on that he is an unpleasant piece of work, but Cass falls for him in a big way and goes along with the experiment of living off grid because of the excitement of being close to him.

The commune members are largely a charming group but a little short on commonsense and easily manipulated. However, they seem quite happy with their composting toilets and enduring dirt. It’s a life that the family fall into as well.

Things go very badly wrong and you know this from the start because Cass is telling the story in the present and slowly allowing the past to reveal itself. It works well in plot terms and it’s a story which keeps you on the edge until the very last page.

While the book recognises that you can live off grid, it is clear about the disadvantages as well. It would be fascinating to hear a book group from somewhere like Glastonbury chatting about it! Otherwise, it is a thoughtful, fast paced and exciting thriller, and highly recommended.

I’m slightly conflicted about this title; it’s very well written but you really have to suspend belief to buy in to the whole premise of the story. Occasionally I can do that but The Haven just felt a little too far fetched to retain credibility and I found some parts rather irritating.

That said, if you can approach the title with a very open mind it’s an interesting read as it tackles a number of issues including dysfunctional families, cult groups and seemingly charismatic leaders, living off grid and mental breakdown. It has quite a few gripping moments and is well paced. The characters feel real and I’m disappointed that, for me, it just didn’t quite work overall.

Cass Sawyer wakes up in a wood with no memory and a head injury. The story traces her working back in her memory to why she has ended up in The Haven, an off-grid retreat. Where are her parents, and what brought them all here? Something has gone very wrong, and Cass needs to work out what that is.

Such a dark and psychologically disturbing story. The Shining meets The Village but much darker. A family’s desire to embark on a New Age lifestyle goes horribly wrong and Cassia has to use all of her wit and initiative to try and safe the family from the evil within the community.
I read this book very quickly, because I wanted to escape from the awful hold the leader had over everyone; which seemed to include me, the Reader!
I was unsure of how the story would end but it was quick, when it came.

It's a bit of a slow burner but worth the effort. Cass (16), her parents, older brother Joe and younger sister Maudie meet a charismatic man known only as Mo, who infiltrates his way into their lives and invites them to spend some time living in a forest for a couple of months with a closely knit eco-community. When the dysfunctional family get to Haven (having overturned their van several miles away), there is no sign of Mo, they are not expected and their welcome is decidedly lukewarm. However, they settle in a decrepit cabin a little distance from the main community and become engaged in the daily routine, working, learning, sharing food and other resources.

There are two timelines - "then" and "now" which work well. The first begins when they meet Mo and the second starts much later - Cass wakes up alone in the forest with a head injury and little memory of recent events.

I liked the way the book was written - it was immersive and detailed community life very well, but I'm not sure that England has enough wild forest space to allow such a group to go relatively unnoticed for years. I didn't particularly like the sub-plot of the nasty marijuana growers on the far side of the lake, but could see they were necessary as a constant threat to the community. Very well detailed was Rick's (the father) decent into illness (psychosis? schizophrenia?) and the gradual realisation by Cass of the danger they were all in.

I'll give this 4 stars - it's not perfect but is a well-rounded, engaging and immersive read, and I did want to know what happened to some of the characters afterwards.

This book had me gripped from the start the author has done a fantastic job of drawing you in keeping you hooked keeping you guessing and then wow a massive twist and your gasping like a fish on a hook amazing loved it

An interesting read.The story begins with Cass waking up injured and not knowing what has happened to her .Her family had moved into the Haven for a break, a self sufficient community which existed in the middle of a forest but things were not as they seemed and they soon started disagreeing about how they were living. It's not really my genre but it does hold your interest and I'm sure fans of physiological drama will relate and enjoy it

I’m conflicted with this book. Whist at times the writing is good, some of situations really stretch the limits of the integrity of the novel. That said, I did finish and if was ok, it worked in parts.

I don't usually like to review books that I have disliked, as I think reading can be such a subjective thing and just because something hasn't worked for me as a reader, it doesn't mean it won't work for others. However, occasionally I read a book that is SO bad that I feel compelled to review it, and unfortunately The Haven was that book.

So first off, the one positive is that it's a very well written and well paced book, and I would give another book by the same author a chance, as the ingredients were there for a gripping thriller.

However, something I struggle with - in thrillers particularly - is when they stretch credulity so thinly that, instead of being absorbed by the book, I'm distracted by constantly thinking "what on EARTH... how am I meant to believe that...?". And with The Haven, I was doing so every few pages.

I won't list everything that wound me up, but suffice to say the point at which a teenage girl stitched up a gaping wound in her own head had me almost as annoyed as the part where she was able to perfectly track people in the forest. Along with so many other things that didn't ring true, the idea that Cass - previously a normal suburban teenager - would, in the space of a summer and autumn living in the communal environment of the Haven, suddenly become so 'at one' with the natural world that she was able to survive, injured, in the wild for days? weeks? was particularly farcical.

Meanwhile, the plotline involving marijuana growers in a nearby camp felt derivative of The Beach, and the idea that anywhere in the UK could be far enough from civilization to make being completely off-grid and away from the authorities a realistic prospect just didn't sit right with me.

For me this was an unusual book and not my customary genre (thrillers, crime, espionage); so it surprised me to be reading about alternative culture in communal arrangements in forests. It was a slow starter. I couldn't figure out whether it was based in the UK, where it would be more difficult. To camp out undetected for years on end, as this colony appeared to have managed. Then I thought it was probably based in the US. I remained puzzled. The whole plot was quite fanciful throughout, but I settled in an kept an open mind. The characters were developed and began to take on patches of madness or preservation. There was skullduggery, deception, mysticism to keep one interested. I trudged through the forest with the permanent residents and their visitors, then looked at developing a cannibis farm, contemplated disturbing sex and pregnancy.
All in all the story was a good romp.
Funnily, just as I completed the book, there was the real-life story of a 17 year old, who had been abducted by his other at an early age and went on to spend many years in commune, until he walked out in France and came back to the UK.
I had to laugh. I thought the book was a bit far fetched, then I'm shown that It happens in the world today.