Review: THE HAVEN by Carol Lynch Williams

In the world of THE HAVEN by Carol Lynch Williams, there are two kinds of people: Terminals and Wholes.

St. Martin’s Griffin, March 2014.

The terminals live in places like The Haven, where teens are kept apart from the regular population because they are sick.  Often they are taken away from daily (closely monitored) activities for tests.  And sometimes they come back with amputations.  Sometimes they don’t come back at all.

Kept calm by the Tonic, most of Shiloh’s friends don’t remember much.  And they’re happier that way.  The teachers keep an eye on everything, making sure that nobody is too upset, and making sure that the students who need more tonic get it.  The Tonic isn’t working on Shiloh, though.  And even though she doesn’t want to be, she’s curious.  When she meets another student — a male — who might have some answers for her, she can’t help but risk everything to separate the reality from a worldview that is seeming more and more false.

THE HAVEN is a compelling, disturbing book.  The teens in the story read books like Romeo and Juliet that have been censored and rewritten in order to perpetuate the rhetoric that is being fed to Shiloh and her peers. The teens’ food is monitored.  They are drugged.  They feel sick when coming in contact with the opposite sex.  Because it’s wrong.  Even developing friendships is wrong.  Shiloh’s world is twisted and intriguing.  And Carol Lynch Williams‘ story will leave you with a sour taste in your mouth.  But that’s kind of the point.  THE HAVEN is an uncomfortable book to read.  But it’s a really fantastic read.  Fans of recent dystopians like DIVERGENT and classics like A BRAVE NEW WORLD will surely be intrigued by this recent addition to the genre.