The Witch Haven

A New York Times Bestseller

The Last Magician meets The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this “spectacular, singular, and spellbinding” (Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue) historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.

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?

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Published Aug 31, 2021

464 pages

Average rating: 7.16

19 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

LMahoney
Jan 26, 2024
6/10 stars
I liked the idea of this book. Sadly, the "bad guy" was so obvious the moment you met him that the story just dragged on as you waited for Frances to realize who he really was. I wanted more from this book.
Corvus_Libri
Sep 18, 2023
10/10 stars
An amazing story that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I really felt like I was taken back to 1911.
I will issue a warning if you love Irishmen and their accents... well Finn James D'Arcy captured my heart and Frances Victoria Hallowell is just as rage-filled about the patriarchy as so many even to this day that she felt personal.
If I were to make it a blind date with a book I would say:
Historical fantasy
dark academia
Magical schools
early 20th century New York and all the growing pains that entails.

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