Blog Tour: The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton

Synopsis

Washed up as a baby beside a remote lighthouse and raised by a mermaid, Alpha Lux was the first foundling at Haven Point. Now the lighthouse is a ramshackle home for any disabled person who needs somewhere to belong. Looting from passing ships to make a living, they call themselves the Wrecklings, and for the children of Haven Point life is spent adventuring on the wild shore (and getting into trouble with the grown-ups).

But when Alpha spots a strange light up on the headland, she realizes that her beloved family are in danger of being discovered by Outsiders.

With their home under threat, the Wrecklings must decide what kind of future they want . . . and what they’re willing to do to get it.

Review

If someone was looking over my bookshelves, they wouldn’t have a clue how my categorisation works. For instance, one of my favourite shelves is dedicated to ‘books that are love letters to the ocean and her inhabitants’. So of course I wasn’t going to say no to joining a blog tour about a book, set in a lighthouse, with mermaids and magic and the sea!

This is such a wonderful, unique and quirky read. I’ve definitely never read anything like it before. It’s jammed full of disability rep, which you typically only seem to find in contemporary novels, so it’s great to see books like this start to make their way into the world. Let’s hope for lots more, so that all young people have their chance to see themselves reflected in all sorts of incredible situations and settings.

There are so many great characters, which always makes it hard to single out just one as a favourite. One of my favourite ‘tropes’ is found family, and that certainly covers the Wrecklings, who work perfectly together and just feel like a family that was meant to be. I loved how they interacted with each other, and what truly makes them feel like real characters it the way you can hear their accents in the way that the dialect is written!

Alpha as the main protagonist was everything you want in a lead character. I loved my time with her and her friends, and the ending is set up nicely to allow for a sequel (fingers crossed). If I haven’t already sold the book to you, what you probably need to know, what you really, really need to know, is that there is a character who walks around with a tiny cat living in his beard!!

I adored the lovely illustrations that go alongside the words, and they really helped me to visualise the characters and the story. Particularly the cross section of Old Ben, right at the very start. If you’re looking for something really quite different for your young reader (or indeed yourself), I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s also one that can open up discussion points and get them thinking about how everyone is unique in their own special ways, and that is always a good thing. The Secret of Haven Point has happily nestled itself on my special ocean themed shelf, exactly where it belongs!

Big thanks to the publishers for including me in the tour! All thoughts are my own.