#BookReview: Toward a Secret Sky by @HeatherMaclean @BlinkYABooks

  Shortly after 17-year-old Maren Hamilton is orphaned and sent to live with grandparents she’s never met in Scotland, she receives an encrypted journal from her dead mother that makes her and everyone around her a target. It confirms that her parents were employed by a secret, international organization that’s now intent on recruiting her. As Maren works to unravel the clues left behind by her mother, a murderous madness sweeps through the local population, terrorizing her small town. Maren must decide if she’ll continue her parents’ fight or stay behind to save her friends.

With the help of Gavin, an otherworldly mercenary she’s not supposed to fall in love with, and Graham, a charming aristocrat who is entranced with her, Maren races against the clock and around the country from palatial estates with twisted labyrinths to famous cathedrals with booby-trapped subterranean crypts to stay ahead of the enemy and find a cure. Along the way, she discovers the great truth of love: that laying down your life for another isn’t as hard as watching them sacrifice everything for you. 

Toward a Secret Sky by New York Times bestselling author Heather Maclean is a new breed of YA novel: an intelligent adventure-quest crossed with a sweeping, forbidden love story. A mix of reality and possibility, this fast-paced thriller will appeal to fans of Stephenie Meyer and Dan Brown as it leads the reader on a breathless flight through the highlands of Scotland, the secret city under London, and history itself.

Ok, so this one started out really really well.  I couldn't put it down and I finished it in less than 24 hours.  The only real issue I had with it is that it dragged.  The first few chapters were all speedy with her mom dying and her hearing the screams and then her going to Scottland. After that, the story really slowed down.  I wish that the story would have been totally fast paced as there was a lot that we just really didn't need and could have been cut out.  That being said though if you skim parts of the beginning you won't be missing much. 

The romance in this one is INSTA-LOVE!! Just thought you should know its all omg you're so hot and dreamy. I could have lived without that. I understand being attracted to someone who is hot but the omg I love you thing right off was a little much. I wish stories wouldn't do that unless there was a real good reason for it.  I really did like all the characters and they were all done very well it was just the pacing and the insta-love that I think could have been done better.  I do hope for a book two this one which I will totally check out.  I haven't read many books about angels and demons for a while so it was nice getting back to them.  

This one is for those who really like stories that take a little while to get going as well as fans of The Da Vinci Code and Twilight.  

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Posted in: 4 Stars, HarperCollins, Jessica P., Review, Young Adult