Heather Maclean

While a YA novel, this smart thriller can easily cross target audiences while it crosses genres (supernatural/thriller/romance) - angels and demons at war, a secret agency under attack, intrigue - this story ticks all the boxes. I confess, I've seen a few "DaVinci Code meets Twilight" descriptions, and I have to say, it's accurate in all the best ways.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but it did NOT disappoint. The pace was quick as the story unfolded, the writing descriptive and imaginative. Maclean takes a few themes we've seen and works her magic on them, turning them into something new and unexpected. The story was clever, the Scottish setting a beautiful backdrop, and I cannot wait until the sequel to see what happens next.

I'm grateful to have been introduced to this author via an advanced copy from Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.… (más)

Maren’s mother has died and with her father long dead she’s shipped off to Scotland to live with her father’s parents whom she’s never met before. When she gets there she meets a spunky girl named Jo, a really hot guy named Gavin and a rich kid named Graham. Something else that reaches her in this new land is a box of her mothers items which included a necklace, some cryptic notes and a warning from her mother to not trust anyone. Soon Maren is introduced to The Abbey a society formed to fight the forces of evil. And she discovers that the ridiculously delicious guy of her dreams is an angel, explaining why he’s got her so entranced.
Oh boy, I had to seriously force myself to finish this one. I chalk it up to the campy teenager writing. It felt like reading a twilight fanfic. I was kind of disappointed.
Like this on page 12:
”I was kissing the hottest guy ever. He was so hot, even his hair was red. We were lounging in the long grass, kissing deeply, like it was our new way of breathing.
“It was hot outside, and the kissing was making me even hotter. Everywhere he touched me, my skin burned. I’d never kissed anyone before, and certainly not like this.” there’s another two paragraphs of badly described passion. I was laughing you guys, I should be wagging my eyebrows or at the very least smirking seductively while I lived vicariously through Maren as she was kissing said hot guy.
Every time I had to read about how hot Maren thought Gavin was I was ready to burn the book. I get the explanation it gave for the instalove but it somehow made the fact the whole thing had to be explained worse. Oh and their first kiss was literally a paragraph long. Described as a blink or you’ll miss it moment.
I should’ve known this book wasn’t going to be for me the second I opened it up and saw a big font being used. The story takes up 378 pages, I should’ve spent an entire evening reading it but before I knew it I finally reached the ending. I had to force myself to finish yet it was a quicker read than I had thought. THE LENGTH OF THE STORY FELT LONG BECAUSE THE BOOK IS SO BULKY. I was not pleased, hence the half star rating.
I feel bad for the author because she obviously wanted to create someone a little braver than Bella Swan but it just didn’t happen. Sure Maren was actually tasked with something important but she was just as bland and just as plain. Her introduction to Gavin was really boring and if I remember correctly it was almost the same as Bella and Ed’s first conversation. But hey at least Maren actually had friends before they were killed off, its not a spoiler since its literally on the back of the book cover. Ugh the freaking epilogue is on the back of the the book jacket. While it may be just what Stephanie Meyer fans are looking for I’m kicking myself for not realizing (aka reading other summaries that said the very same thing) this fact before I bought the book.
but it had such a pretty cover she whispers as she tosses the disappointing book into the donate pile.… (más)