Toward a Secret Sky
by Heather Maclean (Blink, April 2017) is a YA novel of the “Twilight with
Angels and Demons” sort. Our teen orphan heroine finds herself shipped off to
grandparents in Scotland where she explores scenery, makes friends, and
encounters the devastatingly gorgeous angel assigned the guard her.
Even though
she is told in no uncertain terms of the dire consequences of human-angel love
affairs, she plunges into one obsessive daydream after another about him, refuses to heed
his warnings to leave him alone, and in general behaves like an infatuated
adolescent incapable of making rational decisions. To be sure, she has
personality and strengths, not the least of which are keen mental abilities and
a generous heart, and the story moves along nicely, with enough twists to keep
the reader engaged. Logic bobbles (like why would a handsome, rich incubus need
a date-rape drug when looks and money alone would get him as much sex as he
wants?) flawed an otherwise enjoyable flow of prose, and the “the war [with
demons] is just beginning” epilog felt tacked-on.
These shortcomings may pale
in comparison to the overall enjoyability of the story, particularly for a
young adult reader but a more critical reader may find them annoying.
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