Series: None
Author: Shelley Sackier
Published April 11th 2017 by HarperTeen
Goodreads Synopsis
The Outlander series for the YA audience—a debut, full of romance and intrigue, set in early eighteenth-century Scotland.
Saying good-bye to Scotland is the hardest thing that Jenna MacDuff has had to do—until she meets Lord Pembroke. Jenna’s small clan has risked their lives traveling the countryside as masons, secretly drumming up support and arms for the exiled King James Stuart to retake the British throne. But their next job brings them into enemy territory: England.
Jenna’s father repeatedly warns her to trust no one, but when the Duke of Keswick hires the clan to build a garrison on his estate, it seems she cannot hide her capable mind from the duke’s inquisitive son, Lord Alex Pembroke—nor mask her growing attraction to him. But there’s a covert plan behind the building of the garrison, and soon Jenna must struggle not only to keep her newfound friendship with Alex from her father, but also to keep her father’s treason from Alex.
Will Jenna decide to keep her family’s mutinous secrets and assist her clan’s cause, or protect the life of the young noble she’s falling for?
In Shelley Sackier’s lush, vivid historical debut, someone will pay a deadly price no matter which choice Jenna makes.
Goodreads
Review
I love Outlander and when I saw that this book was being compared to it, as a YA version, I knew it was one I needed to order. Set in 18th century Scotland, when the Scots have had most of their rights stripped from them by the English after the uprising, Jenna and her family are trying to drum up support to return the exiled James Stuart to the British throne, and they leave for England in order to help with this. Working for the Duke of Keswick, building a garrison near the Border, Jenna's father and the rest of their rag tag bunch are trying to undermine the garrison by building flaws into it. This is all well and good for Jenna, but then she soon meets the handsome Lord Pembroke, the son of the Duke, and her new friend. With Alex, Jenna has to be careful, lest she lose her heart, and her family's lives.
I did like this book, but there was a lot that was left to be desired. It was quite slow for the most part, and a bit unbelievable at times too. The comparison to Outlander is very weak, and I think it was only ever made because it is set in Scotland and there's rebellion in the air. I did like Jenna, and her and Alex's chemistry was really good together, but I felt the fact that she was risking a lot by telling Alex secrets that were extremely dangerous to be shared, and understood why her family weren't happy about her friendship with him. The vague love triangle with Alex's Italian fiancee was also forced, and the ending a little lacklustre, but all in all, I'm glad I read the book, if only to get a but more historical YA fiction.
Dates Read:
Rating
3 Stars
