Astray (Gated #2) by Amy Christine Parker

Astray (Gated #2)
by Amy Christine Parker
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 26th 2014

Rate: Enjoyed it+ (4,5 stars)

Synopsis:

Lyla is caught between two worlds. The isolated Community that she grew up in and the outside world that she’s navigating for the very first time. The outsiders call the Community a cult, but Pioneer miraculously survived a shooting that should have killed him. Are the faithful members right to stay true to his message? Is this just a test of faith? One thing is for sure: the Community will do anything to bring Lyla back to the fold. Trapped in a spider’s web of deception, will Lyla detect the sticky threads tightening around her before it’s too late? She’ll have to unravel the mystery of what Pioneer and the Community are truly up to if she wants to survive.

Suspenseful and chilling, Astray is Amy Christine Parker’s nerve-fraying sequel to Gated. This fast-paced psychological thriller is masterfully plotted and sure to leave goose bumps. Perfect for fans of creepy YA thrillers and contemporary fiction alike.

Astray is the perfect sequel for Gated. The story starts with Lyla once again, showing us what's new for her, and picking up right where Gated finished. But if you have read Gated a while ago and would need to read it again to refresh your memory, Amy starts explaining a little bit about the essentials to keep track of everything.

I truly enjoyed Astray because it gives the reader the chance to see inside a cult and how difficult it is to simply cut ties with them. Trying to get out, is difficult for Lyla and in Astray we get to see how lost Lyla is in this new world while dealing with Pioneer and the Community who won't release Lyla as easily as we might've thought.

The author wrote a strong character that the reader can easily like and/or feel related to, although being in a cult is not the reader's situation. Amy Christine also had the ability to keep that mysterious touch in her second book and I was not disappointed with the twists of the story. Some of them unexpected to me. 

I think that this book is more than a YA story. It's an inside, with a fictional touch, to a cult like Lyla's and that sometimes is really difficult to just leave something like that. I highly recommend this series and I will keep an eye on the author's future work.

AMY CHRISTINE PARKER writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and one ridiculously fat cat. Visit her at amychristineparker.com and follow her on Twitter @amychristinepar.