Book Spotlight: MERCY

Title: MERCY
Author: Rebecca Lim
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Hyperion
Released: October, 2010
Pages: 288

I'd like to thank Disney Publishing Worldwide for supplying me with this copy to review. 

Favorite Line/Passage: Tiffany is furious. Her face is lit up like a Christmas tree with ill will and irritation as she tries to outsing me, but fails. A lark striving to catch a burning phoenix arcing skyward. The whole room is listening so hard that the entire chorus, almost two hundred people, fails to come in after Figure 10, and I sing on alone for what feels like an eternity, and I wonder how much of this glorious sound is Carmen and how much of it, if any of it, is me.

Description: A fallen angel haunted by her past. Yearning for her immortal beloved. Forever searching for answers.Who will show her Mercy? 

Mercy has lost herself. She can’t count how many times she’s “woken up” in a new body, and assumed a new life, only to move on again and again. During the day she survives in the human world on instinct and at night her dreams are haunted by him. Mercy’s heart would know him anywhere. But her memory refuses to cooperate. 

But this time is different. When Mercy wakes up she meets Ryan, an eighteen year old reeling from the loss of his twin sister who was kidnapped two years ago. Everyone else has given up hope, but Ryan believes his sister is still alive. Using a power she doesn't fully comprehend, Mercy realizes that Ryan is right. His sister is alive and together they can find her. For the first time since she can remember, Mercy has a purpose; she can help. So she doesn’t understand why the man in her dreams cautions her not to interfere. But as Ryan and Mercy come closer to solving the dark mystery of his sister’s disappearance, danger looms just one step behind. 

Will Mercy be able to harness her true self and extraordinary power in time? 

BRING ALONG

My Splats: Although this is a twisted tale of finding oneself, which is found in many YA stories, the difference here is the one searching for her true self has been lost for many years....Not your typical teen story.


This isn't the average teen searching her inner catacombs in search of 'herself', but an angel--real & true--living the experiences of many lives, yearning to find her means, her reason for existing. And through the eyes and heart of a teen, Mercy slowly discovers the purpose of her plight--her punishment of borrowing one mortal life after another. Evidence of Mercy's true self unravel as information about a missing girl come to light. And with the disappearance of a new girl, Mercy knows she must act, only not sure why.


Initially, I found the opening pages confusing and even a bit distant. But somewhere between the end of chapter one and chapter two, I became intrigue enough to see a plot being born. The writing is elegant yet with a standoffish flare, almost as if the main character wants to avoid emotions. Word choices are crisp, yet not overdone. 


The Angel angle of this tale is just unique enough, spliced with the mystery of Mercy's unveiling, the disappearance of the girls, and townsfolk who are close-minded and harsh at times. Not a huge fan of open endings, I enjoyed the conclusion and look forward to see where the author takes Mercy next, primarily because vital questions were answered in this first book. I'm definitely hungry for the sequel.