Grace (YA)

Grace. Elizabeth Scott. 2010. September 2010. Penguin. 208 pages.

I'm afraid my hair is showing.

Grace almost left me speechless. Elizabeth Scott continues to amaze me. The author that makes me giddy with her teen romances leaves me haunted by such books as Grace and Living Dead Girl. (It's not that her romances lack substance or full characterization. All her characters feel human. And all her characters seem to be struggling with something.)

What is Grace about? Well this dystopian set in the near future stars Grace a girl who was "raised to be an Angel, a herald of death by suicide bomb." But Grace realizes--at the last moment--that this is not what she wants. And perhaps for the first time, she realizes that what she wants does matter.

She doesn't want to die for the cause. She's not even sure she believes in the cause anymore. (If she ever did.) She wants to live. But living life might be tricky because first she'll have to escape her old life.

Grace, when we first meet her, is on the run for her life. She's hoping and praying that she can escape. She's on a train heading for what could be her only chance for freedom, for a new life. But she's not traveling alone. She's traveling with a young man she's never met. A man she doesn't know if she can trust. As these two share their stories, share their pasts, quite a story unfolds.

Grace is a compelling read. I just couldn't put it down! It's a thought-provoking read too. I liked the way this one was told. How as Grace makes this journey to freedom, readers learn her back story bit by bit. We learn about the circumstances--political and social--that led her to where she is. I liked how Grace is challenged along the way to think and rethink her beliefs, her ethics.

I would definitely recommend this one.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews