Mundie Moms

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Blog Tour: Book Review & Guest Post with Mercy author Rebecca Lim

Published by Disney Hyperion
Released on May 17th, 2011
Source- ARC from TLA
3 stars- It's A Good Read

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?

The first in a dazzling new series, Mercy masterfully weaves romance, mystery and the supernatural into a spell-binding tale.

Mercy is a fallen angel who has the ability to take over someone's soul for a certain amount of time. In doing so, she doesn't remember much about the previous soul she took, nor does she remember much about her own true identity. With each soul she's sent to takes her further from her true self and her long lost love she won't stop searching for, which is one of the things that drew me to the book. One of the things I liked about the story was Mercy's quest to find herself, her long lost and piece together the importance of each soul she was sent to and how she helped them.

Her newest soul is Carmen, a choir exchange student who's sent to live with her host family the Daley's. Mercy/Carmen is an interesting character, especially since they're two different individuals molded together for a time. I was intrigued by the concept that Mercy is still herself though she also becomes Carmen, and the character development makes more sense once you get more into the story. During the day Mercy allows Carmen to be herself, trying to fit in at high school, dealing with drama and attending choir and at night she helps the completely broken, good looking Ryan Daley look for his missing teenage sister. There were times I had a hard time with the dialogue, and it does get confusing being from both Mercy and Carmen's perspectives, but as the story progresses it was easier for me to follow along.

I really liked the paranormal touch Rebecca gives her story with Mercy's character and her ability to see things humans can't through her contact with them. It helps her in her quest to uncover Lauren's disappearance and gives her a hint about the twist that Rebecca throws into the story. If you're a fan of fallen angels, paranormal, a mystery with a twist and a bit of romance, than I'd recommend picking up Mercy. It's a unique read that will leave you wanting more, especially with it's ending. I'm curious to see what's in store for Mercy next. There is mild language through out the book and I'd recommend this to readers 14 yrs & up.

_____________________________________________

I'm excited to have Rebecca Lim with us today. Recently I was able to ask her:

What are 5 books that made an impression on you either as a Teen or as a fan of YA books?

There are almost too many to name, but one that made a huge early impression was The Neverending Story by the German author Michael Ende. Don’t let the truly diabolical film that was made of the book (in the 1980s) stop you from reading it!

The Great Gatsby, In Cold Blood and To Kill a Mockingbird were each strikingly different, and totally incomparable. Just eye-opening to a kid. I was obsessed with 20th century American fiction as a teen.

I loved The Lord of the Rings cycle and The Hobbit. The Once and Future King by T.H. White.

In recent times, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman was extraordinary, as were the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. Both authors constructed such rich, believable and totally three-dimensional worlds. I’ve just read the first of The Hunger Games trilogy, which was fantastically enjoyable, so dark and fast-paced. And The Book Thief by Australian author Markus Zusak was just stunning in every way: lyrical, rage-filled, beautiful.

Sorry, I think I just cheated and ran way over nominating 5 books!


Thank you so much for being with us today Rebecca. Be sure to visit Rebecca on her site here to learn more about Mercy and it's sequel Exile.


Enter to win an ARC of Mercy!!

Dear Wall Street Journal

Dear Wall Street Journal,

I read your article that you posted here last night and I just wanted to take a moment to point a few things that you forgot to mention. No I'm not slamming your article, but I tried to see your point, and from the get go I didn't get how someone could stand in the YA section and only see the negative. The YA books you discussed in your article mirror what teens are dealing with today. The YA genre has a vast assortment of books from paranormal, fantasy, chick lit to what you deem as "dark", but what I like to call a realistic, thought provoking read. By no means are these kind of books for everyone, but they are books some teens need.

YA books like the ones you mentioned allow teens to realize "they're not the only ones". Real life isn't always a walk in the park nor is it full of the happily ever after fairy tale endings. In fact, many of the fairy tales we all grew up with don't have happy endings. Like life, some YA books are raw, gritty and dark, which reflects life for many teens. They deserve to have books that reflect their reality. The good, the bad, the clean, the ugly and everything in between. YA books as a whole can inspire their readers and remind adults to be more openminded, to stop and look at the world through the eyes of the younger generation. Believe me, what kids are dealing with now is way more than I had to deal with growing up.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to read a clean cut YA book (which there are a lot of in YA), but to say that there shouldn't be books that reflect reality is wrong. I don't have teens yet, but I've got books on my bookcases that I'll be reading with my kids when they hit that stage. Reading is another way for me to connect with my kids. Yes, I read with my kids everyday. Reading is empowering and it's something I want to instill in them at a young age. Reading inspires, opens minds and moves people to action, all of which happened last night on twitter via the #YASaves hash tag.

What your post has failed to mention is how countless authors have inspired teens and even saved their lives and no I'm not being dramatic. If they had the chance to sit in the auditorium last fall at the Austin Teen Book Festival and hear Ellen Hopkins read just snippets from a fraction of some of the 100's of emails she has received from teens who's lives she has saved, not only would you have been moved to tears like the countless number of those in attendance were, but you'd realize the power YA and even some MG books have. It's authors like Ellen Hopkins, Holly Black & countless of others who have not only saved lives, but they've inspired them. Authors are connecting with their readers like never before.

When I was a tween Stephen King's books sat next to R.L. Stine's in my Middle Grade library. Growing up I didn't have this amazing selection of books to read. Did I have a traumatic home life? Not at all, but being an adult and knowing friends who did, the YA books I read and review now I know would have made a huge difference in their lives, had these books existed then. Yes WSJ there are gritty, real, horrifying YA books that depict reality for so many teens, but there's also the clean cut, wholesome books too and everything in between. The gritty, and what you may deem as "dark" are a reality to so many kids, and it's those teens who need these books since society doesn't want to "talk about" what many of the things they are dealing with. I recently read Cut, and does that make we want to go to that? Absolutely not, but I read it so that someone who's reading my blog who is dealing with that, or is a parent who has a teen who's dealing with it, and isn't sure how to talk with them about it may find my review and want to go pick up Patricia's book to find some sort of help or inspiration from it.

YA authors don't just make this stuff up. Many of them experienced some of the "dark" things they write about it. You know what, not only do they give teens who have dwelt with this stuff in silence a voice, they also inspire their readers to keep their lives clean. What you failed to mention is how these books have kept teens from become drug addicts, alcoholics, and so forth. And if they have struggled with stuff like this, than you've also failed to mention how these books have helped them over come their addictions, how they've got through their abuse and how books became their own source of hope in world full of darkness. Not everyone gets to have a happy home life and books are some teens only source of hope. Don't believe me? Go read the #YASaves trends and be sure you grab your box of kleenex. What you'll read there will make you realize just how much of an impact reading and YA books have had on so many lives.

Sincerely,
A Huge Supporter of YA books

Labels