Disappointed by the open ending of both of her books I've read (Living Dead Girl). Very simple writing, but striking. ( )

I did not like this book because it just made me depressed, I couldn't get into it and I just couldn't finish it. I think it just was more emotional to me because it is about a suicide bomber and I am in the military...and see my brothers and sisters killed by them everyday. I just couldn't do it, my weakness and in no way the fault of the author'w writing. Hope you find a better review elsewhere, here are a couple to try. ( )

Kind of feeling mixed about this one. Complete review tomorrow. ( )

I dunno. I think I was supposed to find this far more chilling than I did. ( )

Finished this one in just a couple of hours, very compelling read. A great learning tool for how to write an engaging story with limited pages. Characterization is great, especially considering half the characters mentioned are dead/never seen.

I did feel a little like some of it was going over my head. Things move quite fast and don't wait for you to catch up. Things aren't over-explained. Our protagonist, Grace, is a teenage girl in a country where she has been raised to believe that by sacrificing her life and being a suicide bomber means that she is an Angel. Yet she gets scared when she's supposed to set off her bomb, and ditches the bomb and escapes. Her bomb kills over thirty people.

Because Grace hasn't done her duty and blown herself up (as her other friends - also Angels - have done), her husband stabs himself and her father disowns her. She herself will be killed if she doesn't escape, so she bribes her way onto a train and attempts to make her way to freedom.

Recommended! :) ( )

This is a really short story, but it packs a punch. As pieces of the world Grace lives in are revealed, the lives these people live become more and more disturbing.

I love the awkward interactions between Grace and Kerr. This book could, under no circumstances, be described as a romance...but their short time together bonds them in a powerful way that will leave you thinking about them long after the book is over.

While I do understand that the short length and the sparsity of details add to the mystery and horror of the story, I do really wish it had been longer. This could have been a Grade A Dystopian, as good or better than The Hunger Games. Instead, it remains just a small snapshot of another world. Even though I was very sympathetic to Grace and interested in her story, I wish there could have been more development and back story. Kerr definitely needed more development so that when the secret of his life is discovered it is more of a shock.

So, while I did enjoy reading this, mainly I am just left dissatisfied and wanting more. ( )

GRACE, by Elizabeth Scott, is a quick dystopian read that will keep you thinking about it for days after. The synopsis on the ARC I received did not do this book justice. When I read "Angel" I think white wings, pure heart, and fighting for the good guys. This book was the farthest thing away from my initial idea.

The Angels in this book are chosen to be suicide bombers in a society that is ruled by a dictator. Our fearful heroine does the unthinkable and lives after her mission is complete. She tries to escape from her past and finds many surprises along the way. Scott's prose was very moving and I loved how she weaved snippets of Grace's life during the main story of her escape.

Although my expectations weren't met from my initial reaction of the story, I thought this was a great book and so beautifully written. The plot is horrible to think about but it definitely brings out emotion in each precise word. ( )

Set in a bleak world in the near future, Grace has been trained to give her life for the People’s cause to oust ruler Keran Berj. Grace has always known this was her path, and she was prepared to die when it was asked of her. However, she always had her doubts, and when the time came she was unable to fulfill her mission. Now Grace is on the run and with a traveling companion who is also running from the past.

This is the second book I have read from this author, the first being Living Dead Girl. Both books are compelling, haunting stories wrapped in a small package. At only 200 pages, this book can be read in one setting. However, the subject matter is weighty, timely and thought provoking. The short chapters and spare writing powerfully convey the character’s frame of mind.

The story begins as Grace has hopped a train and is on the run; the details of how she got there are filled in through flashbacks. The whole story had me on edge as I felt Grace’s anxiousness and fright as she waited to get caught. She has spent her whole life being told what to do and now is trying to understand and learn what it will be like to be free. She has always felt out of place as she has watched the other Angels go so willingly to complete their suicide missions. With the help of her traveling companion Kerr, Grace is questioning all that she ever knew. Kerr has his own heart breaking story to tell, and I was pulled into his story as much as Grace’s.

Most of the action takes place on the train, and the claustrophobic environment contributes to the moody atmosphere of the story. Some of the difficult scenes take place “off camera” and are even more mysterious and disturbing as the reader is left to fill in the blanks. The character of Grace makes hard choices and is brave to go off into the unknown to live life for herself. This haunting character struck a chord with me.

Grace is a powerful dystopian book set in a recognizable near future world. The themes are those that many will relate to with several discussion points that could be explored in a classroom setting.

I’m glad I took a chance on this book, and maybe next time I’ll even read one of this author’s lighter novels. Elizabeth Scott’s next book is called Between Here and Forever and is due out in May 2011. ( )

Grace has lived all her 16 years in the Hills, a small section of a barren desert region, outside a city where a religious dictator, Keran Berj, rules through violence and fear. The People, who live in the Hills, have dedicated themselves to undermining Berj, raising their young men to be soldiers and many of their young women to be Angels - suicide bombers well versed in Berj's rules and beliefs, so as to better enable them to sneak in to carry out their purpose.

The book unfolds during a tense train ride, headed towards the border, where Grace will be free from the People and her past, a botched mission and a life as an outcast, if she can only get there alive.

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It's well-written, through sparse prose, which must be Scott's style. Grace is a very sympathetic character, which I think is the point, but I think she may be a little too sympathetic - she reveals that she's always doubted her "destiny" as an Angel, not quite admiring the other girls who trained with her who were dedicated to the belief that death by suicide bomb. It seems a little more fanaticism, and not quite so easy a "oops, this is wrong, we're all people wanting the same thing" turnaround might have been more realistic.

However, I do think it was a powerful book, showing that 'evil' people have different motivations, and may not be as evil as one thought. I plan to suggest this one for my teen book group.

Recommended. ( )

Kearsten says: Grace has lived all her 16 years in the Hills, a small section of a barren desert region, outside a city where a religious dictator, Keran Berj, rules through violence and fear. The People, who live in the Hills, have dedicated themselves to undermining Berj, raising their young men to be soldiers and many of their young women to be Angels - suicide bombers well versed in Berj's rules and beliefs, so as to better enable them to sneak in to carry out their purpose.

The book unfolds during a tense train ride, headed towards the border, where Grace will be free from the People and her past, a botched mission and a life as an outcast, if she can only get there alive.

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It's well-written, through sparse prose, which must be Scott's style. Grace is a very sympathetic character, which I think is the point, but I think she may be a little too sympathetic - she reveals that she's always doubted her "destiny" as an Angel, not quite admiring the other girls who trained with her who were dedicated to the belief that death by suicide bomb. It seems a little more fanaticism, and not quite so easy a "oops, this is wrong, we're all people wanting the same thing" turnaround might have been more realistic.

However, I do think it was a powerful book, showing that 'evil' people have different motivations, and may not be as evil as one thought. I plan to suggest this one for my teen book group. ( )

Elizabeth Scott has ritten a novel that has quite an impact. It is not a long novel but it is certainly one that the reader will think about even after they have finished reading it. It is direct and is very spare. I really think that this jwould make a great play.

Grace and Kerr are both on the run. They are on opposite sides of the political spectrum but have one thing in common, they want to escape the tyranny of Keran Berj and they both want to live. Grace was trained to be a suicide bomber who would kill prominent members of Keran Berj's government. Kerr is in reality Jerusha, a follower of Keran Berj whos is held in high regard by Keran Berj.

Following their history to the point where they get on the train is horrifying. That a society could turn their children into killers is hard to fathom. Then I remembered there is an African country that turn children into killer soldiers. Seeing how Grace and Kerr (Jerusha) evolve and communicate with one another is powerful.

This is not a story for everyone, but anyone who reads this would gain something from the reading. If you enjoy a good book that makes you think, this is the book for you. I was impressed with the author and would recommend the book to anyone. ( )

The People believe they represent freedom. They patrol and defend the Hills against the ever encroaching rule of the tyrant Keran Berj. For the People, there is no greater glory than to die for their cause and if their death can also mean the silencing of any of those who take direction from Keran Berj, then their death will bring great honor for the People.

Grace is an anomaly. She should have never happened. A cross-breed from a father who possessed the pure blood of the People and an outcast mother, a refugee from the rule of Keran Berj, she is the result of consorting with the enemy and for her sire's mistake, she is shunned. For his atonement, and hers, she is placed in the Angel House where she will be taught to honor the People in a way glorious enough to atone for her sins- with her death. She will be trained to walk amongst the enemy where she will be strategically placed to intercept one of their most public of servants. With her _target in sight, there in a crowd of the enemy, she will ignite her bomb's fuse, giving her life and taking other's for the glory of the People.

For Grace, whose life has been a penance for other people's choices, an emblem for other people's beliefs and one limited existence governed by fanatical expectation, standing now, fuse in hand, in a crowd of those she has been conditioned to see as enemies, it dawns on Grace that at that moment, she finally has a choice. And she doesn't want to die.

The premise for this story is quite remarkable. We have a girl on the run from people on both sides. She can't go home, a place she was never wanted to begin with, because she has failed and she can't go with the enemy because to them, she is the enemy. So she finds herself allied with the most unlikely of co-conspirators, someone who is himself an enemy to both factions, someone she can't trust, and who's very name is synonymous with evil. When you are only taught to hate an enemy, firm in your belief that how they live is wrong, you never stop and give pause to consider the possibility that they may feel the same way about you and with good reason.

Thus the central theme of the story. We all have different beliefs, and we all feel that our believes are the righteous ones, thus we believe the same thing. And the development of the whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" undertone would have flowed nicely if it hadn't been beat to death with a brick. This concept was repeated so often as to almost appear in every other paragraph. In the end I felt like I was being preached to, which seemed counterproductive because the mindset of being relentlessly blasted with only one school of thought is the very thing Grace was struggling against to begin with. Let your story teach the lesson, not your lesson be the story.

So yeah, while the concept was intriguing and the writing poetic, I was underwhelmed with the end result. However, much praise goes to whoever designed the cover. It's Grace's face in the clouds and they could be clouds of smoke, and sparks from her bomb, or symbolic of the heaven she will ascend to for her service to the People or they could symbolize her own freedom. This is awesome. ( )

I had to pick this book up after reading the premise because it was so different from any other YA book I have read. It was a gut wrenching story that I could not put down.

The Characters

Grace was raised from a young age to be an "Angel", young women whose sole purpose in life are to be suicide bombers to aid their people's cause. She also has the additional stigma of only one of her parents being of the People. These Angels are basically brainwashed into thinking it's an honor to die in this "glorious" manner and it will take them to be with the saints after their deaths. When Grace makes the choice not to die she has to make a run for it as she is turned out by her people, her husband kills himself in shame over her actions and she does not even want to find out what her father has done. Even though at times when Grace seems to have a heartless attitude towards other people's suffering you have to feel sorry for her because it is obvious that she has been brain washed and doesn't know anything different. So being thrown out of the world she was raised in is an eye opening experience for her.

Kerr is somewhat of a mystery. For much of the book you do not know his true identity and when you finally hear his story it's horrifying. Initially you want to hate him but as you begin to see the reasoning behind all of his actions you have to start pitying him. He and Grace have much in common even though Grace saw him as the epitome of evil in the eyes of her people.

The Story Line

This world Scott created in which people accept the roles of these young women is scary especially when you know things like this happen in other parts of the world today. Seeing inside the head of someone who was raised to be a suicide bomber and the reasoning behind their actions makes them so much more real. We also see that sometimes their actions are not so black and white. This book definitely will provoke a lot of discussion among those who read it and will stick with you long after you are done. ( )

As a long time reader of Elizabeth Scott's books (and now a re-reader of them since I'm older), I have to say that the premise of this book both intrigued me and threw me off at the same time. I'm used to the light-hearted romances that I've read in the past. Sure, in those novels bad things may happen, but they are always resolved happily at the end. Suffice it to say, I wasn't sure what I should be expecting when I opened this book and started to read.

We first meet Grace riding on a train to an unknown destination. She is hot, nervous and fussing over her very recently dyed hair. I was immediately drawn to her character because of the innocence that was there beneath her stoic exterior. Although she was trying to be brave you could see the young girl that was hiding inside, terrified of being discovered. We learn that Grace was an angel of death. Her whole life was devoted to planning for the moment that she would die, and take her intended _target with her. What her people didn't know was this: Grace would choose to live. Cast out and alone, Grace decides to take a chance on escaping her old life and creating a new one somewhere else.

This entire book is one huge roller coaster ride of emotions. There are portions of the story where I was so deeply in shock over what was going on in the pages, that I'm fairly sure my mouth was literally hanging open. I've studied history. I know the wrongs that people are capable of doing to one another with little or no reason behind them. I know what one person can brainwash and lead the masses. Still, portions of this book brought that all back to me in vivid color. Grace is written so lyrically, that even the gritty parts of the story simply flow off the page. I was in awe.

I really did love reading Grace. Although it wasn't what I'd normally expect from Elizabeth Scott, I shouldn't have worried one bit. Her writing prowess, her style, her vivid characters, they were all still there. The only addition was this new dystopian world, and I was happy to get lost in it. I wish I could more aptly express my love for this book, but unfortunately it's difficult to do without giving too much away. The fact remains that this book is hauntingly beautiful.

I highly recommend this as a read! Go in with an open mind, and get lost in the world of Grace. ( )

Grace was supposed to kill the Minister of Culture by detonating her bomb as she stood in the front of a crowd, listening to him speak. She was supposed to go in a blaze of fire and drift up into the arms of the Saints. But as she looked up at the blue sky that day, she realized that she couldn't die.

So, instead, she runs.

WOW. This book was utterly un-put-down-able. It's intense and surprising and compelling. Highly recommended for fans of edgy YA fiction.

More on the blog: http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2010/07/grace-by-elizabeth-scott.html ( )