Book Review: Mercy By Rebecca Lim

Mercy

Rebecca Lim

Mercy ′wakes′ on a school bus bound for Paradise, a small town where everyone knows everyone else′s business -- or thinks they do. But they will never guess the secret Mercy is hiding .... As an angel exiled from heaven and doomed to return repeatedly to Earth, Mercy is never sure whose life and body she will share each time. And her mind is filled with the desperate pleas of her beloved, Luc, who can only approach her in her dreams.
In Paradise, Mercy meets Ryan, whose sister was kidnapped two years ago and is now presumed dead. When another girl disappears, Mercy and Ryan know they must act before time runs out. But a host of angels are out for Mercy′s blood and they won′t rest until they find her and punish her -- for a crime she doesn′t remember committing ...
An electric combination of angels, mystery and romance, Mercy is the first book in a major new series.

My Thoughts

I was all set to absolutely love this book. 

After all, the blurb touts Mercy as being an Angel, with, and I quote 'a host of angels are out for Mercy′s blood and they won′t rest until they find her and punish her -- for a crime she doesn′t remember committing ...'

Only nowhere in the book (or rather the ARC that I read) does it actually EVER mention the word Angel (except for when used as a term of endearment). 

Unless you want to count the one time it mentions Heaven on the cover and the 3 times Angel is used in the back cover summary.

Yes she is 'something' other than human with a strange talent for knowing things about people by touching them. 

Yes she dreams about the mysterious Luc night after night, and glows by the light of the moon.

And yes its alluded to when she starts spouting Latin and exacting out vengeance, but come on........even she (Mercy) doesn't throw that around as an explanation for her quirks.

And as for the 'host of angels' we see one (again, he isn't called an angel in the book) for like half a page.

On the positive side, Mercy has been written with a strong female voice. 

She's confident, strong willed, and eager to help others. 

She knows that there's something strange about her and does her best to keep it hidden while also trying to find answers within herself. She listens to her gut instinct and for the most part, it keeps her out of trouble. And the love interest Ryan, is loyal, has a strong sense of family, and he trusts Mercy enough to help keep her secret.

I'm really struggling with how I feel about this book. All the ingredients are there but they just don't quite come together. I have more questions than answers after reading it, but it was still a good read.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Hopefully the next two book in this series will pull the story together a bit more and answer those pressing questions.

Mercy was released in Australia/New Zealand Oct 28 2010 and is set to release in USA May 2011

Exile (Mercy bk2) is set for a May 1 2011 Australia/NZ release

Muse (Mercy bk3) is set for a Oct 27 2011 Australia/NZ release (sorry I have no international dates)

**edited to add**
Although I didn't love this book, I did like it a lot and feel bad
for coming down on it. But I am nothing if not honest, and its
only 'my opinion' after all.
-Cath