Grace by Elizabeth Scott
Summary:
Grace was raised to be an Angel, a herald of death by suicide bomb. But she refuses to die for the cause, and now Grace is on the run, daring to dream of freedom.
In search of a border she may never reach, she travels among malevolent soldiers on a decrepit train crawling through the desert. Accompanied by the mysterious Kerr, Grace struggles to be invisible, but the fear of discovery looms large as she recalls the history and events that delivered her uncertain fate.
Review:
I never thought I would pick up a YA book about a suicide bomber and devour it in one sitting. Elizabeth Scott has crafted an incredibly original novel about a young girl born in to the type of ideological war that engulfs so much of the world and makes her story relatable, moving and downright brilliant.
Grace is on a train with a stranger, Kerr, both hiding in plain sight as they try to get to the border and escape their death-filled lives. As the plot moves forward, Scott peels back layer after layer of their pasts and how they have been intertwined for years.
Scott’s writing is minimal and poetic, revealing only the exact details that somehow form the big pictures. This is a piece of art where the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.
Grace is engaging and moving enough to be read for pleasure but also smart and insightful enough that I can see it being read in both history and English classes. It has genuine insight in to an all-to-relevant world and an ending that will leave you both hopeful and haunted.
Grace will be released on September 16. ARC was reviewed as part of Traveling ARC Tours.
This book goes toward my Summer Break Reading Challenge
