Publishers Weekly
Grace is an Angel, a suicide bomber, chosen for this fate at an early age by her father. Grace was born into a war-torn society, where children are raised on hate and ideology and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. On one side are "the People," who live in the Hills and pray to the Saints; on the other is "Keran Berj," both a place and a dictator, who believes he's been given absolute power by God. Through this dystopian world, Scott (Living Dead Girl) explores the hopelessness, fear, and anger of children forced to live in a time of conflict, who are caught between two sides fighting equally extremist causes, and, as a result, feel similarly righteous about their mission to eliminate each other. Though beautifully written and undeniably jarring, Grace's story as a failed Angel is confusing at times. Scott keeps readers in the dark about Grace's background and the events leading up to her current situation, but rather than building tension, this uncertainty lessens it. Nonetheless, it's an emotional meditation on a timely topic. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)
VOYA
- Rachelle Bilz
Grace begins with a teenage girl on a train, traveling across a desert. As the girl, Grace, describes her disguise and how she came to be on the train, it is obvious that her life is in peril. Grace makes references to her past, gradually revealing to the reader intriguing parts of a puzzle that come together as the grim story of her life. In a dystopian future, Grace's country has split into two factions. Keran Berj heads the totalitarian government that rules the City and its people with an iron fist. In the Hills, dwell the People, religious zealots who believe the Saints watch over them. Grace had been with the People and was trained to be an Angel. Sold to Angel House by her drunken father, Grace and the other girls there are raised to be suicide bombers. When Grace fails in her mission to kill an important member of the City's government, she must flee or face death from both factions. For her escape to the border, Grace is paired with a City boy, Jerusha. As these two survivors of horrific events get to know each other, they realize that both factions are essentially manipulative and evil. Although broken by the past, Grace and Jerusha join together to form an alliance of hope for the future. Scott's precisely written novel offers a gritty, distressing look at what happens when people have no freedom. Strong and affecting, this story will appeal to high school students. Reviewer: Rachelle Bilz
School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up—In a possible future, Grace is an Angel, training to be a suicide bomber for the People, a group of rebels who fight against the totalitarian regime of Keran Berj. While the boys fight as Rorys, or soldiers, certain girls are offered as sacrifices to the cause. But Grace is different: she doesn't want to be a sacrifice. So, on the day she is to kill herself, she instead sets off the bomb and escapes. Now she is riding on a train, disguised as the sister of a mysterious boy named Kerr, and on her way to the border and possible freedom. But the threat of discovery is always there, and Grace knows that her fragile disguise could fail at any moment. This is a terse, tight, powerful book that's heavy on atmosphere. The beginning is written as a series of flashbacks, and it's through them that readers get a somewhat confused, disjointed view of events. It is only in the latter third of the book, once the story focuses more on Grace and her relationship with Kerr, that the action moves more steadily and clearly and she comes into her own. It is during this part that Scott's writing shines as Grace questions whether purposely killing people is ever right, even if it is done in the name of freedom. Give this novel to fans of dystopias who want darker visions than Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008).—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA
Kirkus Reviews
In a hellish country ruled by megalomaniac Keran Berj, Grace has been raised by the People, a freedom-fighting sect dedicated to the overthrow of Keran Berj, to be an Angel. Like the rest of the girls in Angel House, Grace trained for the sacred day when she would strap on a bomb in front of a political target and blow herself up. But Grace has never truly felt like a child of the People, and when the moment of truth comes, she chooses not to die—though she still sets off her bomb in the village square. Now she's on the run from her own people and from Keran Berj's. This brief, atmospheric novella follows Grace's train journey to the border of Keran Berj's country. Accompanied by the strange boy Kerr, Grace contemplates her own past, that of her homeland and the choices that led her to this moment. Moody and compelling, without the easy moralizing so common in dystopian settings. (Science fiction. 12-14)
