Rating: 2 stars
During my time at Simon & Schuster, an editor gave me a manuscript for my commute home; with no preamble or explanation except that I needed to read it. Settled in my seat, I turned to the first page, read the first line and within seconds, I was absolutely horrified. My eyes, riveted to the page, scanned the next line and the next—each word a train wreck and I couldn’t look away.
Upon reading the final sentence, I realized I had been holding my breath, as I continued to stare at the spent pages. It had been quite a while since I’d read something so powerful, so viscerally-horrifying that seemed to hold me down; forcing me to read—almost against my will. That book was Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl.
When I received Scott’s newest work, Grace, I shuddered slightly at the thought of reading yet another of her intense tales. However, Grace wasn’t going to deliver.
Not one for formulaic writing, I appreciate when an author varies her style and voice. However, Grace felt like it was written by a totally different person. In an interview, Rech notes that the idea for Grace began with a dream.
Raised to be an “angel”, a suicide bomber for the cause, living under the strict rules of a leader and in a time and place that is unclear whether it is our future or another country. Not willing to die for someone else’s beliefs, Grace is on the run, searching for her freedom.
Although I’m sure it was Scott’s intent to write in a more elusive style; to infer with her words, rather than inform. Creating an artistic sense of intrigue through the impending sense of danger and risk of breaking away from the norm to venture into the unknown.
However, Grace barely kept me hanging on. With no connection forged, nor full understanding of Grace’s plight, the story became a collection of strange names, actions and baseless narration. Reading Grace really was like trying to make sense of someone else’s dream.
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Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (September 16, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0525422068