Mercy by Rebecca Lim

HarperCollins, 2010.
Highly recommended. Mercy wakes on a bus headed for a town called Paradise. An angel exiled from heaven is what she is. Mercy has been doomed to return to Earth repeatedly, each time sharing the life and body of another person. A group of 8 angels are after Mercy's blood, but all for something she doesn't remember doing. While is Paradise, Mercy meets Ryan, whose sister was kidnapped two years previously. Another girl disappears and they know they must act now.
The plot of the story is complex and not straight forward. The events are well laid out so that you do not expect them coming, each leads to the other without you realizing it. The characters are mostly everyday people that you would expect to see anywhere, however there are a couple of exceptions. Mercy is not human, she is an exiled angel. You would not meet her on the street. Ryan is the other exception, he is a little over obsessive and distant. He has a minor temper too. You are not likely to bump into him on a street, he doesn't like hanging out there. The setting is a predominately a small town called Paradise where everyone knows everyone's business. All the main event happen here. The writer has a higher level style of writing that is not too complex. She employs some levels of imagery and a slightly higher level of symbolism. The sentences are of  a high level form and are well constructed, with hidden meanings: for those that can see them that is.
The main themes that are contained within this novel are; kidnapping, searching for Ryan's sister, taking over someone else's life life and body, exiled angels, angels and escape. There is a small amount of graphic violence in this book as well. I believe that the target audience would be sixteen to nineteen year olds, but it could be enjoyed by those up to the age of twenty-five. I would rate this book 9.5/10 stars.
Amelia Kelly (student)