Full series review here:
http://awesomemonica.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-mercy-series-by-rebecca-limreview.... ( )

Even though the blurb suggests a certain fierceness on Mercy's behalf, I had not expected Fury to be as wild and savage as it is. Restored to her full glory as a high-ranking angel of heaven, Mercy is just starting to realise how different she is from the humans she has been living among for millenia. Suddenly she is separate from the very people she has fought so hard to love and protect, and she alone of all the angels can see humans as anything but inferior creatures.

Rebecca Lim brings Mercy the angel to life so vividly that the difference between her and Mercy-trapped-as-a-human is tangible. The cadence of her speech, her thoughts and her whole manner of being is suddenly changed and alien, and strongly evokes angelic nature. While the romance between her and Ryan is sweet, ultimately I feel that Mercy is held back by his regard and her reciprocation. There was never any chance for them - one of the things I will never understand is why people think immortal and mortal beings have a chance to be a normal couple.

Ryan is a wonderful character, as usual, struggling with the enormous changes in Mercy and trying to keep up with her and her immortal brethren. His random spats of jealousy were annoying to read, because no one was forcing him to be there with Mercy. In fact, everyone continually tried to talk him out of accompanying her, and yet he stubbornly refused. What right did he have then to complain about his distinct lack of angelic powers?

One of the coolest aspects of the book is the reappearance of peripheral characters from previous books - people who Mercy influenced strongly in her previous lives - coming together at various stages to help her. I think it lent a sense of closure to the book, and when I finished the book I felt that most things had been handled well. It was great to see Mercy figure out the answers to some of the questions that plagued her throughout the last three books, but there are a few - like Mercy's real name and its significance - which I would have liked answered.

Fury is a stunning way to conclude what has been a unique and mesmerising series, and I encourage readers to try the series if they are looking for quality YA that uses mythology in a new way. Mercy's adventures have been a pleasure to read and I hope Rebecca Lim continues to write outstanding books!

You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic. ( )

Originally posted on Booking in Heels.

Fury is the latest book in the Mercy series by Rebecca Lim, hot on the heels of Exile and Muse. Released on March 29th, it's the final book in what has been a hugely popular YA series. It was sent to me by Harper Collins in exchange for a honest review and while I spotted a lot of flaws, I can't fault the superb prose and description.

So, for readers who haven't read the first three in the series, Mercy was betrayed by her ex-lover Lucifer and cast down from Heaven, like the other angels who disobeyed God. To protect her, the other archangels kept her hidden on Earth by allowing her to inhabit the bodies of unsuspecting human women. In Fury however, Mercy has her own body back and can finally let the boy she loves, Ryan, see her for herself. Unfortunately, Lucifer (Luc) needs her to wreak the devastation on Earth he craves, and will stop at nothing to get her back.

If I were to plot my opinion of this book on a graph, it would look pretty much like one of those road signs indicating a hilly area. I really, really enjoyed it to begin with. The opening scene is intense - you're dropped right into the action as Mercy tries desperately to flee from the demons and the atmosphere of sheer panic almost jumps from the page. I just loved it.

Then the story continued and it was more than acceptable, if a little slow. It's actually got wonderful prose, and I don't mean 'for a YA book.' Rebecca Lim is obviously very talented at putting together beautiful works of fiction. The descriptions of Italy and Paris are vivid and the dialogue is natural and unstilted. It's just written very, very well.

But by the last third of the book... God, how I loathed it. Honestly and truly, I've never been so offended by the awfulness of a book. It's the characters that did it, I think. You know how everybody has that one person that they really, really hate beyond the depths of all reason? Their partner's ex-girlfriend, a particularly condescending boss, that crazy woman who's always on the bus? Well Mercy herself does it for me, fictional or not. She's just awful.

The angsty melodrama is beyond all understanding. I'm not sure they had a single conversation that didn't involve wringing hands and sobbing. Mercy wants Ryan to leave her and go live a normal life because she's just not worth it and he'd be better without her. Ryan wants to tag along and pretty much just sulks because she's all magical and sparkly and he's... well, not. It gets really, really old after a while - the same conversation repeated a thousand times. I got so mad at their constant crying and bitching that my hands were literally making little claw shapes as I read.

I don't really see why the romance was necessary. The story could have been just perfect without it - Luc would still have been seeking Mercy while she continued to hide in the bodies of human women, plotting to overthrow him. Their relationship just dominates the book - the angels vs demons side seems to be merely a sub-plot to the romance. It's just so over-done.

The thing that really got me was that the entire situation with Luc trying to take over the world could have been avoided by Mercy just going back to Heaven. It's stupidly simple. This isn't even a major revelation - it's just how it is, which is accepted from the beginning. It's not even A Thing. But she won't because it's not fair. She'd rather stay on Earth, thank you very much. It makes no sense. Her own stupidity and stubbornness over the fate of the world. Obviously.

Throughout Fury, the other archangels are constantly telling Mercy that Ryan needs to go home because he's going to get in the way and get hurt. But he's always there. Why is he there!? He has absolutely no use and does nothing. At some points, his sister and her boyfriend tag along too and apparently the angels think this is just fine. Why!? What use can they possibly have in a war between angels and demons? NONE! Go home.

It's also the most-anticlimactic ending I've ever read and, once again, it could have happened at any point during any of the four books and the whole thing would be over. So that's the second way I've pointed out that would have solved the entire problem. It just doesn't seem like the last book in a series - there's no clear objective, no build-up to a final battle... they just kind of slowly blip from point to point with no clear compass.

I know, I'm sorry. I really am. I sound so ungrateful and whiny, and I've actually been trying not to. I think it irritated me so much because it started out so well - I loved the whole mythology aspects. It managed to use the angel concept effectively without really being a religious book which was clever, especially the way the original Bible stories were slightly twisted to fit. But unfortunately the huge plot holes and characters I really just wanted to stab in the face absolutely ruined it for me. ( )