Beg For Mercy

Beg for Mercy by Shannon Dermott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Overview

Mercy is your average teenager, that is, if you are a succubus.  She cannot even kiss a boy without possibly killing him.  Finding herself at a party with the "elite" crowd from school with her best friend she is suddenly thrust into a game of spin the bottle... and just guess where the bottle lands.  This one juvenile, innocuous game played by teenagers is the domino that seems to really stir up the fates, and Mercy's usual MO.  No boys, no kissing, and predilection for using the SAT word-of-the-day app... all this is suddenly turned on its head.  Mercy finds herself not just in a love triangle....

What I Thought

You can't tell but I am fist-pumping the air over this book!  This displays EVERYTHING I love about YA books.  I love the angst... and how much more angst can you get than a budding teenage girl filled with hormones, and a succubus that wants to suck the life out of every boy she finds herself attracted to.  And there is not just a love triangle, but a "love hexagon" as I've seen Shannon put it.  It was such an interesting take on a commonly used literary device.  And there was plenty of "boy eye candy" to go around.  I even loved the pattern of SAT words preceding the chapters and looking for the use of that word in the chapter.  You get a boost to your vocabulary just by reading this book! 



I personally found all the characters to seem natural to themselves, and loved the variety between each of the "guys".  There were some plot twists that I saw a mile away (with a big neon sign) but still loved the way it was told.  There were other plot twists I was anticipating, but either I was wrong, or maybe, just maybe those possibilities will be explored in the future installments.  And quite honestly, I was NOT expecting the ending, so that was a pleasant surprise.  The book was well paced and very engaging.  Normally, it would have been the kind of book that I would have stayed up way too late reading, but current circumstances forced me to draw it out.  I recommend this book to anyone and everyone that enjoys YA.  And while there are (obvious) sexual overtones (hello, succubus?) this is still a "clean" enough story to give to any teenager. 

I'm left wanting the next book NOW!  But, as I hear it should be just a few months away at the most, I will attempt to subdue my inner demon from begging for mercy....