midnight train to (the republic of) georgia

BOOK REPORT forgrace by elizabeth scott bff charm: yay! swoonworthy scale: 1 talky talk: the revolution is nigh bonus factors: mysterious loner dude, the answer relationship status: comrades in arms

the deal

Grace is an Angel on the run. She's failed in her mission - to kill the Minister of Defense by suicide bomb - and her community, The People, have turned her out. Her only option is to board a train full of strangers and soldiers and attempt, with the aid of the mysterious Kerr, to get across the border, into a land free from the tyrannical and omnipresent rule of her land's dictator, Keran Berj. (Think Kim Jong Il, but with less-awesome hair.)

As Grace speeds her way to freedomand away from death - or towards it - she must grapple with her upbringing, her enemies, and try to find out just who is on her side.

bff charm: yay!

I don't think that Grace and I would have much in common, seeing as how she's been raised in a community that taught her that her only self-worth was as a harbinger of death - that is, when her body wasn't serving as a handy rape pillow - and I was raised in, you know, Texas (which is starting to sound much better, after reading Grace), but I think if our paths ever crossed, I'd seek out her friendship. She's smart, and tough, and conflicted about her upbringing, and all she knows is that she wants to be free. Grace, I totally hear ya on that score, even if Teenage Me's idea of freedom was moving to Liberalia, which is a fantasy land I concocted when I was 12 that featured a fully egalitarian society in which mac n' cheese flowed like lava and everyone was super interested in people's brains and not in how they looked, and your idea of freedom is, you know, not dying or being raped. (Which should illustrate, really, how my teenage years went, socially, and also the tremendous amount of privilege into which I was born.)

swoonworthy scale: 1

This book really isn't about romance - it's about escape - but if I said I didn't build up a little fantasy world in which Grace and "Kerr" cross over into another region and then have steamy, freedom sex, I'd be a lying liar who lies.

talky talk: the revolution is nigh

This book is all about a freedom fighter - or terrorist, your mileage may vary - on the run, so it's peppered with anti-establishment rhetoric and various whatall. I felt like I was in a prison cell with Bobby Sands, urging him to maybe eat a cookie. (Tasteless joke. And that was a tasteless pun! Thanks, ladies and Brian, I'll be here all week.)

bonus factor: mysterious loner dude

Kerr's the ULTIMATE mysterious loner dude! His whole identity is a mystery! And, strangely enough, for a guy who sacrificed his parents' lives for a cushy upbringing, he doesn't seem to have many friends.

"meryl streep as mistress coyle"

I'm just sayin', what's with the ladies blowin' shizz up in literature lately? Is this the new accepted path for women uprising?Because I, personally, am not so much about bombs. They tend to cause quite the mess. Then again, maybe Keanu Reeves would slide under my bus and cut the red wire.

That's not a euphemism. I don't think.

"dakota fanning as grace"

I know; I know. I need a better list of blondes with acting chops. But when I picture Grace, I picture someone delicate-looking with a hardened interior, and Dakota fits the bill.

"grey damon as kerr"

I haven't watched this season of Friday Night Lights yet (I'd like to say that's because I don't have DirectTV, which is true, but let's be honest: it's because I haven't downloaded it from the internet yet.), but I was intrigued with this person from posh's post the other day, and would like to subscribe to his newsletter.

Let's face it: sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. And if I were to live in a country with a crazy totalitarian leader - and regardless of what Fox News or, hell, MSNBC, says, I don't - then I'd more than likely want to join the uprising. And I'm a chicken, so I'd probably end up just making signs for marches, but I'd still want to hang around this book. It knows the pain of oppression, but it also knows how dangerous and ill-advised an uprising can be. And more importantly, it knows that the biggest challenge of any life is remaining your humanity.

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from Dutton. I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!).Grace is now available.