Shannon Dermott

TWEET ABOUT IT
When Mercy discovers a life changing secret about herself, she must learn to navigate teen love without harming anyone in BEG FOR MERCY.

MY THOUGHTS
Despite some hints that were dropped in the book jacket copy, I went into reading BEG FOR MERCY expecting it to be a straight up contemporary teen novel. I was pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise. Mercy is a half human, half succubus teen who tries to avoid all contact with boys that could lead to anything romantic. This is show more because as a succubus, she has the power to suck the life energy from those she kisses. I really liked this unique take on a young adult paranormal story. It was something new that hasn't been explored much, especially in teen fiction and the story itself drew me in as a reader.

Mercy was an interesting character to me. There were times when I was really exasperated with some of the choices she made. I kept thinking to myself, 'What are you doing? There's no way this is going to end good for you, Mercy.' On the other hand, although Mercy was half succubus, she was also half human. I might not have agreed with some of her choices, but she was a teen girl, trying to find a place for herself, and I could see how easy it was for her to make mistakes.

Normally, I really do not like the (oft-used) love triangle trope, but in BEG FOR MERCY, it made some sense. Even during awkward teen years, as a half succubus, Mercy would have exuded some kind of boy magnet perfume. So it kind of made sense that she had the mini boy fan club that she had. But I did find it a little distracting each time a new love interest was introduced. It also seemed a little weird to me that Paul (first love interest, first kiss, nearly killed by Mercy) stayed friends with Mercy, after the nearly dying incident. Putting aside that fact, it seemed too much a total 180 for Paul to go from liking Mercy to being ok with just being friends, or at least pretending to be ok.

OVERALL
The ending of BEG FOR MERCY left me with quite a few questions, so I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series and finding out more of Mercy's story, as well as perhaps the resolution to some of my questions. show less

Read from February 05 to 07, 2012

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 show more 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 I still loved the way it was told. And there were other plot twists I was expecting, 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 pace and very engaging. Normally, it would have been the 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.... show less

Beg For Mercy is a huge compilation of the supernatural world. Readers quickly learn that Mercy and Flynn are of different, but as the book progresses the number of different kinds of species is astounding. From the start I sympathize with Mercy’s character. She is young and maturing, and self out casted due to her fear of hurting another person. As a succumbus a kiss can be deadly, and with a mother that refuses to teach you anything about who you are Mercy finds herself in a very show more dangerous game. It is easy to see the good natured and caring side of her personality, and a terrible injustice that her mother expected her to seclude herself in order to stay safe. The desire to be affectionate is a natural; the fact that her Mother expected her to be like a saint is frustrating and ridiculous. Mercy quickly changes all that when she plays a dangerous game of “spin the bottle”, and followed with a embarrassing game of “Truth or Dare”. In one night she is able to discover that someway, somehow she has kissed a boy without killing him; and that she seems to have drew the attention of a couple boys at the same time. This begins the rollercoaster of emotion that encompasses Beg for Mercy. I don’t believe that I have ever read a book that introduced so many characters in one sitting, but I quickly realized that it was all necessary. With four objects of affection for Mercy alone it easy to understand the need for an abundance of characters. Mercy has quite a struggle in her hands with so many awesome guys to choose from. Luke, Flynn, Sebastein, and Paul all share one thing in common; every single one of them is in love with Mercy. What’s worse than having four guys all want you at the same time? Loving each one of them back, and not knowing which one you love the most.The author takes time to detail each one of these characters, and they are great it is easy to see why Mercy would love every one of them. With the obvious distraction of love, Mercy doesn’t realize that she has more important things to worry about like who is following her from town to town living missing women along the way. When Mercy finds herself captive by the last person she thought possible it will change the entire story. This is a story about secrets, mystery, and love. Mercy is an incredible character that will easily grab the readers attention. With such a delicate story this novel follows a much slower pace. I found myself wondering just where this story was taking me, and how she could be falling in love with another person. The conclusion wraps the entire story into a nice package that will guarantee fans for the remainder of the series. I look forward to seeing what the next book has to offer. show less

Beg for Mercy has many of the elements I absolutely hate in a book.

1 - There is not a love triangle but something more like a love square that leads into a love pentagon and if you add in all the extraneous girls it is probably more like a decagon.

2 - You have a main character that tends to just let things happen. She never pushes the issues or asks the right questions when she should.

3 - There is an over abundance of male characters all pining for one chick, who just happens to be show more absolutely oblivious. Okay, so that pretty much goes with point number one. It warrants reiteration.

4 - The hottest guy in school also happens to be the biggest ass. So of course all the girls fawn over him.

You may be wondering about that 3.5 star rating, right? Trust me, I'll get to that.

Mercy finds out she is a Succubus demon when she scores her first real kiss with Paul. Paul nearly dies from the killer suck face session. At the urging of her mother, Mercy swears off dating. Fast forward a couple of years and we find Mercy at a party playing spin the bottle. Bad idea, if I ever heard one. But when ultimate bad boy Flynn prods her for his kiss, her anger (or maybe need) gets the better of her and she gives in. Surprised and confused by the fact that he isn't a pile of lifeless flesh and bone, she flees the room. Who follows her out will confuse her even more. Flynn's best friend and polar opposite Luke. Cue the love triangle.

Luke is like white chocolate; super sweet and soft. He's also chivalrous, caring, protective and California surfer boy hot. He's hiding secrets of his own and should have nothing but platonic intentions towards Mercy. Though this isn't stopping him from pursuing or falling for her.

Flynn is more like dark chocolate; sinfully delicious and only good for you in small doses. Flynn is an Incubus demon and should be Mercy's match for all practical reasons. He is forced to feed off the lust of others to survive and this has given him the inevitable reputation of a man-whore. Which repulses Mercy, much to Flynn's dismay.

The kiss with Flynn clues him in to what she really is and Mercy is thrown into a world her mother has worked so hard to keep her out of. She begins to learn more about herself and the other supernaturals that exist. She also gets a huge dose of her demon side the more she and Luke explore their relationship. This is when Paul finds he's still got a 'thing' for Mercy. Hence, the square.

Paul, unlike Luke or Flynn, is milk chocolate. Average, good, nothing really spectacular but reliable. He's been Mercy's good friend and only real confidant for so long, she can't help the thrill she gets when around him.

Mercy is innocent, inexperienced and selfless. She tries to make everyone happy, she lets people walk over her and then feels bad for them. Therefore, when all these boys vie for her attention she tries to keep everyone at some level of happiness. It pretty much leads to epic failure. Mercy stays oblivious to the power she has and makes mistake after bigger mistake. What seems obvious to the reader goes without notice to Mercy.

Mercy's inner demon is breaking hearts left and right and garnering the attention of a very powerful, very dangerous foe. It may take all the boys in Mercy's life to save her from this new evil and from the demon waiting to burst from inside her.

Now, on to what I absolutely loved...

Here is what drew me into this book and devoured me. The characters. They are all well written and complex. Each one struggles with who they are. I love a good damaged character and there are several to choose from in Beg for Mercy. None more so than Flynn. My favorite, by the way. Yes, he is arrogant and ass but there are reasons he is the way he is and as you get to know him, he's quite endearing. You so easily understand their pain and struggles and you can't help but feel for them. There are more secrets than I've ever read in a book and I was constantly trying to figure everyone out.

Beg for Mercy was a book that had me continuing to think about the characters even after finishing. So much so that I, rather quickly, picked up the second book and devoured it as well. Then purchased the companion novella and ate that up. Now, I anxiously await the next installment, due out later this year.

Fair warning ~ if you have major hang ups about editing, you will have a hard time with this one. Fortunately for me, I can get past that if you give me a good story with great characters. Beg for Mercy has great characters, that you'll love and you'll hate, in spades. show less