Mercury Boys is a book I won't forget for a long time. A gripping YA novel that delves into the complexities of friendship, identity, and self-discovery. In this enthralling coming-of-age story, Prasad weaves an intricate narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The themes explored in the novel, such as the search for one's true self, the power of friendship, and the consequences of choices, are relevant and thought-provoking, making this book not only an enjoyable read but also a source of introspection.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I feel like none of the characters were likeable and I didn’t feel a connection with any of them. Also, I wish there was more detail on the dreams, other than so much on the bad the friendships were. This book had so much potential to be one of my favorite reads but unfortunately it wasn't. I felt that some things could of been explained better and characters more fleshed out.

The cover for this book is stunning, but it didn't quite do it for me. I wanted to love it but something just didn't work.

Hello, it’s me again with another 3 star rating to give to a book I was madly anticipating :(

It’s not like this wasn’t good but it was a middle-of-the-road book for me. There were times where I was really engaged, and other times (tbh most of the time) where I was passively listening to the audiobook. I loved the historical bits, which were what I wanted from this book in the first place, but the contemporary part felt so flat in comparison. While reading I went from “I would read an entire book about Adrienne and Sara Beth with their boys!” to “why are we still doing this?” to “I can’t wait for this book to be over so I can start something more exciting next”. It’s safe to say I loved the idea but as a whole this book turned out to be way more of a YA contemporary than what I had hoped. I needed a better conflict to like the present time too, which this book didn’t deliver. I wasn’t excited to find out this book is about a toxic friendship, but I could have gotten on board if this gave me a believable toxic friend or a believable reason why the mc would stay friends with her. I’m still trying to understand how Saskia completely fell for this club, enough to accept a tattoo and “punishments” from girls that meant close to nothing to the club when she had Lila as a best friend already.

The writing style never convinced me either; from the first line I knew I would have trouble concentrating. It gives a lot of tell-don’t-show vibes that I’m personally not a fan of.

Honestly I don’t have a lot to say, this book was okay. I found the historical subplots to be fun and cute but the rest wasn’t that interesting. I liked how it all ended though.

Thank you to the publisher for the early copy!

2.5 stars

I'm not sure what I expected from Mercury Boys. When you start a book about teenage girls time travelling with mercury and daguerreotypes, you have to go in with an open mind; especially when it turns out that they're time travelling to date boys in the past. With such an outrageous proposition, I thought something would have to ground this narrative to bring it into the real world. But that was, unfortunately, not the case.

The root of the problem with Mercury Boys is there are too many things going on simultaneously. Is this a book about divorce and depression? Or bullying and peer pressure? Time travel and love? Addiction and abuse? Honesty and sexual identity? Because trying to be all of these things at once is too confusing, especially from only one perspective. It left all the characters to become extreme caricatures of the roles they had to play to keep everything moving in the right direction. With no range of emotion, there was no growth or development - everyone just stayed in their own lane, becoming worse versions of themselves. It made most of the characters fairly unlikable and the whole story even more unbelievable than the synopsis would suggest.

I reckon if this hadn't been an ARC, I'd probably round down to two stars. I'm optimistically rounding up to account for potential changes made before publishing. With some editing, the multiple plot points could have a more specific focus allowing for a more consistent narrative and enjoyable read.

This is a great coming of age novel that is angsty and filled with all of the problems teenagers go through. I mean who hasn't wanted to start over at some point with new friends and Saskia is the so raw. I know sometimes we all want to run away from our problems and Saskia tries to do that with her Mercury Boy but life always catches up to you and that's what this whole book is about. You can't live your life wanting for something more because that just leads to a whole new set of problems.

I was really excited for this title. however, there were a lot of things I found lacking in this novel. There were many plot threads, as well as characters, which lacked explanation and depth--the friendships were shallow and not well done, the text messages were hard to read, etc. There were scenes here and there which sucked me in, though most of the book was spent trying to parse through confusing aspects of the plot and characterization. The main character was also, sadly, extremely underdeveloped in a way which not only hindered the story development but any real believability. This writer has a lot of potential, in my opinion, but this was just not a super great attempt. I am looking forward to reading whatever this author puts out next, though!

DNF @ 30%

Thank you to the published for the eARC but this turned out to not be my cup of tea. I just did not like the writing style and didn’t click with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press/Soho Teen for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Saskia Brown and her dad move to a small white town when her parents split up, and Saskia is having a hard time fitting in. She makes a friend who shows her to the dagguerrotypes in the university library, and Saskia takes one home with her. That night, she's convinced she meets the boy in the photo, in her dreams. Soon she starts a club of other girls who want their own historical dream-universe boyfriends...

I decided not to finish reading this one, as I just wasn't enjoying it. I know it's young adult, and therefore not written for me as an audience, so I'm not saying it isn't good - just not for me. Saskia's obsessiveness felt unreasonable, even for a 16 year old. But if altered reality is your thing, you may enjoy this book!

This was inventive and really interesting, and I'm glad that I took a chance on something that felt a little bit outside of my usual reads. Definitely recommended.

The blurb of this book caught my attention, it's a really interesting concept. The DRAMA of this book was on point, a lot of things happening at the same time that had me hooked. Saskia was craving attention and felt abandoned, that's why the whole club thing and being manipulated was so easy. Seriously, I wanted to slap all those girls at one point or another, which I guess was the point of these characters. The Sampras sisters, especially Sophia were extremely zealous, sort of stereotypical rich girls with no supervision that did whatever they wanted and felt entitled and had to be in command of every situation. The only characters I liked were Lila and Saskia´s father. They were the only ones that truly had common sense and truly wanted the best for Saskia (again, I think that was the point). The interactions with the Mercury boys were good but I felt a lot more could have come from it, my favorite was Adrianne's interactions with Emery. I think she got the most out of it in some way, although she didn't apply this to her real life, which is kind of what I hoped for all the girls to get something positive from their experience.

There were some gasp worthy moments and I kept reading because the whole approach it had was intriguing and I wanted to know how things would pan out. I think the ending needed a bigger punch and it could have saved the whole toxicity of it. I was riding that emotional roller coaster and I needed that extra UMPH at the end I felt like I didn't get that. The way Saskia handled things at the end just felt really petty to me and she learned nothing from this experience. I was waiting for her to really stand up for herself in all the troubles she was facing. Overall, it's a short and fast paced read that was ok for me and I could recommend it to someone that is not a big reader just to get them hooked on reading because of the whole idea and the drama within this book is big-bucket-popcorn-with-extra-butter worthy.

Review will be added to my Instagram on 08/09/21

2/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

This is really not the book for me. I have very mixed feelings about the main character Saskia. I didn't mind her perspective but I just couldn't connect with her at all. I didn't like her thought process and the decisions she made for a lot of things. I think the only character I semi enjoyed was Lalia, I felt that out of all the characters she was the most relatable and authentic characters. Overall this was not the book for me.

The premise of this book had me intrigued, but I think the author lost me in executing the plot and building her characters.

Mercury Boys had a wonderfully unique premise about being transported to the past. This historical fiction almost fantasy like aspect had to be one of my favorite elements. Because I understand that fixation with the past, that intense curiosity you get, all the obsession about how lives were lead. I don't think I would have gone to quite the extent the characters in Mercury Boys go to, but the kernel of the idea captivated me. Through these girls eyes we are transported to the past with them, to see the challenges we don't understand, and the gaps in technology.

But I wish the ending didn't feel so hastily wrapped up. I felt like towards the middle of Mercury Boys the story shifts from being about the actual historical fiction scenes and more towards the friendship group. Which I didn't mind at all, I just felt like there were a few lingering questions and plot points from that story line that were wrapped up quickly. Which is why I decided that Mercury Boys fell more into the contemporary genre, as a lot of the conflict is centered in our present time.

Mercury Boys was such a hugely anticipated book for me, and as it turns out, I have such a huge case of mixed feelings going on here that I hardly know where to begin! I guess we should begin, as always, with the positives! Interestingly enough, I found the positives to be very positive, but the downsides to be equally important.

What I Liked:

►You ever find yourself down an absurd, old-timey Wikipedia rabbit hole? I do it all the time. And of all my rabbit holes, one of the most fascinating has to be daguerreotypes. There is something about them so completely haunting, but at the same time, communal. Like yes, the world was wholly different back then, but then you see these people who, in photograph, look so relatable. Anyway, I find the whole history of daguerreotypes and early photography mind-bogglingly fascinating, so to have a whole book based on the premise was pretty awesome.

►Going to various places in time via the girls' dreams was fabulous! I mean, come on! We got to go to the Civil War for goodness sake! We even got to take some journeys to other countries in addition to the various time periods.

►I really liked the focus on family and friendship. This is extra good because any "romance" was squicky at best. Lila was such an awesome friend to Saskia, and frankly, Saskia should listen to Lila more often, and not the other way around. Saskia and her dad are reeling after her mom's affair, and trying to start over. Her dad, he tries, and he tries hard. But it's a lot, suddenly becoming a single parent. So what I am saying here is, I love Mr. Saskia and Lila, and everyone else can exit stage left.

►There were a lot of really great emotional moments. I was gutted by Saskia's journey to take a daguerreotype of a deceased child, and Adrienne hanging out in Civil War medical tents was eye opening. Also, the girls' real life struggles were really moving too. Saskia was having such a rough go, trying to navigate her mother's nonsense, helping her father, trying to fit in, etc. Lila is going through her own stuff, which would be spoilery to mention I think, but again, it was moving. And also, Mr. Saskia has a pretty great arc, if small.

What I Didn't:

►The aforementioned squickiness. Look, I can understand having a quasi-crush on a long-dead inventor. I guess? I mean look, I don't regularly catch feels from the deceased, but you do you, girl! The problem was, apart from his living status (in that he was not), he was significantly older than Saskia, married with a myriad of children, and therefore it seemed rather predatory, even if nothing particularly predatory happened? Does this make sense? I guess it's akin to a teen hanging out with a teacher, where like, the teacher isn't technically doing anything illegal, but it sits right with literally no one. I looked it up, because of course I did, and in this picture that Saskia snuggles with, he was 30. So, at the very least, homie is close to twice her age. Just saying.

►The toxicity of the club. Why the heck did Saskia stick with Paige and her sister?! Look. I get that we make terrible choices in our youth. And I can even understand Saskia falling in with Paige to begin with, as the new girl at school, with only Lila in her life, etc etc. But how is there no crossed line that will act as enough of a wake up call? I am being vague as not to spoil, but wow. Lila at least can see that certain things are just not okay, but Saskia just went with it, and I now have a lot of questions about her reasoning in general.

Also, it was honestly pretty toxic of Saskia herself to pressure Lila into taking the daguerreotypes in the first place. Like... you do not care about your friend's future because... you're fascinated by a dead fellow? Okay 🤷

►Saskia was high key showing many symptoms of depression but it wasn't spoken about. I mean, she wanted to stay in bed all the time, she was making terribly inappropriate life choices, and seemingly was fine with risking her own (and her friends') hides more than once because she was so desperate to cling to Cornelius. That... isn't rational behavior at all, and red flags were going up for me. I feel like that could have been an awesome thing to acknowledge and show her working toward dealing with, but alas.

Bottom Line: While I had some mixed feelings, I cannot deny that Mercury Boys was an inventive and unique story that I quite enjoyed reading!

When I think of the story's premise, it's interesting to find out that there's a possibility to time travel by just touching a picture and handling a small dosage of liquid mercury. Yes, liquid mercury has been proven dangerous to humans, but the what-if factor makes you think beyond the scope of safety. What if I could travel back in time through daguerreotypes? It's a scientific game-changer, and I praise Prasad for introducing an original thought behind it. I just wished she delved on it deeper.

The story was okay. I was hoping for more in a lot of areas in the book. Even though Prasad kept things surface level, I think she lost out on the opportunity to build with each set. I would have loved to see how the difference in eras collided with one another. Someone in the 2000s visiting a person in the 1800s has to be scandalous in every way. I was looking for the adverse side effects from tampering with time and the chemical element. I also wanted to see more time spent with the characters from the past. In the direction of how the story goes, we were more focused on teenage peer pressure. The mentioning of visiting the past was just a drop in the pond.

The story didn't turn out how I expected it, and it left me a little empty. There was a lot of potential throughout the book that could've been explored, but I feel like Prasad missed the mark. It wasn't a bad read, just average.

Disturbing & fascinating.

Those are the first words that come to mind after reading this. Reading the summary, I had no idea where the plot was going to take me. And to be fair, I still have no idea after reading it. I mean, we have this group of girls who suddenly are able to meet long dead people by touching/eating mercury and holding a daguerrotype of them. Saskia, new student at her school befriends Lila, another student who also works at the archives. There, after an encounter with the daguerrotype of a handsome man from the 1800 and a vial of mercury, she is suddenly able to talk to him in her dreams. Saskia then develops an obsession for that man, and embarks Lila and some other friends in her theories.

So, I really picked this book because of its concept. It's so unique! I loved the mystery of understanding how this all works. How can Saskia fall in love with a man who died over 100 years ago? How do the daguerrotypes and mercury work? I was really curious.

In the book itself, we get to read more about the interactions between the girls, and their own adventures with what they call their "Mercury Boys". We merely are brought into this social circle, watching how far the group of friends is willing to take the whole dead boyfriend thing. I must say this is something which was interesting to read. The tension kept building and building! There is this horrible want to know just how far it can go before it blows up!

And this is where I got a little disappointed. I didn't see where the book was taking me. There was no real BANG at the end. I was just like "oh... That's it?". I didn't get the answers I was looking for, and in the end, I was left somewhat confused. It feels like it's not finished. Like there's more to know.

I also strongly hated the girls around Saskia (except Lila, she's a great friend!). I know they are supposed to be a little cliché of teenage girls, but this was sometimes painful to read. I also felt they were a little odd for accepting the whole eating mercury and dating dead guys so easily, but well...

Overall, it was a VERY captivating book because it's so original and unique, but it left me with many unanswered questioned. It made me super frustrated and some things didn't make too much sense for me. But it still caught my interest by how disturbing and fascinating it is? It's actually tough to put words on it. If you like books that stick out from the rest, you might want to try this!

I received a free eARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My rating reflects the fact that I chose to DNF this book at 15%.

Mercury Boys had a lot of potential, but the execution fell really flat for me. The premise was intriguing - a group of girls form a sisterhood/cult around using mercury and daguerrotypes to time travel to the past to meet the people in the picture.

I struggled mostly because of the narration. It's in third person limited, and that made me feel at a remove from Saskia. It seemed more like a sketch of what was happening, and so I wasn't invested in the story. I think, had the events of the present been narrated in first person, it would have been a much more successful in engaging me as a reader. There was also a lot of telling, rather than showing. For example, it seemed strange to me that Saskia is suddenly completely obsessed with Robert Cornelius, when there is no build up. We're just told that she is fixated on him. It went from an assignment and a cursory curiosity to 'I want to steal his picture and take it home with me,' and then begging her friend to sneak her in to see the picture again the following night to 'get closure.'

I also found the dialogue between characters flat, and sometimes confusing. I didn't always know who was talking. I think part of this was that the characters didn't have distinctive voices, and also partially the formatting of the ARC.

Some of the passages where Lila or Saskia talk about issues such as environmental damage, pollutants, and historical racism sounded kind of preachy and out of the blue, rather than being organically integrated into the story. These moments could have been really meaningful, but they seemed clunky and rushed.

Formatting was also a problem with time jumps occurring within chapters. There's no indication that time has passed, and while it became clear fairly quickly, it happened a lot, so I spent a significant portion of the time I spent reading feeling confused.

I think had this gone through another round of editing and polishing, this would have been an excellent read.

Time travel to meet people by touching their photographs? Yes, please! This had a killer concept, but I felt it was a little slow at times.

After a messy divorce, Saskia and her dad move to a new town. She makes one new friend, Lila, who introduces her to a new type of photograph made with mercury - a daguerreotype. The girls eventually discover that by playing with mercury - yikes! - and then going to sleep holding the photographs, they can meet the men in them in their dreams. Each chooses a boyfriend from the past, and they bring three new friends into it - popular, smart Paige, cheerleader Adrienne and master manipulator and wild child Sara Beth.

I wish all of the relationships had a little more depth. I wanted more from the boyfriends in the past, especially Saskia's pick, Cornelius.

The book was at its best when dealing with bullying and jealousy of teen girls and the ways they can easily create a secret world just for them. It gives a devastating portrait of the differences between toxic friendships and true friends.

Despite a few flaws, the concept kept me reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.