Marley arrives to the town of Mercury at a time in her life when she needs a family the most. She runs into the Joseph family. A family that is comprised of three sons and a mom and dad. The overbearing dad owns a roofing company and the sons work for him. Their mom loves Marley and welcomes her. She told Marley she always has a place in their home. However, she is growing feeble and Marley starts to take over the responsibilities as the “woman” of the house.

This story shows the true complications of a family. Chock-full of emotion and self-doubt, mystery and secrets, love and hate, this story brings out the deep feelings that each of us will experience sometime in our lifetimes.

Marley is a great character. We are allowed into her head and get to know her well. We navigate with Marley as she finds her way through life with all four men and realizes her place with each of them.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to future books by Amy Jo Burns. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. A 2024 BOTM top-pick, and rightfully so. This book has been on my radar and does NOT disappoint.

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I want to start by saying I fully recognize that as a reader, I have a hard time with family dramas. Most of the ones I’ve read are so drawn out and half the time just boring.

That being said, for someone who doesn’t love family dramas, Mercury is one of the best I’ve read. The characters are really well-developed and overall, the book is well-written. Some of it is a little too on the nose in my opinion but if you like family sagas, you’ll love this one.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mercury was a beautifully written family centered masterpiece. The Joseph family along with Marley were all well developed characters, each flawed and with motives. Throw in a bit of mystery and I was completely invested. Several plot twists unfold over multiple timelines.

There were some hard topics as this family struggled to make ends meet while dealing with issues of PTSD, dementia and gay relationships. It's certainly not a light read, but handled well with its writing. An unforgettable cast. I will hold Marley in my heart for a long time.


Read if you like:
Complicated Family Drama
Multiple POV's
Small Town Settings
Mystery/Secrets

A family drama set in the blue-collar town of Mercury, Pennsylvania and centers around the Joseph family - a mother, a father, three sons, and a daughter-in-law. A story about the struggle between reaching for your dreams while managing the expectations of others. Ultimately, secrets are revealed that shake this family to the core. Can this family be saved?

I enjoyed the development of the characters and the pacing of the story.

This was a slow burn. I loved the coming of age of Marley and the parallels between her and Elise. A generational saga, I loved how the pieces fit together in the messy puzzle of family.

I loved this book so much! I didn't know much about it when starting, and was surprised how much I loved the characters and the unique family dynamics.

As a teenager, Marley moves to Mercury - a small town where her mom has just gotten a job. Very quickly she starts dating one of the Joseph brothers, and just as quickly a different one. As time goes on Marley becomes a close part of the Joseph family, and means something different to each of the three Joseph brothers and their parents.

I could not put this book down -- the way that it's written I just had to find out what was going to happen. The book starts with a dramatic event, and then goes back in time to lead up to that event.

I loved Marley, and I loved Shay -- both such good characters who are truly trying their best but things don't always go their way. I loved seeing their growth, and seeing them become adults.

I loved all the descriptions of Mercury. I could picture the Great House, Jade's salon, the church -- all of it was so vivid. I loved all the dynamics between the brothers and between them and Marley.

Parts of this book are so sad, I felt completely heartbroken at times -- always the sign of a good book if it can impact me that much.

I would recommend this book to anyone -- especially if you love messy family dynamics and small-town workings. I look forward to reading Amy Jo Burns's backlist and cannot wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Good stories arrive like a whisper, and linger. You long to share the moments that reveal each characters flaws, depth , true meaning to the storyline. Mercury like its title character Marley, entangles and moves with an ease and swiftness through your heart to unleash emotions that leak like the roofs that Joseph and Sons mend and repair. Marley comes to town, knows that her time her is determined by a mom who moves around the country as their fortunes dictate. Here in this space she finds one Joseph brother, only to marry another, and be captivated by the mother,Elise that has managed this family of men and bound them to a town that depends and defends their father. It is Mick that set the pattern that holds these men to this place, and each son must find their own moment of liberation. Happy reading

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

At first I absolutely felt this could be one of the best books I had read in a long time. Marley moves to Mercury with her mother when she is about 17 years old. She is smart, independent, and attractive it seems. She immediately gets swept up into the Joseph family, who have three sons - Baylor, Waylon, and Shay - aka Bay, Way, and Shay. Baylor and Marley date kind of for a bit, but then Waylon and Marley fall in love. This book tells the story of Marley's relationship with all three boys, their mother Elise and their father Mick. The first half of this book read quickly for me and I loved learning about the family and their relationships. However, the second half of the book felt repetitive to me, sharing things we already knew from a different character's perspective, and it got boring for me and almost turned into a slog to finish the last 25% of the book.

The writing is good, the character growth is definitely there. All of the characters feel unique and fully formed. And the 1990's setting worked for me too. I thought this was a unique story and not like much I had read previously, but wish it hadn't dragged in the latter part of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Jo Burns, and Macmillan Publishing for this digital ARC. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this novel. Reading the synopsis on the back, I was intrigued to see how this plot would play out. I loved the characters and enjoyed the family business dynamic. I wish there were some clear answers from this quirky thriller. I feel like it’s not finished yet and felt like it was climaxing and then just plateaued. I may try one of her books in the future, but won’t be jumping at the seems. :/

I absolutely savored this book and didn't want it to end. The moment we meet Marley as she rolls into the rural Western Pennsylvania
town of Mercury I'm hooked just as she is once she says the Joseph boys up on that roof. I was enchanted and consumed by this story. I loved getting to know all of these complex characters as the secrets they hoped stayed hidden came bubbling to the surface as the pages turned. I loved how the layers of the characters richly built up as their vulnerability ripped away. Each character was so flawed yet so beautiful. This book, while it was a slow burn, really took its time in getting the reader to fall madly in love with even the not so likeable characters. I can't say enough good things about this - I even purchased a hard copy so I can lend out and keep in my forever library. Fans of Mary Beth Keene or readers who love rich and velvety character driven fiction will love this. If you're looking for fast paced action, this isn't it. I'm totally book hungover and flat out miss those characters now that I've turned the final page. Great read!!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Mercury by Amy Jo Burns. Marley arrives in Mercury, a small suburb of Pittsburgh, in 1990. She becomes enmeshed with the Joseph family right away. Mom is Elice, and she’s married to the difficult Mick. Their three boys are Baylor, Waylon and Shay. Marley takes up with Baylor, but she ends up with Waylon. What she’s really in love with is the idea of a family. Marley’s mom is single, and they moved all over as she finds jobs then loses them. Marley helps the Joseph family with their roofing business, and life seems settled if not as idyllic as Marley envisioned. Then a long buried secret surfaces, and the family struggles to keep it all together. This book delves into the dynamics of a family & I really enjoyed it. Thumbs up! #bookstagram #netgalley #mercury #whatiread #bookgram #books #reading #bookworm #goodreads #libbyapp #amyjoburns

I love books that explore family dynamics and Mercury was a true gem. I connected with the characters right away and was truly invested in their story from start to finish. A 2023 favorite for me and I can't wait to read more from Amy Jo Burns.

A story full of characters you will love and family dynamics that will entrap you, this book was so well developed but written so simply. I loved the different perspectives we saw - from outsiders and insiders. I truly can't wait to read other books by this author, as i enjoyed the writing style so much!

My take: 3.5 out of 5. Repeating parental actions and mistakes is an epidemic in this book. An exercise in the futility of our every day lives, and how intergenerational patters and mistakes can continue and how empowering it is to let go of those. Its a good book and it definitely is a very well written book it just needed a bit more action. I appreciated the character development it was just a tad boring at times. Bonus points (and it raised itself to 3.5 from a 3) for the good ending, I was very satisfied by it. “men do things and women apologize for it”

Why did I choose it: It was in a lot of lists of books to look forward in 2024. It was also a Book of the Month option, and although I did not pick that one it intrigued me enough to ask for an ARC and I got it!. It also got described as a type of Hello Beautiful but with men (let me assure you it is not, Hello Beautiful was one of my favorite books, this is not to that level for me)

Read this if you like(d): Family dramas, small town stories. This feels very art house movie like.

I had such a hard time getting into this book. I love small towns, I love drama. But I couldn't keep track of anyone or anything. I blame this as a ME problem, not the author.

I really wanted to love this one but as I kept reading the more I kept wondering when it would get to the point.

I loved this one. Gut punches and all. Loved the people in it, their tenacity, the storylines.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Shiner by Amy Jo Burns, so I was super excited to see she had a new one coming out.
Mercury is *so* excellent and did not in any way disappoint. I loved it!! It hits all the notes of good complicated family stories and literary fiction that keep me coming back to these genres time and again.

I love Marley and was rooting for her the entire time. And I really appreciated getting to see the family relationships mature/change/develop over time, and also how we got to see some of the same events through the different brother's eyes. This book made me feel all the feels.

I appreciated that just like in life, people are messy and broken, but there is love to be had in the midst of it. Some parts of the story ended happily, while some are not tied up with a bow.

Also, the roofing family business totally made me think of Wally Lamb's "I know This Much Is True", which I was not at all mad about.

Well written, well worth my time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC. All opinions are my own.