DNF @32%

I usually like family dramas, so I thought I'd love this. But the pacing was off and I didn't really care about much of what was happening.

Amy Jo Burns put her whole heart into this novel and it is evident from page 1. I loved the character development, the close storytelling and the writing. I thought it could have been edited down a bit and did feel it lagged in the middle for about 20-30 pages, but other than that, I really enjoyed spending time with this messy family.

3 stars .....as it was a slow burn with deep rooted family drama that I don't think I was ready for.

It's rare that Celadon provides a physical copy, and eArc and Audiobook for a book that doesn't capture my interest right off the bat. It may have been a miss for me, but if you are a fan of dysfunctional family drama and a very character driven story - then this book is for you!

Thank you to Amy Jo Burns, Celadon, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a physical copy, and eArc and an audiobook version of this publication. In return, I have promised to provide an unbiased review.

The premise to this one is right up my alley! I loved most of this story but one part that constantly annoyed me was Marley’s obsession with her in-laws. I totally understand the need to feel like you belong but her obsession with her mother-in-law is down right weird? The need for her constant approval, that she never gives, and how Marley seems like she admires her but also doesn’t respect her for the way she says to be a member of the family, you need to be silent. She claims to do everything for her family and doesn’t have them even acknowledge it. It’s confusing and truthfully, her mother-in-law doesn’t sound like she’d be easy to contend with.

All the characters are very woe-is-me, thinking they have the hardest life of all. One sentence talking about the mom says “Elise had carted him (Shay; the youngest son) everywhere - he, the shopping bag she had to set down to deal with her two oldest sons. It had worn her out, raising them, and Shay had paid the price.” 🙄🙄🙄

The author seems to almost martyr the mother and calls her “selfless” but when in reality that isn’t seen throughout the book, she isn’t a good woman at all. She pits family members against each other by bringing out their faults and raising said faults to each other instead of bringing them together and bringing out the best in each family member.

Past the 80 percent mark, told mainly from Baylor’s (the eldest son) POV, I really enjoyed it. It was almost heartbreaking from his perspective. And then beyond that, to the end I felt like the book had emotion and heart like I wanted the whole book to have from the start.

I know it doesn’t seem like I enjoyed this book, but I did. It felt very real, and it’s a book that you can totally picture in your mind as you read. It’s just very easy to nitpick Mercury but truth be told, that doesn’t mean I won’t still be thinking about this book for a long time.

“A whole person loves well.”

This book took me by surprise. I knew nothing about it before reading and I hadn’t really seen any reviews for it (mainly just book features), so I took that as a bad sign. I went into it expecting to not enjoy it, but oh my goodness, I couldn’t put it down.

First of all, this book is sad. So, so sad. There are so many heartbreaking moments that take place throughout, and my soul just ached for every character.

That was another thing. The characters were brilliantly written and I felt so connected to all of them. Marley and Elise, the Joseph brothers, Mick, even Jade. There was so much depth to all of them. They all had their flaws, but each of them had these beautiful qualities that were just dying to come out. They all frustrated me but I also loved each of them in a different way.

Also, the writing itself was honestly poetic. It was such an enjoyable reading experience.

I think that’s all I really have to say about this one. I know it may not be for everyone, but I highly recommend this coming-of-age story about a young girl who falls in love with the Joseph family and the trials that they face together.

Thank you to Celadon Books for my gifted copy!

I absolutely LOVED #mercurybooks book. This incredible story comes out in January - definitely preorder it now. The family dynamics were incredible - so dysfunctional and flawed, but written perfectly. The characters had more issues than I can count, yet they were also self aware. I loved how we got different perspectives of this story, making it easier to love and hate different characters at different times. The ending left me disappointed, not because I disliked it but because I did not want it to end. I want to know more about the family, their story and future generations. The story started slow, but became one that I could not put down. I strongly recommend this to all.
A story about 3 brothers, their family roofing business and the secrets, lies and love that bind them. Their father Mick has scars from the war. Their mother Elise is the glue that holds them together. Marley becomes a young mother, when the middle son gets her pregnant and marries her. Marley is the one that got away to the oldest, Baylor. And Shay, the youngest, looks to her as a second mother. They all hold secrets, tell lies, yet love one another in their own way.

thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy

This was a really solid family drama. It had more of a mystery within the plot that kept things moving along at a great pace compared to some other family dramas I have read. I loved the way the characters were introduced at a surface level first, then slowly digging deeper throughout the story until I had developed a strong attachment to the entire family. If you're a fan of complex character driven narratives, definitely give this book a try. It was really a beautiful story with some really deep themes of family, forgiveness and sacrifice.
Read this if you like:
family drama, small towns, character-driven, a bit of suspense

While this one did take me a bit to get into, I did really enjoy it. I loved the family drama, the mystery subplot and the found family theme so much. I also really enjoyed the coming-of-age aspect as well as the strongly written characters. Very enjoyable.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

4.5. utterly dysfunctional family that never actually holds itself together, and this works very well. i just felt at points the writing style was a hair too disconnected? thanks for the arc

"Head on straight, heart on straight." Mercury is a powerful, moving exploration of grief and what it means to be part of a family, whether it's the family you're born into or the family you choose. Full of deeply flawed characters, it will leave you aching and thinking about the most important people in your life, and what you would do to show your love and devotion to them.

When seventeen year old Marley moves to Mercury, PA, she becomes involved with the Joseph brothers. They and their roofing business quickly become her whole world.

This is a great family drama story that gets you so involved with the family and characters. The Joseph brothers are all so different and make the family dynamics drama filled. There were several twists and incidents that I was not expecting. I felt for all the characters, especially Elise, as a fellow mother of boys.

“When it came to allegiances, these men would always choose each other.”

Mercury comes out 1/2.

I loved Shiner by Amy Jo Burns and so I was so excited to read this one. A dysfunctional family drama with a side of mystery sounded so appealing. Burns does a good job of immersing you into the Joseph family and you get to know each of the brothers deeply, secrets and all. Main character Marley is at the center of it all and her relationship with each of the brothers is explored . There were parts of this book that I loved and I love Burns’ writing. The mystery part definitely takes a small role and some of the characters I think acted in inauthentic ways that didn’t seem believable, especially Marley in her marriage. I will continue to read this author but this story didn’t work for me the way that I hoped.

The story of a dysfunctional family with plenty of drama that plays out with the focus on Marley who has moved to Mercury, PA with her mother and is in her senior year of high school. She meets the Joseph brothers and their mom invites her to dinner and tells her she is welcome anytime even if she isn't dating one of her sons. There are 3 sons - Baylor, Waylon and young Shay. Events play out and she is soon married into this family and tries to help her mother-in-law who seems overwhelmed and even a bit lost, her youngest brother-in-law whose parents don't have time for him, and the family roofing business which isn't being run well or making enough money.

Sometimes what you see that you don't like and want to fix turns out what you are headed for full steam ahead and you are soon in over your head. I think Marley felt like this. A compelling story and one I liked a bit more than her first book, Shiner. But you can't help but admire Marley's indomitable spirt.

My thanks to Net Galley and Celadon Books for an advanced copy of this e-book.

An absolutely stunning, character driven drama about the Joseph family who run the roofing business in a small blue collar town and a young girl who moves there and changes the trajectory of their lives. Despite how slowly the plot moves over many years, I never lost interest in where things were going. This is a deeply memorable book with incredible storytelling.

4.5 stars. Mercury is, simply put, the story of a family. But as we all know, families are anything but simple.

Amy Jo Burns' second novel takes us to Mercury, Pennsylvania, home of the Joseph family. When 17-year-old Marley West arrives in Mercury with her mother, she finds herself directly in the path of the Josephs, dating one brother and then marrying the other, and becoming a mother figure to the third. The Joseph brothers, who live with their complicated parents in a great house, become her life, as she finds herself part of a family in ways she's always wanted. But the Josephs have secrets like festering wounds, and when a troubling discovery is made in the church attic years later, they must all decide how steadfast their devotion and loyalty to one another really are.

Luminous and profound, Mercury is a slow-burning character study about flawed people, complex family dynamics, and the damage of unaddressed trauma and unhealed psychological wounds. Burns pillages the psyches of her characters, laying them completely bare for the reader, which makes this a devastating and emotionally resonant read. Burns' characters are as frustrating as they are sympathetic, because we want them to make better, healthier choices.

At the center of the story is Marley herself, caught in the whirlwind of the Josephs and not always doing the right thing herself, but who anchors the family all the same, with all-encompassing, sacrificial love. And it's the story of Elise, her mother-in-law, a woman doing her best with what she has been given -- even if her version of love can only be prickly and resigned at best, neglectful at worst.

I really enjoyed Burns' first novel, Shiner, and with Mercury she is cementing herself as a writer of heartfelt, incisive family dramas -- stories that on the surface seem simple, but are told with such moving complexity. Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.

I enjoyed the premise and the setting of the book. It was a captivating and realistic read that made me feel like I was part of the town. I admired Marley’s strength, her resilience, and her growth.

This is my first book by this author, and I LOVED it.. This book tied together beautifully at the end, and I couldn’t have loved this journey any more than I do. You know a book is good when you think about it for days after

Thanks to Celadon for the copy of this book!

Mercury is a solid family drama, featuring a working class family in a small town (Mercury, PA). Told from multiple POVs, this is a slow-paced, character-driven story that features a coming-of-age narrative and the changeover of generations in a family. This is a perfect read for fans of Tracey Lange!

(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯.𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 @𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 #𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.) Like many others, 𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗬 by Amy Jo Burns was high on my winter reading list and one of my first 2024 books. It’s the story of two incredible forces. The first is the Joseph family, a family of roofers in Mercury, PA. The lives of its three sons revolve around the rigid rule of their father and the unspoken longings of their mother. No one in the family is quite happy, but all three sons show unwavering dedication to their mom. ⁣
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Into this world walks Marley West, the other force, a 16-year old who has never lived in the same town for more than a year. Marley quickly falls under the spell of the Joseph family and they under hers. Over the years, Marley and the Josephs tangle, growing both close and distant, needing and pushing away. Secrets are held, as are hurts, and through it all, need and love struggle to find a balance.⁣
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I really liked this book. It was a perfect combination of character and plot driven. There were characters to root for and those who I wanted to shake. It felt authentic in the things that happened…until the last 10% or so. Then things got a tad hard to believe and the ending was a little neat and tidy for my tastes. Never-the-less, my time spent with 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘺 was a pleasure and it’s a book I’ll definitely be recommending. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When trying to decide whether I wanted to read this book or not, I kept seeing the words “slow-burn” to describe it. Now that I’ve finished it, this was no slow burn for me. Mercury is a powerful look at one family’s dynamics, what makes them work and what tears them apart. It’s beautifully honest in drawing out each character’s flaws while also highlighting their redemptive qualities.

While the synopsis talks about the Joseph boys, I think this story revolves around the women in the Joseph family, who are the overlooked glue of the family. Marley is a high school senior who shows up to town and quickly starts a romance with one Joseph brother but ends up marrying another. As she works to gain acceptance into the family and her mother-in-law’s graces, she entwines herself into the Joseph brother’s lives, giving them each something they need. Meanwhile, Elise Joseph gives all she has and more to her husband and children with little acknowledgment. She sees how her life has fallen away to the whims of her boys and wishes more for Marley.

What’s beautiful about this book is we get to see into the hearts and minds of each character, seeing both the good and bad that lives in each of them. Each Joseph boy is extremely complex internally even if his external actions seem simplistic. Just when you are ready to write off a character, the author goes inside their mind to help you understand where they come from and why they deserve redemption.

I could not put this book down, which is why this was not a slow burn for me. At first I wanted to see how the story enfolded, and then I could not stop learning more about the characters in that story. By the end of this book, I felt so connected to each character, flaws and all, that I was sad to say goodbye to them. This will not be a story that I will easily forget.

** Thank you so much to NetGalley and Celadon books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.**