Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book, releasing in January 2024!

Really enjoyed Burns' novel Shiner, so requested this as an ARC. There's things to like about this family drama, but I didn't like it as much as the previous book-Marley is a great lead and Shay is extremely sympathetic but the other characters were hard to like (not to say this isn't realistic! Just didn't make for as enjoyable a reading experience for me). The pacing is slow but I don't think that's necessarily a negative, it works well for a character study versus a heavily plot-driven novel. This wasn't a favorite but I'd definitely read another by Burns in the future.

When Marley West moves to Mercury, PA with her mother, she didn’t know how long they’d stay. She also didn’t know the impact the Joseph brothers would have on her, and her on them. But she becomes a part of each of their lives in different ways and will help them all overcome obstacles in their lives.

Mercury was a beautifully written, character driven novel that really surprised me. I’m always a little hesitant to read literary fiction, but I’m so glad I decided to read this book. Amy Jo Burns wrote a compelling story about love and found family, and showed how the strength of one woman could keep a family together.

Marley was so well written. She is flawed, but finds a way to use the flaws to make the most of her life. We see this in high school and we watch her grow throughout this story into the strong woman she is. Her relationship with each of the Joseph brothers was special in its own way, and although some were better than others, I enjoyed seeing how their connections grew and changed with time.

This book was so emotional and had me in tears many times. I was invested in the characters’ lives, and I honestly felt like I was in the town of Mercury while reading this book. It did start off a bit slow for me, but that is really my only complaint. I highly recommend grabbing this book when it comes out next week.

Thank you Celadon Books for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

That was truly the most interesting and unique story I’ve ever read.

I flew through this one in two days! The story told in multiple points of view with an out of order timeline kept me hooked and engaged the entire time. I truly wanted to know every little detail. Marley became a person to me along with Baylor and I deeply sympathized with both of them. I liked how one major question/plot point was left to the readers discretion and I have my thoughts about that. The prose also reminded me much of Fredrick Backman and I think that truly is why I was engrossed. The only thing I didn’t enjoy were the few parts that felt dragged out. There were some characters that felt unnecessary or weren’t wrapped up and I wish they were. All in all, I did enjoy this journey.

Mercury is one of those novels that is hard to categorize, as it is a family saga, a romance (several times over) and a little bit murder mystery. The book had me hooked from the first chapters, and it is definitely one that I will not forget soon.

Amy Jo Burns has written a moving, multi-layered novel, that would be a great choice for a book club. I enjoyed how the story of the Joseph family is told by focusing on different members of the family, with Marley central to the story, and sometimes through flashbacks. I grew to care deeply for these flawed brothers, and to understand their motives. These people love hard and fight hard, and each has a different way of demonstrating their loyalty and love for each other. My heart broke for each of them at different points, and I was ready to throttle them at others.

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the digital ARC of Mercury by Amy Jo Burns. The opinions in this review are my own.

Family drama is here to stay in Mercury. When Marley moves to the small town and gets in Baylor Joseph's truck after a baseball game, she didn't realize where her life would end up. The Joseph's are a tight-knit family whose roof repairs are far stronger than their ability to properly communicate. This was an intimate look into their family dynamics that kept me intrigued until the end.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Read if you like:
📚 Character Driven Books
🔍 Slight Mystery Vibes
💍 Marriage and Family Dynamics
⏳ 90’s vibes
🏘️ Small Town Settings

Overall, this was beautifully written and had great prose, but the story was a bit lacking for me. It was very character heavy in the focus which made the plot feel lacking and like there wasn’t resolution that I felt like there should have been.

I felt like there was a lot left unresolved and the ending felt quite unsatisfying to me and the Elise PoV felt random and didn’t really give the answers I would have wanted from the pov to include it at the end of the book.

All in all, I think a lot of people will like this one, unfortunately it just wasn’t one that worked for me as well as I thought it would have.

Thank you so much to Celadon books for my ARC in exchange for my review!

A deep and emotional family read. The turmoils of the Joseph family will have you taking deep sighs and will give you a drama filled story.
A slow burn set in the 1990s. Marley enters the town of Mercury and her life is never the same.
A great read. Thank you Celadon for the ARC!

Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley and Amy Jo Burns for this ARC to read and review!

This was a deep slow burn of a family drama with exceptional character development. Marley and the Joseph family can’t help but pull you into their very relatable small town life. The author does an amazing job at letting you into the flawed inner workings of each character and giving you insight as to why you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. It’s a book about real people trying to move forward and make life work with past mistakes and broken dreams. With its share of sadness, struggle, heartbreak and a sprinkle of mystery … be prepared for an emotional stay in the town of Mercury.

This is a family saga for people who are most interested in literary fiction that examines relationships between characters. Most of the characters are 3-dimensional, with things to like and dislike about them. Each person's perspective is understandable - the author is good at showing all the sides of an argument and how easily misunderstandings happen.

Shay's secret and Elise's troubles were both unsurprising. I missed Marley's mom in the second half of the book.

The writing was good. It took itself a bit too seriously - everything is existential. A little levity would've been nice.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookish First for an ARC in exchange for a review.

A beautiful portrait of a small-town family in Western Pennsylvania- each character felt completely real.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy.

4.25⭐️

Mercury is a slow-burn full of understated beauty. Watching things shift and unfold between Marley and the Joseph clan is fascinating and moving, as buried secrets come to light and family dynamics prove ever more complex, in ways that are both very specific and yet universally relatable. Amy Jo Burns is a gifted storyteller, and I appreciated watching the well-drawn Marley grow and change and come into her own through these pages.

Thank you Amy Jo Burns, Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

"Mercury" by Amy Jo Burns is a Blend of Family, Literary, and Romance Fiction with a Touch of Coming-of-Age!

Seventeen-year-old Marley West is the new girl in Mercury, Pennsylvania, a town where few new people come to live. She gets noticed quickly by Baylor Joseph and eventually gets her place at the table of the Joseph Family. She's attracted to Baylor but when football season calls him away, it's his younger brother, Waylon, that Marley falls in love with...

"Mercury" is an intense Family Fiction story that begins in 1990 and travels with the characters through the years. The Joseph Family is at the heart of the story with parents, Mick and Elise, and their three sons, Baylor - the oldest, Waylon - thirteen months younger, and Shay - the youngest by quite a few years. This is one complicated dysfunctional family, and the dynamics are deep and ingrained.

At the center of this family is the business, JOSEPH & SONS ROOFING, and along with it are the expectations that each son will join the business in some capacity. The business, all it entails and consumes, is like another character in this story.

What stands out most about this book is the simple writing style that quickly connects you to the characters and the family drama. The way the story is written feels different and multi-layered, told from the 'outside in' and then from the 'inside out', and it works for this story, giving it a higher level of backstory and a character-study feel.

There's a mystery built into the story that takes a surprising twist. Still, it's our protagonist Marley who steers us through this story with her resilience, growth, and determination that kept me reading and listening until there was no more story left.

This was an immersion reading experience through the gifted Digital Reading Copy and Advanced Listening Copy. The audiobook is narrated by Maria Liatis, whose voicing skills are strong, however, either format will deliver a great experience.

I love Family Fiction and this one is surprisingly good. I have added both of Amy Jo Burns' previous books "Cinderland: A Memoir" and "Shiner" her debut novel to my TBR List. I highly recommend "Mercury" to readers who enjoy books with blended genres, engaging writing, fully fleshed-out characters, and discovering a surprise or two within the story!

4⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and Amy Jo Burns for a DRC and an ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

A multi-layered story of love, hope, family, and regrets, Mercury is a very true to life narrative of small towns, growing families and deep feelings.

I have seen a few people compare this one to The Connellys of County Down and would agree insofar as it is a family story, focussed primarily on one character with others moving in and out of frame. Mercury doesn’t have as much driving it as Connellys does.

I enjoyed the depth of character in each of the family members and friends. I would have liked to have read more about the relationship between Elise and Hollis and seen an outcome of a major plot point. While I found warmth in the story, I also found myself unmotivated to pick it up at times.

Overall, it was an OK read for me. For readers who enjoy family stories with good character development, I would encourage you to pick this one up.

Thank you to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. Mercury publishes January 2, 2024.

A moving coming of age story and family drama about three working class brothers and the people who love them. This was my first book by Amy Jo Burns and it lived up to its hype!

Perfect for fans of small town, domestic dramas, this story is told from multiple POVs and spans decades as 17 year old Marley West moves to Mercury, Pennsylvania and finds her life quickly intertwined with those of the Joseph brothers when she becomes pregnant and decides to keep the baby.

I enjoyed the look at small town life and the complex but powerful aspects of family life, especially in the face of tragedies like the death of a loved one, hidden queer identities and the unappreciated domestic labor of the female family members.

Highly recommended for those who enjoyed books like Mary Beth Keane's Ask again yes or Laurie Frankel's This is how it always is. Many thanks to thank Celadon Books for an early ARC copy in exchange for my honest review! This was also good on audio narrated by Maria Liatis.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I loved it. I read it on vacation, on the beach - so maybe that had something to do with why I loved it so. I thought it had major East of Eden vibes, with twist of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. I've already pre-sold this to a dozen customers and can't wait for it to arrive!

What an amazing family saga!!! 5 huge stars for this story.

Marley moves into town and is immediately drawn into the mess that is the Joseph family. The family roofing business is disorganized and the sons and their mother and father just get through each day. Marley is the spark that ignites them to be more and do more. But secrets threaten to ruin this already fragile family.

I could not read this book fast enough!!! Thank you Netgalley and Celadon Books for the honor to read and review this amazing book!

If you enjoy a slow-burn family drama with rich character development, you will love Mercury. The book takes its title from the name of the western Pennsylvania town where the story takes place. Marley moves to Mercury with her mother when she’s in high school (a senior) and meets the three sons of the Joseph family: Baylor, Waylon, and the much younger Shay. Mick, the father, runs a roofing business. Their mother, Elise, holds things together in the house but doesn’t involve herself in the business.

As the book opens, Marley and Waylon are married with a small son, Theo. The Joseph family is called in to help with a bad leak in the local church’s roof and a long-dead body is discovered in the attic. The rest of the book goes back in time and you eventually get the whole story.

Marley gets absorbed into the Joseph family and into the business. She turns out to be a whizz at the business side of things. They all live together in a large rambling house. After Elise dies, Marley is the glue that holds the family together.

This all takes place in the 1990s so there are no cell phones and almost no internet. I had to smile when Marley set up their first email and web presence - I remember doing that for a small business I worked at, at the same time.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The audiobook was beautifully narrated by Maria Liatis.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

This novel follows the Joseph family, a family of roofers, in the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. This was a family drama full of struggles and secrets.

This book had me feeling a whole range of emotions. One chapter I was happy, one chapter I was sad, and the next chapter I was ready to throw my kindle across the room. When an author can make you feel so many emotions at once it is a gift.

One of my favorite genres to read are family dramas and this book was so full of the drama. I couldn’t get enough of it.

I have never read anything by this author before but I am definitely adding her to my list of authors to follow.

4.25 stars

I enjoyed Amy Jo Burns' sophomore novel MERCURY even more than her debut SHINER!

I would almost describe this novel as a gender reversed HELLO BEAUTIUFL. When Marley moves to the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania, she changes the lives of the boys in the Joseph family and the mother Elise as well.

I felt for Elise in this novel. She gave herself to the men in her family, both her husband and sons, and she got precious little back in return from her family. I really liked the scenes with Marley and Elise.

This novel is very character-driven, and I really enjoyed that it was. You really got to know the main characters. MERCURY hit close to home, as both sides of my family are from near Pittsburgh, and there were some other parallels. If you're looking for a lot of plot, you may want to consider skipping this one. Even for me, there were some parts that felt repetitive when it went over the same scene from a different perspective. (Most of the book is from Marley's perspective, but toward the end there are a few other perspectives that are added.)

All in all, this is a fabulous book, and I'm so glad to spend time with the characters of Mercury, Pennsylvania.

Family drama set in Mercury, PA. Emotional roller coaster of a novel that shows the complexities of family life. I really enjoyed this fairy dark story of the family. It is also a coming of age story for Marley. The book is mostly Marley's prospective but some parts are other members of the Joseph family point of view.