Love a good family drama? Look no further! This might be a little bit of a slow-burn but the expressive writing, memorable characters, and complex family dynamics made it fly by. I started this one day and finished by the next, a blur of emotions left in its wake. An unforgettable reading experience that I’ll be recommending loudly and often.

It really doesn’t compare to anything but I do think if you enjoyed books like We Are the Brennans or The People We Keep, you’ll enjoy this!

I did a combo of digital and audio and loved both. Big thanks to Macmillan Audio for the #alc and Celadon books for the #arc via netgalley in exchange for my thoughts.

This is a slow burn character driven family drama that hits all the right notes. We are immersed into the world of the Joseph brothers and the strong women that keep them together. I loved getting the perspectives of the different characters to understand the backstory of their choices. There was a bit of mystery, lots of family secrets, drama, and some loveable and not so likeable characters. If you enjoyed The Connellys of County Down, then this book will likely work for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Mercury is family drama from Amy Jo Burns.

"17-year-old Marley and her mother move to Mercury. Soon she is pulled into the Joseph family. She becomes a mother and a wife and a part of the family business. She may be the only one able to hold the family and the business together. Especially after a body is found in the church attic and old secrets come to light."

This is a family saga from Burns. There are several time jumps - somehting happens and then we're a couple of years in the future. Near the end a couple of characters revisit incidents and fill in the blanks. Most of the time I'm asking the characters "What are you doing?" The story is full of bad and irresponsible decisions. One big tragic event near the end. Burns surprises you with the resolution. Fans of books like We Are The Brennans and Connelly's of County Down will enjoy this one.

Thanks to Celadon Books for early access.

Wow what a great book. I had never read the author before so I didn’t know what to expect. What I got was a complicated family drama with well-developed characters that kept me wanting to know more. The story had intrigue, deep rooted secrets and murder.
I found myself drawn into the story. I couldn’t stop reading. I will be looking for other books by this author.
Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for my ARC.

@celadonbooks always has the BEST family dramas and Mercury is definitely added to that list!

“The Josephs were the close kind of family that fought in equal measure but didn’t know how to make up.”

I immediately was drawn to the Joseph family and their roofing business. There are three sons, all a bit different but all also a bit the same. There is also Marely, a character I loved from the minute I met her. I love a thoughtful and flawed character that becomes so real on the page and Marely is that.
I also loved that the story is told from multiple perspectives and there is so much character development. Complex family dynamics are explored and I really enjoyed what each character learns about themselves along the way. There are also some family secrets involved and the way the family handled them had me invested in this story until the very end.

If you are a fan of family dramas, a small town feel, and stories that are character driven, grab this one out early next year!

This one comes out 1/2/24!

4.25 stars!

Do you have a favorite character of all time? How is your week going so far?

I was so happy to see I was gifted a copy of this book; thank you! I loved this story. I especially enjoy reading stories about families and this one did not disappoint. I loved Marley's character and watching her become a member of the Joseph's family. I loved how the story focuses on the true ups and downs of family life and how everything isn't always picture perfect. This is the first book by the author I've read and I would like to go back and read more !

If you're looking for a quiet, character-driven novel that delves into complex family dynamics, this book might be the perfect choice for your next read.

What I enjoyed:
💙 Excellent character development: I particularly loved how the author developed the characters of Elise and Marley. Both are strong female characters trapped by circumstances beyond their control. Comparing and contrasting their lives, decisions, and sacrifices for their families offers a lively discussion for any book group.
💙Mystery: I enjoyed how the mystery unfolded. The nonlinear timeline provides clues to the dead body in the church’s attic without being the main plot of the story.
💙Emotionally invested: Burns pens beautiful and honest prose. The Joseph’s blue-collar life feels heavy: always struggling for money, a sense of desperation that lurks but is never discussed amongst the family.

I truly wanted to love this one, with all the raving reviews. Unfortunately it just didn't do it for me. I found myself disconnecting totally from the story, I wasn't truly invested i made it to 30% but it's truly dragging for me and I had to stop.

“Marriages were not measured by time. They were tracked by disappointments, by hurts. Betrayals and apologies.”

“Was it the same to be desired as it was to be seen—to be wanted, and to be understood?”

4.5 stars rounded up! Loved it. Just loved it. The Joseph family is broken, doing everything they can just to keep it all together. But every family is broken in their own way, aren’t they? So it’s the loyalty. The sticking it out during the rough times. The underlying love. That is what defines it.

This is a book about blood family, found family, and the roots that bind them. It’s so easy to judge another persons marriage or home life, as Marley frequently does to the Joseph’s. But once you learn their backstory it all falls into place. And I commend Elise, the matriarch of the Jospeh clan, for holding her family together and doing her best to support her husband through his demons from the war, despite what outsiders think of her actions.

I love character driven stories like this, especially when they revolve around a family. I felt like I was in that big beautiful house with these roofers, watching their lives unfold. I very much enjoyed the character arc of each of the three Joseph boys, too. If you enjoyed We Are The Brennans or The Connellys of County Down, as I did, then you will love this one.

Thank you to Netgalley, Celadon Books, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley the publisher and or the author for giving me the chance to read and review Mercury

Love the interaction between the characters.

Confused a little bit on the plot.

Seventeen year old Marley and her mother Ruth are newly moved to the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania in 1990. Mercury is a small sleepy working-class town where everybody knows everybody yet people seem to have their own secrets galore. Marley quickly becomes acquainted with the Joseph boys, a family of roofers, first befriending one brother then quickly marrying the other. And so begins the saga of a dysfunctional family drama. The twist in the plot is when a body is discovered in the church attic and soon secrets of the Joseph family come tumbling out one after the other.

This is not at all a fast-paced story but a slow burn full of love, loss, secrets, male ego, female sacrifices and the pressure that comes from impractical expectations. The novel explores the complex family dynamics between spouses, siblings, parents and children, and mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. I loved the way the author has aptly captured and described the love-hate relationships between siblings. All in all, a very poignant, evocative tale that truly makes us think about the adage: In the end, do we all tend to become our mothers (or our mothers-in law). Perfect for book club discussions.

On a side note, I was shocked to read that the town did not even have a proper hospital or its own fire station. I had no idea that such was the situation in any town in the United States that too as recently as the 1990's.

Thank you Netgalley, Celadon Books and Amy Jo Burns for the ARC.

A captivating multigenerational family saga and profound character study set small town Pennsylvania. The Joseph family are something else. The parents are out of touch with reality, the brothers can’t communicate unless it involves disagreements and physical altercations and there are secrets, so many secrets.

The thing is, these characters have everyday relatable problems. They just don’t know how to cope. They are all trapped in lives they don’t want. Trapped by other people’s decisions. Trapped by their circumstances. Trapped by their choices.

At its core, this story is really about two resilient women, who got married, raised children and did their best to build a home.

It’s a powerful and poignant story and also a cautionary tale focusing on the interplay between choices, consequences, sacrifices and family dynamics. 4.5 stars.

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

This is not the typical genre I would pick up and read, but I am so glad that I did.

The book follows Marley who finds herself pregnant at 17. Marley marries into the Joseph family, and the book follows their lives. The Joseph's are a working class family living in a small town in the 1990's.

I found the book to be sweet and heartwarming. Marley is living in the Joseph household with her husband, his parents, and his two brothers. The family owns a roofing business that they are trying to keep afloat. Marley has to figure out her role in the family but also in life.

Each of the family members has their own troubles they are dealing with, and you truly fall in love with all of them (except the dad, I never liked him) and you get a sense of why they all are the way that they are.

This was just a great book about what it means to be family.

I first heard about this novel (before it had a title) from Amy Jo herself during an author talk about her novel Shiner. I’ve been keeping an eye out for it ever since - and it exceeded my expectations! Thank you #Celadon for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The novel starts with the turning point of the novel, but then goes back years before to tell the family saga when Marley comes to Mercury and becomes entrenched with the Joseph’s, a family who owns a roofing business.

This is the best kind of family saga - complicated, intricate, ugly at times, with no “wrapped-up-in-a-bow” ending. The relationships between the brothers, parents and sons, sons and newcomer Marley are all examined and written about exquisitely, warts and all, by Burns.

The first part of the novel introduces the characters and a hint into the relationship, but by the 25% mark, I was “all-in” and completely invested in the story, which Burns skillfully reveals layer by layer. Coming out on January 2, 2024, readers will certainly be talking about this book!

This might start with a body in the attic of a church but it's not a mystery- it's the tale of a family, a dysfunctional family that has trouble loving itself. Marley finds herself wrapped into the Josephs when she meets Baylor, the oldest Joseph son but he's not the one who makes her part of them- it's Elise, the mother. But Baylor isn't for her either- it's Waylon, the father of their son and her husband. They're so young when they marry (and sometimes you'll forget that they are in their mid-20s during the majority of the novel) but Marley becomes a surrogate mother for Shay, the youngest Joseph. The Josephs are roofers and this is key to the plot. Marley turns the business around, a move not initially welcomed by the others and then Elise's illness tears it all apart. This is slow at the beginning but then you'll find yourself engaged with Marley, Waylon, Baylor, and Elise (all of whom give their perspective at some point) and with Jade, Marley's very determined friend. Burns has a way of making you see the roof, sit at the dinner table, and fall into the lives of the Josephs. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Excellent read.

This is a story that stays with you. I finished this a week ago and still think about it. I miss the Joseph family. I want to know what happens to them for the rest of their lives. I was captivated from the beginning of the story to the end. I loved growing up with Marley as she made her way in life as a wife of a Joseph. She was a wife, mother, sister, and a mother figure to one not her own. Families are hard and it's not always pretty but it's always full of love. There is a lot of dysfunction and secrets in this family and we get to watch as it all unfolds. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ebook to review. All opinions are my own.

Character-driven novels are hit or miss for me, but this was engrossing and cinematic. Each time I picked up my kindle I disappeared into the world of the book and watched it as if it was a movie. It's different from feeling as if I was right there in the action. I'm glad I wasn't, because I don't want to live in the Joseph house! But I enjoyed getting to know the characters by watching them.

The timeline got a little fuzzy for me. We jump backwards and forwards and the only descriptions given are "before" and "after". When I worked out they were only about 4 years apart it was strange. It was also a bit disorienting when we skipped around in characters' perspectives, but I appreciate that we got to see inside the head of multiple family members.

I some sense, the ending felt arbitrary, because I feel like the characters are still out there, living their lives. I wonder where they are now, nearly 30 years after the setting of the book.

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

I'm still marinating on this one. Great character development. This is absolutely a character driven novel and not plot based so know that going in. That said - even without a intricate plot to move you along, this book still moved. I enjoyed my time spent in Mercury even though none of these characters were super likable. They were all very human, flawed and I really enjoyed the authors perspective on how families get stuck in their "roles" and can't get out. Dang if that doesn't happen to all of us huh?

I got lost in this book even though there wasn't anything particularly enjoyable about the characters or the story. They just seemed like real people that you might meet through work or at church - they start telling you a crazy story about that time when....

If you enjoy family centered, character driven novels, I think you will really enjoy this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for a free e-galley of "Mercury: A Novel" by Amy Jo Burns in exchange for an honest review.

In "Mercury," Amy Jo Burns crafts a narrative that is both a poignant exploration of human connections and a vivid portrayal of life in a small, blue-collar town. Set in the 1990s in Mercury, Pennsylvania, the story centers around Marley West, a seventeen-year-old with a longing for belonging and a profound sense of isolation. Her arrival in Mercury marks the beginning of a complex entanglement with the Joseph brothers, a trio that becomes the epicenter of her world. Burns, known for her critically acclaimed novel "Shiner," again demonstrates her prowess in creating deeply layered characters and a rich, atmospheric setting.

The novel excels in its exploration of family dynamics, particularly the complicated relationships between Marley and the Joseph brothers. Marley, who becomes a wife to one brother, a missed opportunity to another, and a maternal figure to all, is a character of remarkable depth and resilience. Her efforts to navigate the treacherous waters of the brothers' familial struggles, set against the backdrop of their faltering roofing business and their father's overbearing presence, are rendered with a keen eye for emotional detail. Burns masterfully portrays the nuanced interplay of loyalty, love, and the longing for something more, which is the crux of Marley's journey.

The narrative structure of "Mercury" is notable for its seamless weaving of the past and present, a technique that enriches the storytelling by providing context and depth to the characters' actions and motivations. The discovery in the church attic, a pivotal moment in the novel, serves as a catalyst that brings old secrets and simmering tensions to the surface, threatening the fragile bonds that hold the family together. Burns' prose is lyrical and evocative, capturing the essence of the small-town setting and the internal landscapes of her characters with equal skill.

However, the novel's pacing can at times feel uneven, with certain sections delving deeply into the characters' inner worlds while others move rapidly through key plot points. This occasionally results in a sense of disconnect, particularly in the latter half of the book where the narrative could benefit from a more consistent rhythm. Additionally, while Burns' exploration of themes like belonging and the search for identity is compelling, the resolution of these themes might leave some readers longing for a more definitive sense of closure.

Overall, "Mercury" is a testament to Amy Jo Burns' ability to create a world that is both deeply personal and universally relatable. It's a story that resonates with the struggles of finding one's place in the world and the enduring power of familial bonds. This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy character-driven narratives and are drawn to the complexities of human relationships set against the backdrop of Americana.

[arc review]
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Mercury releases January 2, 2024

5+!!

Mercury snuck onto my tbr courtesy of the publisher, and I’m so glad for it. This was one of the best books centered around family I’ve ever read.

A small town in the 90’s wherein a tour-de-force family resides, embodying loyalty and survival.

<i>“How much of it was illness, and how much of it trying to survive?”</I>

Burns showcases how you can be a mother, daughter, sister, wife, businesswoman, and friend all at once, know every gritty thing about a person and choose to love them anyways, and grow and adapt to be the glue filling in the gaps.

Marley and her mother came to Mercury in the early 90’s, and Marley integrated herself into the Joseph family like it was always meant to be, from family dinners to winning over the hearts of the three Joseph brothers.
This is the first time in her life that she’s really ever stuck around and stayed in one place long enough where the connections she makes form lasting roots and run deeper than surface-level.

<i>“She didn’t want to be someone who only thrived at beginnings.”</I>

As small business roofers, the Joseph men have to hustle every season to provide for their family. This part of the storyline really resonated with me having grown up with a grandfather and uncle who basically made a name for themselves doing the same things they did.

Mercury is split into the before and after of a pivotal character death, to which the grief was overwhelmingly felt.
I cried so many times I gave myself a headache.

I loved the literary technique of lacing so much depth into a simple four word phrase, and having that reappear at significant moments: “what do you want?”, “I have a surprise”, “are you safe here?”

This novel is intricate, layered, and everything I didn’t know I needed.

cw: dementia, overdose, loss of a loved one, grief, miscarriage
rep: lgbt


<i>“Her mother had told her they belonged to the Church of the Holy Comforter, which meant they used their Sunday mornings to sleep in.”

“It struck her then, how adept he was at apologizing, how earnest, as the son of two people who didn’t know how to do it at all. He’d learned from the absence of it, how to fill that empty space with what he’d needed but never received.”

“The arc of a mother’s life shouldn’t have self-sacrifice at its inevitable pinnacle.”

“He saw people at their worst and didn’t flinch because he knew how devastating it was to have to hide.”

“Do you think it’s possible to spend your life loving the wrong people?”
“I think it’s more likely that we love the right people the wrong way.”</I>