Many thanks to NetGalley, Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this wonderful book by Amy Jo Burns, made even better with narration by Maria Liatis - 5 stars!

Marley has had a tough childhood, never staying in one place long as her mom moves around for work. When they arrive in Mercury PA, the first thing Marley sees is the Joseph brothers up on a roof. Soon she is at their table for dinner every night, wanting to belong. She begins dating one brother, then becomes wife to another, almost mother to the youngest. The father rules the business, but it is slowly failing. Marley steps in to help, but meets resistance. When an incident from the past raises its ugly head, does this family have what it takes to survive?

This book was wonderful. I lost myself in this family and felt so much for Marley as she tried to be everything to everyone, without losing herself in the process. Her best friend, Jade, is a marvel and the two women are always there for each other. All of these characters and this family just felt real - they all had secrets they were keeping, for various reasons, but at the heart they were family, in whatever form that takes, made of imperfect people who care for each other. I finished this a couple days ago and keep thinking about this story. Highly recommended!

In all honesty, if I had not been committed to reviewing this title, I probably would have given up on it after the first several chapters. I had trouble liking the main character(s) and even more trouble figuring out what the author's goal was in writing the book. In the end I was glad I persevered, since there was a satisfying resolution, of sorts, but it's not making my keeper list. Lessons learned: people are catty, jealous, and judgmental everywhere, wet rooftops don't make great locations for arguing nor church attics for hiding dead bodies. Mercury was a well-rendered snapshot of a not-too distant time (early 1990s) now almost unrecognizable by its lack of cell phones, etc., but certain inaccuracies jumped out at me, most particularly the mention of holy water in a Presbyterian church. Mercury should appeal to readers craving immersion in a quiet, introspective novel more about human frailty and endurance than fast-paced action.

Good plot, good character development, nice slow burn. The narrator was wonderful! I thought the book did a great job showing family drama, sacrifice and loyalty along with secrets, forgiveness and darkness. Great novel!

I have so many thoughts about this book. It’s told in a very unique way. I felt like the author allowed me to deeply know the characters, but also feel disconnected to them. The story unfolds slowly and at times I felt myself becoming distracted. The story is also told in separate parts, which was interesting. Allowing for different POVs. The second part, I found to be faster paced and more interesting.

The Joseph’s are a family of very flawed characters. A family full of secrets, sacrifice, and great strife. The relationships between the different characters were so complex and multifaceted. Elise was such a complicated character. I found myself so frustrated with her and the way she treated Marley. I thought they could have been such great support for each other.

Overall, an interesting look into the complicated relationships that make up a family. Definitely recommend if you like small town family drama.

AHG, I am really thankful to Celadon Books, Amy Jo Burns, and Netgalley for granting me access to this one from a digital, physical, and audio standpoint, but this one was just not for me.

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns was a fantastic book that I dove right into and fell in love with the characters and the plot. I love a good family drama and Mercury fit all the expectations that I have for this type of genre. Marley was such a kind, loving and sometimes too giving woman who fell into the Joseph family in a messy and beautiful way.

I will definitely be recommending this book to others because I loved it and I hope others love it just as much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Seventeen year old Marley sees three men standing on a rooftop and the Joseph brothers become her whole world. Soon, she’s a wife to one, the one that got away to another, an an adopted mom to them all. Suddenly the family’s survival hangs by a thread and Marley’s a shepherd to the brothers but they need to decide whether or not to save the family they’ve always known.

Mercury is thick with family drama and one I ended up enjoying more than I initially thought I would. When I started it, I was having trouble getting into the story. And that’s not to say that it wasn’t a good story, it’s just not a story I would normally pick up for myself. Once I got into the story, I couldn’t stop listening to it and ended up finishing it in one sitting. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting or where the story was really going but it ended up being a touching story. I received Mercury as an ALC and thanks to the narrator, I was inclined to push through and finish the story. I found it to be a slow burn and I think there’s a right audience for it. There are a ton of rave reviews! If you enjoy family dramas with multiple point of views, and a heavily character driven story, I think you’d really enjoy this. Mercury is out January 2, 2024.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my advanced copy and allowing me to review it honestly.

Happy reading!

The synopsis of this book was intriguing, sadly the book itself not so much. The characters were impossible to connect with and by the end of the book I just wanted it to be over.

Rating: 3.5/5.
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Mercury is a beautifully written story really hones in on how delicate strong appearing families can be behind closed doors. I’m not too sure what I was expecting when I picked this one up but there were a lot of different elements to this one. There is family dynamics and drama, found family versus real family, there is love and loss, finding oneself and there is a little mystery thrown in there.
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This one is a very very slow burn read. It is also very character driven. The first half of this story is mostly focused on distinguishing the differences between the different characters (which in my opinion was a bit unnecessary), but this one seemed to pick up for me around that half way point – when some things began to pop off. My favorite aspect of the story I think was all of the stuff surrounding the mystery and the dead body.
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I listened to this one via audiobook and was able to read my physical copy which really helped me, especially in that first half when the story felt like it was dragging. Maria Liatis was the narrator for this one and I think she did a phenomenal job at keeping my attention throughout the entire story.
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Overall I thought that this one was very beautifully written and I think that this one is going to be a huge book club favorite in 2024. Mercury releases on 1/2, be sure to check it out! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, MacMillan audio and Amy Jo Burns for the ALC and the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley, McMillian Audio, and Celadon Books for this ARC of Mercury by Amy Jo Burns!

This book takes you into a deep (and I mean DEEP) dive into all of the secrets of each character. The story of the family you’re born into and the family you find throughout life. I loved all of the aspects of Mercury. You get small-town drama, small-town romances, a mystery of whodunit, and found family. Great job to the author for a fantastic book!

Let’s talk about the narrator…. I loved her. I could listen to her read me books all day long. She did an amazing job at annunciating, describing and becoming each character. Fantastic job!

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. I won a physical ARC of this novel in a Goodreads giveaway, and pairing it with the audiobook made the story even more immersive and affecting. Thank you to Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.

This story hit home as I was also a young mother trying to figure out the whole marriage, spouse’s family, and mothering all at the same time. This story went in a direction I wasn’t expecting and the family dynamics made for a good read. Thanks #NetGalley for this advance copy!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐲
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐀𝐦𝐲 𝐉𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you #partner @CeladonBooks and @macmillan.audio for my gifted advanced copies of Mercury!

I had no clue what to expect when I started this book, but I can say I was surprised in the best way possible and I truly loved loved Mercury! Character driven, and beautifully written, Mercury is a book I will be thinking about for a long time! I found the main focus to be on found family and finding yourself and I really enjoyed this one!

When Marley moves to the town of Mercury, the first people she sees are three men on a rooftop, who end up being the Joseph brothers. Soon, Marley finds herself part of the Joseph family, regularly visiting the house and eating meals with the family, and forming relationships with the three brothers, Waylon, Baylor, and Shay. It’s not long before Marley finds herself pregnant and wanting to find a permanent place in the Joseph family. Elise, the mother of the Joseph brothers, has always accepted Marley into the family, but eventually distances herself from her when she sees too much of herself in Marley. When Elise starts to deteriorate due to health issues, Marley steps in to uphold the family. Later, a discovery in a church attic opens old wounds and threatens to tear the family apart.

Mercury
Found Family
Self-Discovery
Top Notch Character Development
Deep Dark Secrets
Literary Fiction with a Hint of Mystery
Perfect Book Club Pick

I alternated between the book and the audiobook and I adored Maria Liatis in this one! I found her emotions to be so powerful and I truly loved my listening experience. You can’t go wrong with either format!

Posted on Goodreads on December 30, 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- January 2, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on January 2, 2024
**-will post on designated date

Thank you, NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Macmillan Audio, for the Digital Review Copy and Advanced Listening Copy.

Pub Date: 2 Jan 24

This. This is why I don’t post my “favorite books read” until the year is DONE. I never know when one will sneak in there, make me feel all the feels, reading for hours at a time, and finishing with tears in my eyes. Family dramas don’t always work for me, but when they hit just right, they take my whole heart.

Marley moved to Mercury, a small Pennsylvania town, in the 90s. She is pulled into the Joseph family, growing to be a “shepherdess” to the three sons while navigating some confusing and treacherous relationships with their mother and father. The story revolves around Marley, but we get to understand each of the other characters when they get their own point of view in the telling.

I love how Burns shows the characters’ evolution and growth at a perfect pace, providing drama and resolution at just the points I needed them. She also wrote one of my favorite characters ever. Marley is strong, intelligent, hardworking, opinionated, loyal, and loving. I want her to be a real person so we can be friends.

FYI, I attempted to read this as an audiobook but couldn’t connect to the story. Too many names and nicknames? The narrator’s delivery? The style of the writing? I don’t know, but I was SUNK once I switched to the e-book. I went back to the beginning and FELL IN LOVE by page three, “He swung at bad pitches like his heart had never been broken, rounded the bases as if time would never run out.”

1990's, small town, slow burn, family drama. This story was a great listen, as it follows 17 year old Marley through her move to a new town, falling in love, and finding family. The author fully developed each character, and the drama and mystery around the family will hook you in. The audio narrator was perfect for the part. I will definitely be looking for more by this author!

MERCURY
Amy Jo Burns

I loved Amy Jo Burn’s interpretation of found family in her latest book Mercury, released today.

In MERCURY we follow Marley and secondarily the Joseph family. We meet up with Marley when she meets one of the Joseph brothers and quickly falls in love. Not so much with the brother but mostly with his family. Soon she finds herself a regular addition to their family dinners and finds a home there.

One day something is discovered in the attic of their local church that will change the lives of the Jospeh family forever. The strength of their bonds will be tested, and faith, love, and trust put through their paces. Will they all make it through?

Only time will tell.

I love this interpretation of what a family can look like. The Joseph’s were not the family she never had they were the family she did have. Family can be a lot of different things and I loved this nod to a group of people held only by the love they have for each other and the secrets they harbor to keep each other safe.

For the most part, I enjoyed my time reading MERCURY and spending time with the Joseph family. The story is complicated, messy, and dysfunctional. Sometimes it was entertaining, other times a bit too much. I also struggled with the narrator at certain points. We met up with Marley when she was young, and her voice doesn’t reflect her aging in years.

I recommend MERCURY to those readers who love a great family drama. MERCURY is out in bookstores today. Make sure you pick up your copy!

Thanks to Netgalley, Celadon Books, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies! I had a great time reading!

MERCURY…⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a novel that I might try in print, but did not finish on audiobook. I found myself replaying parts after realizing that my attention had drifted and around the halfway point, just gave this one up. There are parts of the story line I’m still interested by but not enough to complete on audio.

Heartfelt family drama crossing generations sharing the impact of pain and trauma as it ripples through every member of the family. Brilliantly told and captivating with a little bit of thrill entwined.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books and Macmillian Audio for the advanced copies!

Marley came to the small river valley town of Mercury, PA at the age of 17 in 1990. She is perpetually lonely from all the moving she and her mom have done over the years, so she seeks a place at a table and a family to be welcomed into.

The Joseph brothers become Marley's whole world before she even realizes it. She soon is wife to one brother, the one who got away to another, and a mother figure to all 3. As their mother fades into the background and their roofing business begins collapsing, Marley takes charge of the family. When old secrets come to light many years later in the church attic, the Joseph brothers must decide if they'll come together and create something stronger than just saving their family.

Family drama in books is not usually a favorite genre of mine (as life has enough drama of its own), but wow this book sucked me right in. I loved the flashbacks to help the reader see the entire story from either Marley or a Joseph brother perspective. As the drama continued, it was like an accident I just couldn't look away from, I needed to satiate my desire to know how it ended. Marley was such a strong wife, mother, and woman as the story continued. She grew up when she needed to, but also knew when she needed to take a moment for herself and her child. I loved the relationships she had with each Joseph brother and how she helped each of them to reach the man they should become.

I was blessed with also getting the audio of this book as well from Macmillian Audio. It was fantastic and a great way to listen to this book because I think it really aided the storytelling for me. Maria Liatis did a wonderful job of bringing all the characters to life. There are many throughout, so it was nice to have a different voice for each one. I highly suggest listening to this one!

Family dramas can be hit or miss for me. Mercury was a hit for me. A character driven family drama with a bit of mystery thrown in for good measure. It reminded me of Tracey Lange's books. I enjoyed the audiobook narration by Maria Liatis despite not being familiar with her previous work.