wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Abandonment, Blood, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Vomit
ninahuynh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Such a beautiful book! The romance and the fantasy... just spectacular. I love the world-building and the usage of the fantasy world other than giving the possibility for demi-gods and gods, etc. They bit of mystery in the latter half helped balanced the spicy romance. It would have scored a 5/5 stars if it were not for the handful of grammar mistakes that I caught and stopped me in my tracks. The story itself was great and I like the inclusion of consent and safe sex.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
britreadsbooks_'s review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Gun violence, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Ableism, and Infidelity
uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Gun violence, and Blood
Minor: Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Terminal illness
adancewithbooks's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is one that I have seen around a lot of blogs so when I saw the ebook for a very tiny price I decided to get it right away. The first part made me so sure this was going to be a 5 star read but as I read on that changed a little. Still I really enjoyed this book as a whole.
This is mostly a romance story in a fantasy world. The world where this takes place has had to protect its cities. On the outside there are drudges which are basically zombies. They are people who have died and been taken in by a lost soul. The appendix is one that plays a big role. Without an appendix the souls cannot take you. And to stop a drudge, you have to pierce the appendix. I found this an interesting world that I would love to read more about. I think there is a lot left to be discovered (and I see a good opening for that with the ex of our favorite undertaker).
Hart is a marshall that works outside of the borders, in the wilds of Tanria. It is a dangerous job but he seems to revel in that. It is easier to draw away from life with a job like that. But he also realizes that he is lonely. As a demigod he is often looked upon as a bit of a monster. And after losing his loved ones he pulled away.
Mercy on the other hand is an undertaker in her family business. Or rather the office worker who has had to take on her father's job as well after his heart attack. When her brother doesn't want to take over for his father there seems to be talk of selling the business. Nobody sees Mercy as the one that can take over as the undertaker. And nobody listens.
The start of this book was so very strong where we got to know our two main characters in their lives and see them making contact with one another in a different way. Coming more together. Seeing their grief for their lost ones (in at least both cases their mother). I found that a very strong set up.
But at about the halfway point it started feeling as if the story was being drawn out. The clear miscommunication where the character was constantly warn about was going on full force and I found that a really annoying part of the story. He should have said it right away. The door was wide open and the reason for not telling was weak. It often is.
Regardless of that I still enjoyed the story as a whole and I really fell in love with the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Grief
alexiab's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
WOW this book was worlds more than I ever expected, and I had an absolute blast every second. There's so much packed in, but it never feels rushed or overflowing with information.
I can't believe how complex this fantasy world was, and how well it was explained despite only being one book (and a romance to boot, with worldbuilding very much in the background). I would love to see more from this world, it's so interesting and fun that it makes me wish this was a fantasy series instead of a standalone romance, but I don't think there was anything missing to tell this story. I probably would have enjoyed more location descriptions just to really dig into the atmosphere, but it's a great example of building a whole new world just to show two idiots falling in love.
The character work was also much more layered than I was anticipating, especially seeing how much work had to go into explaining the world and how these characters fit into it. Mercy and Hart, as well as all the side characters, have a great level of background info, emotional depth, and personality to make everyone feel whole and oh so loveable.
I'm just SO IMPRESSED. I had no idea what depths were hiding in this sweet and unique love story, and I really hope we get another chance to visit this world in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Animal death
sophiesmallhands's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death of parent, Sexism, and Gore
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, and Gun violence
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
If Ashely Poston's The Dead Romantics and TJ Klune's Under the Whispering Door went to a Western-themed party and played a game called "You've Got Mail, Gods and Zombies Edition" — you'd get this bonkers genre-mashup of a book. Which I reallllly wanted to wholeheartedly love, but ended up having a complicated response to instead.
Marshal Hart Ralston patrols the derelict wilderness of the Old Gods to keep the people of the border towns safe from drudges (corpses reanimated by lost souls). He is a cowboy-tough, secret-softy of a demigod with a strong moral compass and troubled background that puts him in opposition to any smiling, upselling undertaker who profits off grieving families. And gods is he lonely.
Mercy Birdsall smiles brightly as she carries the weight of Birdsall & Sons Undertakers on her very capable shoulders while her father recovers from a heart attack and her sister and brother pursue their own lives. She gives the departed (including the corpses freed from drudges) a respectful send off across the Salt Sea by handcrafting the funerary boats, preparing the bodies, singing the incantations, and remembering to buy more salt and urns and lumber and everything else because her close-knit, loving family is a bit of a disaster. She doesn't appreciate the callous way a certain demigod marshal treats the bodies of the drudges he drops off for processing. And gods does she feel alone and unsupported in the chaos.
Hart impulsively pours his feelings into an unsigned letter to "Dear friend." When a giant, foul-mouthed, hard-drinking jack rabbit deity (who use to be an exalted messenger of the gods but yeah, okay, is happy — happy! — to be a postal carrier working for a pittance of bad tips from begrudging assholes riding slimy-maned seahorses into the wilderness) posts the unaddressed letter to Mercy, she anonymously writes back … and the rom-com game is afoot. But so is the mystery of the increasingly dangerous drudge problem, and it's all going to come to a head. Or an arm. Or another severed, oozing body part. Because zombies.
I love a genre mashup and wanted to completely and unequivocally love this bonkers gaslamp Mesopotamian-mythology-inspired (?) fantasy Western rom-com with a You've Got Mail twist — and zombies. By the end, I did really enjoy it, but there were a few things throughout that put me off. And none of it was because of the genre-blender.
(Explanatory word salad will probably be spoilery.)
I completely understand the "vibe in written correspondence but not in real life" dynamic, so I'm drawn to the You've Got Mail trope, but it can be hard to pull off. In addition to the enemies-to-lovers, you have to navigate the uneven power structure and lie of omission after one person discovers the truth before the other. I thought it went fairly well here in terms of plot and drama but not as well in terms of character. Even though I almost literally squealed as the You've Got Mail scenes unfolded, the faithful echoes of the phrasing in the letters and the cafe reveal scene may have done our characters a bit of a disservice. But I don't necessarily think it's the trope that's to blame. Both of our main characters exhibit some pretty problematic thoughts and behavior when they're in the real-life/enemy phase of this enemy-to-lovers story. Hart repeatedly objectifies Mercy when she's going about her business (literally in her place of business) and resents her for "making him feel perverted" for it even though she has no idea what's going through his mind and hasn't said or done anything in response to it. Yikes. Mercy uses Hart's demigod nature — a circumstance of birth that he has no control over and that she's secretly attracted to — as an insult more than once. I can see the Pride and Prejudice of it all, and the window into their unspoken physical attraction for each other does make the very fast switch from hating to physically worshipping each other a little easier to understand, but it still doesn't sit right with him. To be fair, Hart does later call out another character for being a pig and Mercy does attain a more sympathetic understanding of Hart's demigod situation, so ... character development. But the demonstration of growth doesn't feel adequate for the depth of the problem. There's also a throw away line about Hart having a previous relationship with a married woman. Not a fan of that. Especially since Mercy's ex cheated on her. If there's a sequel, they'd better both be in therapy for the trust issues that are sure to arise after our HEA.
And a few other things that didn't work for me.... multiple characters pressure Hart to drink alcohol when they know he doesn't drink, which is discourteous, childish, and one of my pet peeves. Speaking of the other characters… although fun, many feel like caricatures (and not just the immortal messenger-to-the-gods characters who are fabulously over the top). Speaking of immortals and gods and the like… in a fantasy world that is seemingly unmoored from our time but references gas lighting and crank-powered transistor radios, incongruously modern phrases and ideas rip me out of the story, and that happened a few times here ("follow your bliss," "McDouchebag," reference to a "that's what he said" joke). And I'm just going to say it — Penrose Duckers is the best character in this book and he deserved way better than Zeddie. But at least he's going to have a life of fabulous food.
So, yeah.... Overall, I loved the audacious genre-blender nature of this, was fascinated by the fantasy elements that were incorporated, enjoyed the ode to You've Got Mail (and Pride and Prejudice), and eventually warmed up to the characters and found Hart's journey to be touching and Mercy's to be inspiring and relatable. But there were some specific rough patches (and some general pacing issues) that kept it from being a 5-star hit for me. Which is too bad, because it was fun ride!
Marshal Hart Ralston patrols the derelict wilderness of the Old Gods to keep the people of the border towns safe from drudges (corpses reanimated by lost souls). He is a cowboy-tough, secret-softy of a demigod with a strong moral compass and troubled background that puts him in opposition to any smiling, upselling undertaker who profits off grieving families. And gods is he lonely.
Mercy Birdsall smiles brightly as she carries the weight of Birdsall & Sons Undertakers on her very capable shoulders while her father recovers from a heart attack and her sister and brother pursue their own lives. She gives the departed (including the corpses freed from drudges) a respectful send off across the Salt Sea by handcrafting the funerary boats, preparing the bodies, singing the incantations, and remembering to buy more salt and urns and lumber and everything else because her close-knit, loving family is a bit of a disaster. She doesn't appreciate the callous way a certain demigod marshal treats the bodies of the drudges he drops off for processing. And gods does she feel alone and unsupported in the chaos.
Hart impulsively pours his feelings into an unsigned letter to "Dear friend." When a giant, foul-mouthed, hard-drinking jack rabbit deity (who use to be an exalted messenger of the gods but yeah, okay, is happy — happy! — to be a postal carrier working for a pittance of bad tips from begrudging assholes riding slimy-maned seahorses into the wilderness) posts the unaddressed letter to Mercy, she anonymously writes back … and the rom-com game is afoot. But so is the mystery of the increasingly dangerous drudge problem, and it's all going to come to a head. Or an arm. Or another severed, oozing body part. Because zombies.
I love a genre mashup and wanted to completely and unequivocally love this bonkers gaslamp Mesopotamian-mythology-inspired (?) fantasy Western rom-com with a You've Got Mail twist — and zombies. By the end, I did really enjoy it, but there were a few things throughout that put me off. And none of it was because of the genre-blender.
(Explanatory word salad will probably be spoilery.)
I completely understand the "vibe in written correspondence but not in real life" dynamic, so I'm drawn to the You've Got Mail trope, but it can be hard to pull off. In addition to the enemies-to-lovers, you have to navigate the uneven power structure and lie of omission after one person discovers the truth before the other. I thought it went fairly well here in terms of plot and drama but not as well in terms of character. Even though I almost literally squealed as the You've Got Mail scenes unfolded, the faithful echoes of the phrasing in the letters and the cafe reveal scene may have done our characters a bit of a disservice. But I don't necessarily think it's the trope that's to blame. Both of our main characters exhibit some pretty problematic thoughts and behavior when they're in the real-life/enemy phase of this enemy-to-lovers story. Hart repeatedly objectifies Mercy when she's going about her business (literally in her place of business) and resents her for "making him feel perverted" for it even though she has no idea what's going through his mind and hasn't said or done anything in response to it. Yikes. Mercy uses Hart's demigod nature — a circumstance of birth that he has no control over and that she's secretly attracted to — as an insult more than once. I can see the Pride and Prejudice of it all, and the window into their unspoken physical attraction for each other does make the very fast switch from hating to physically worshipping each other a little easier to understand, but it still doesn't sit right with him. To be fair, Hart does later call out another character for being a pig and Mercy does attain a more sympathetic understanding of Hart's demigod situation, so ... character development. But the demonstration of growth doesn't feel adequate for the depth of the problem. There's also a throw away line about Hart having a previous relationship with a married woman. Not a fan of that. Especially since Mercy's ex cheated on her. If there's a sequel, they'd better both be in therapy for the trust issues that are sure to arise after our HEA.
And a few other things that didn't work for me.... multiple characters pressure Hart to drink alcohol when they know he doesn't drink, which is discourteous, childish, and one of my pet peeves. Speaking of the other characters… although fun, many feel like caricatures (and not just the immortal messenger-to-the-gods characters who are fabulously over the top). Speaking of immortals and gods and the like… in a fantasy world that is seemingly unmoored from our time but references gas lighting and crank-powered transistor radios, incongruously modern phrases and ideas rip me out of the story, and that happened a few times here ("follow your bliss," "McDouchebag," reference to a "that's what he said" joke). And I'm just going to say it — Penrose Duckers is the best character in this book and he deserved way better than Zeddie. But at least he's going to have a life of fabulous food.
So, yeah.... Overall, I loved the audacious genre-blender nature of this, was fascinated by the fantasy elements that were incorporated, enjoyed the ode to You've Got Mail (and Pride and Prejudice), and eventually warmed up to the characters and found Hart's journey to be touching and Mercy's to be inspiring and relatable. But there were some specific rough patches (and some general pacing issues) that kept it from being a 5-star hit for me. Which is too bad, because it was fun ride!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
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