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midnightmoon_dreamer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Alcohol
bibliomich's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The fantasy elements didn’t quite capture my attention in the same way. There wasn’t very much world building, so I didn’t really engage with the fantasy elements of the story; but mostly, I also didn’t really care to understand them. I was much more invested in the relationship plot than the action.
I enjoy reading books that push me out of my genre comfort zone, which Hart + Mercy definitely did. I’d be interested in reading Bannen’s companion novel, The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (a nod to When Harry Met Sally), when it comes out this summer.
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
katievallin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
popquizliz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Pregnancy
britreadsbooks_'s review against another edition
Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
wilybooklover's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Infidelity
sarrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The characters of Hart and Mercy, are of course our main focus in the story. Hart is a Ranger, someone who protects the citizens of this world from what we’ll call ‘the dead’. They occasionally encroach on the living world and he also works patrolling where they dwell, another side to their world called Tanria. Mercy is an undertaker, which as you can surmise is a big deal in this world where the dead walk. The culture in this book is very focused on Death and Life - at least the focus of what we get here. The two of them are very distinct and have their own unique voices but I’ll say they were sometimes some of the stupidest people I’ve read about in a romance in a long time. It didn’t mean I wasn’t cheering for them. But sometimes I rolled my eyes so hard at how young or dumb they seemed.
As to the world in which Hart and Mercy live, I mention that the culture seems to be focused on Death and Life. I can’t say that we get a lot of detail past what seems to be there. It felt more like this story was a Romance set in a Fantasy world that also happened to be urban. There were vehicles, that were not cars. Horses that were not horses, and a lot of very fantastical elements at play. There was not a large amount of time describing these things however so I did feel a bit lost at moments. Having finished the book I still don’t know what those not-cars and not-horses looked like even though they were mentioned frequently and used by the characters very frequently.
This made for a weird, but not enjoyable read. I enjoyed the strength of the voice on the main characters. Even the side characters were fun and I enjoyed them. But they were the strongest and loudest part of this story to me. The setting felt interesting, and I wanted a lot more of it, but it wasn’t there in a way that I know a lot of readers might not like. So go into this warned, if you are a setting/world reader this may not work. But if you enjoy characters or you’re mainly here for the romance I’d recommend it.
Note: I have some questions on how the cover of this book came to be as it gives off a specific cultural feel but I don't think the book attempts to use that culture in it's contents. I'm no expert in that. So I kind of wish the cover was different. That of course could just be me and I'm not a member of the group it impacts if it does at all.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity, Sexism, and Terminal illness
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
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!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Infidelity, Sexism, Vomit, and Sexual harassment