naturally's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
extremely strong premise - perhaps the strongest i've seen for an urban fantasy series - however the execution was really disappointing. very underwhelming read. how does a book packed with werewolf, witch, vampire, shapeshifter and fae politics end up being so boring???
and the worldbuilding (and incorporation of native american culture) is actually the best part of moon-called. the first 1/3 was engaging enough, then the overall pacing got weird...
briggs attempts to give mercy a personality, but the quips fall flat. sure, mercy knows a lot about cars and goes to church, but it's difficult to connect with her emotionally bc the turning-points in her relationships with other characters are told and not shown. i.e. her relationship with samuel, most of the date with adam...
speaking of other characters, this book was a total sausage fest. loads of indistinct men, who have the same character "voice", so they all blend into one. nothing about samuel stands out...HE SUCKS!!! i had trouble believing he was mercy's first love...he reads as a random guy who she argues with a couple times. very chemistry-less. adam is marginally better, but his "banter" with mercy is pretty blank (again, she rarely describes the emotional or physical effect he has on her...) (i like bran though!)
and, of course, all the women hate mercy! the only female character who likes her happens to be ADAM's teenaged daughter.
i think this book is partially a product of it's time? in a lot of the 2000s urban fantasies i've read the heroines can fight and are quirky but not alienating/annoying... not so beautiful that they're unrelatable to the average reader...but still sexy enough to have multiple hot male love interests that the reader can experience vicariously. it's tricky to balance all the ingredients, and maybe moon-called came out of the oven tasting very bleh as a result?
and the worldbuilding (and incorporation of native american culture) is actually the best part of moon-called. the first 1/3 was engaging enough, then the overall pacing got weird...
briggs attempts to give mercy a personality, but the quips fall flat. sure, mercy knows a lot about cars and goes to church, but it's difficult to connect with her emotionally bc the turning-points in her relationships with other characters are told and not shown. i.e. her relationship with samuel, most of the date with adam...
speaking of other characters, this book was a total sausage fest. loads of indistinct men, who have the same character "voice", so they all blend into one. nothing about samuel stands out...HE SUCKS!!! i had trouble believing he was mercy's first love...he reads as a random guy who she argues with a couple times. very chemistry-less. adam is marginally better, but his "banter" with mercy is pretty blank (again, she rarely describes the emotional or physical effect he has on her...) (i like bran though!)
and, of course, all the women hate mercy! the only female character who likes her happens to be ADAM's teenaged daughter.
i think this book is partially a product of it's time? in a lot of the 2000s urban fantasies i've read the heroines can fight and are quirky but not alienating/annoying... not so beautiful that they're unrelatable to the average reader...but still sexy enough to have multiple hot male love interests that the reader can experience vicariously. it's tricky to balance all the ingredients, and maybe moon-called came out of the oven tasting very bleh as a result?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Why are her werewolves trash? They hate gay people and don't accept them because "they're actual predicators and even MORE aggressive than the straight werewolf." Then the wolves are misogynistic and they view women poorly and as the weakest links of their packs. Why though?
This was just as boring as Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf. Someone promised me that Mercy Thompson was THEE paranormal urban fantasy series to get into. I read Cry Wolf and it's prequel novella and gave them both 2 stars.
There's little to no action until about 60% of the way through the book, it took me 10 days to finish this, it was so boring.
This is the last Patricia Briggs book I'm reading, I tried three separate times and all three reads got 2 stars from me.
I'm giving this two stars.
⭐️⭐️
This was just as boring as Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf. Someone promised me that Mercy Thompson was THEE paranormal urban fantasy series to get into. I read Cry Wolf and it's prequel novella and gave them both 2 stars.
There's little to no action until about 60% of the way through the book, it took me 10 days to finish this, it was so boring.
This is the last Patricia Briggs book I'm reading, I tried three separate times and all three reads got 2 stars from me.
I'm giving this two stars.
⭐️⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Violence, Homophobia, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Lesbophobia
sflory910's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A good, quick read! A little cliched, but still enjoyable. I’m excited to read the next in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Gun violence
polter6eist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, and Child abuse
dreamerfreak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Death
Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, and Sexual assault
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Mercy is half Native American, and a walker, she transforms into a coyote and was partly raised by a werewolf pack. This puts her in an odd position relative to the werewolves, as she’s somewhat entangled in their hierarchy but isn’t trying to be part of it.
As the first book in the series, MOON CALLED establishes the presence of various supernatural factions such as werewolves, vampires, witches, fey, and Native American people like Mercy. It focuses on the current precarious position in which the werewolves find themselves; many of the lesser fae came out in a controlled manner several years ago, but the werewolves are an open secret in military circles. This sets up those groups and some of the relationships between them, including between Adam’s pack and the Marrok’s pack in the mountains. It also establishes Mercy’s history with Sam and her current position relative to Adam (living nearby and taking joy in simple pleasures, like annoying him with the car in her yard).
The plot revolves around a strange werewolf who shows up in town and then is attacked in Mercy’s presence, setting off a string of conflicts which involve kidnappings and an elaborate plan. It has some twists and turns but is pretty easy to follow. The meeting with the vampires has always felt a bit out of place in this story, but it’s serving to set up some things that’ll come into play later on. It’s a solid story with a lot of ground to cover, and it does it well. MOON CALLED is a great start to the series.
As the first book in the series, MOON CALLED establishes the presence of various supernatural factions such as werewolves, vampires, witches, fey, and Native American people like Mercy. It focuses on the current precarious position in which the werewolves find themselves; many of the lesser fae came out in a controlled manner several years ago, but the werewolves are an open secret in military circles. This sets up those groups and some of the relationships between them, including between Adam’s pack and the Marrok’s pack in the mountains. It also establishes Mercy’s history with Sam and her current position relative to Adam (living nearby and taking joy in simple pleasures, like annoying him with the car in her yard).
The plot revolves around a strange werewolf who shows up in town and then is attacked in Mercy’s presence, setting off a string of conflicts which involve kidnappings and an elaborate plan. It has some twists and turns but is pretty easy to follow. The meeting with the vampires has always felt a bit out of place in this story, but it’s serving to set up some things that’ll come into play later on. It’s a solid story with a lot of ground to cover, and it does it well. MOON CALLED is a great start to the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Vomit, War, and Suicide
mzynda's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Miscarriage
brennaa's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
As much as I enjoy the story, the prevalent Christianity and cultural appropriation of Indigenous cultures and beliefs means I won't be spending any more money on this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Blood, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
matthewclan's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence and Kidnapping
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a book that I definitely would not have picked up normally. I dislike the cover, and the summary leaves a lot to be desired. However, I've been interested lately in trying out the Urban Fantasy genre as, besides Moon Called, I think I only read one book in this genre this year. Several Booktubers I follow have given this series some major praise, so I figured I'd give it a try and see for myself. In the end I'd rate this a high 3, because I do think it's above average, but a low 4.
To start off the pace of this story is slower than you would expect. Only a few days pass by in the entire book, but it feels like weeks. I did find it a bit difficult to stay invested in the book, so I did take a break from reading this for a few weeks to read some shorter stories. However, once I hit about the 60% mark of the book I couldn't put it down.
I do really enjoy the way that the Werewolves and Vampires are portrayed. Or at least for the most part. Their history and way of life is interesting, but the whole, "omg, there's two males in the same space as a woman, they are going to fight over her!!" shtick got old really fast. Essentially every male Mercy encounters wants to "make her theirs", so there's a lot of metaphorical dick swinging as everyone clambers over each other to get to her.
The mystery itself I found intriguing, and was a clever way to introduce part of the world the story takes place in. This is what I was invested in during the last half of the book, but unfortunately the climax is a little lacking. I found myself thinking, "wait, that's it?" and re-reading a few paragraphs to make sure I understood it right.
Overall, there is quite a bit of tension, action (the non-sexual kind), lore, and mystery in this novel. I did enjoy it more than I was expecting I would, but it's not without it's flaws. I am unsure if I will continue with the series, but if I do it will be a few months before I pick up the second book.
To start off the pace of this story is slower than you would expect. Only a few days pass by in the entire book, but it feels like weeks. I did find it a bit difficult to stay invested in the book, so I did take a break from reading this for a few weeks to read some shorter stories. However, once I hit about the 60% mark of the book I couldn't put it down.
I do really enjoy the way that the Werewolves and Vampires are portrayed. Or at least for the most part. Their history and way of life is interesting, but the whole, "omg, there's two males in the same space as a woman, they are going to fight over her!!" shtick got old really fast. Essentially every male Mercy encounters wants to "make her theirs", so there's a lot of metaphorical dick swinging as everyone clambers over each other to get to her.
The mystery itself I found intriguing, and was a clever way to introduce part of the world the story takes place in. This is what I was invested in during the last half of the book, but unfortunately the climax is a little lacking. I found myself thinking, "wait, that's it?" and re-reading a few paragraphs to make sure I understood it right.
Overall, there is quite a bit of tension, action (the non-sexual kind), lore, and mystery in this novel. I did enjoy it more than I was expecting I would, but it's not without it's flaws. I am unsure if I will continue with the series, but if I do it will be a few months before I pick up the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism
Minor: Cancer, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Toxic relationship