Reviews with content warning for Death - The Mercies

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

148 reviews

emdowd's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

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abi_sarah's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A candidly human story of love, lust and loss.

When the men of Vardø disappear in the midst of a storm on Christmas Eve, answers are at the top the agenda of the men of the surrounding Norwegian villages. Whilst they search for the truth, they squirm and writhe in the uncomfortable new reality of Vardø. Only women live there.

The discomfort of the men is apparent and their seeking of the truth in order to bring reason to what has happened is portrayed by Hargrave in such a powerful way. The lengths the men go to in order to find out the truth is extreme and violent. Soon foul accusations against the women are made and are swiftly followed with threats of harm and even death.

An extraordinary read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Norway in a historical fiction.

“This was a story of people and how they lived, before how they died defined them”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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kerryamber's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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

5.0

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mhilt17's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

Beautiful story, lyrical writing, and a compelling connection to history. I am always thankful to see representation in all genres.

The pacing did feel abrupt or insta-love-esque at times, but that is just due to my personal reading preferences

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maddie_lewis28's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

OMG THAT ENDING. WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK. This book was so good and pulled out all the emotions, I loved it. My one critique is that I wish that some things had more explanation for what they are or like a “dictionary” at the front or back (this is mostly because I’m lazy and don’t like having to look stuff up on my phone when I’m going on my electronics to stay off my phone), but that’s just a personal preference. I didn’t know what to expect going into this, but I would definitely recommend.

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contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition

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dark informative inspiring sad 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? Yes

4.0

The Mercies is a fictional retelling of the real life storm of 1617 off the coast of Vardo, Norway and the subsequent witch trials that followed in the years after. We follow the stories of Maren Magnusdatter, a young woman of Vardo who lost her father, brother and fiancé in the storm, and Ursula Cornet, the wife of the dreaded Commissioner Absalom Cornet who played a big part in Vardo's witch trials.
Initially I struggled to get in to this book. I think I didn't associate with Maren as a character and I found the writing style hard to get in to. Regularly having to reread sentences to understand their meaning. But once Ursa was introduced, I found a character I liked and gradually as the story picked up pace I lost myself in the plot. The friendship that blossomed between Ursa and Maren is so well described and thoroughly genuine that I couldn't not love this book by the end. Every choice each character makes feels real and believable for that character. Every character had a realistic fully formed personality. Kudos to Kiran Millwood Hargrave for her first adult novel as I believe it was a success, and although I struggled to begin with, I do believe it was worth pushing through and I'm excited to see what she writes next. This is a book I have already recommended to a friend.

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