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A review by inkdrinkers
Mercy by Sara Cate
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
"We collided like two stars moving in the same direction for longer than we knew. There was no changing course or avoiding it. I didn't mean for it to happen. But there's no going back now."
Maggie knows what she's good at - managing shit. She can whip a business into shape in seconds, delegate directions to people seamlessly, and keep every moving part well-oiled - Except her own life. But when she suddenly finds herself taking a second look at her friend's son of all people - and Beau butts his bratty head into her life, what seems easy to control becomes a lot more loaded than either of them anticipated.
Will Sara Cate ever not make me ugly sob?? Can this woman let me LIVE?! I wasn't looking forward to Beau's story, I thought it was far too much of a jerk for me to even remotely find it in my heart to redeem him, let alone love him - but I was wrong. There is so much to say about this story, particularly, that just hit different for me. Maggie's worry that her time is running out, her issues with reclaiming her sexuality after religious trauma, and on top of it all - her body issues, really made this book climb to the top of my favorites this year.
The Salacious Players Club series has undoubtedly shocked me with my sheer joy as I read them. Maybe I finally just embraced it in a point in my life when I needed it, but every conversation and topic brought up in these novels has been nuanced and beautifully done. Discussions aren't handled lightly, every hard subject is really handled with a level of care that is noticeable throughout. Reading Cate's acknowledgements in this book, however, had me fighting back tears. There's a scene where Maggie remembers being told her heart will never recover if she has sex - that she's physically giving pieces of it away each time - and to have that suddenly appear in a book when I heard it my entire life growing up made me pause and reconsider everything. I loved this, I'm now a fierce advocate that anyone who has ever had to come back from any kind of sexual trauma should read these. They're so wonderfully done and I'm so happy Sara Cate wrote them.
Content Warnings: Sexual content (there's pegging, lads), Violence/Injury/Injury detail (both in sexual contexts with impact play and a third act plot), Body shaming (brief internal), Infidelity/Toxic relationship (in past)
Maggie knows what she's good at - managing shit. She can whip a business into shape in seconds, delegate directions to people seamlessly, and keep every moving part well-oiled - Except her own life. But when she suddenly finds herself taking a second look at her friend's son of all people - and Beau butts his bratty head into her life, what seems easy to control becomes a lot more loaded than either of them anticipated.
Will Sara Cate ever not make me ugly sob?? Can this woman let me LIVE?! I wasn't looking forward to Beau's story, I thought it was far too much of a jerk for me to even remotely find it in my heart to redeem him, let alone love him - but I was wrong. There is so much to say about this story, particularly, that just hit different for me. Maggie's worry that her time is running out, her issues with reclaiming her sexuality after religious trauma, and on top of it all - her body issues, really made this book climb to the top of my favorites this year.
The Salacious Players Club series has undoubtedly shocked me with my sheer joy as I read them. Maybe I finally just embraced it in a point in my life when I needed it, but every conversation and topic brought up in these novels has been nuanced and beautifully done. Discussions aren't handled lightly, every hard subject is really handled with a level of care that is noticeable throughout. Reading Cate's acknowledgements in this book, however, had me fighting back tears. There's a scene where Maggie remembers being told her heart will never recover if she has sex - that she's physically giving pieces of it away each time - and to have that suddenly appear in a book when I heard it my entire life growing up made me pause and reconsider everything. I loved this, I'm now a fierce advocate that anyone who has ever had to come back from any kind of sexual trauma should read these. They're so wonderfully done and I'm so happy Sara Cate wrote them.
Content Warnings: Sexual content (there's pegging, lads), Violence/Injury/Injury detail (both in sexual contexts with impact play and a third act plot), Body shaming (brief internal), Infidelity/Toxic relationship (in past)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Infidelity and Toxic relationship