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adventurous
funny
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
i just speed read through the last half of this so i’m all jumbled, and i just spent like 10 minutes crying my eyes out, but the point is READ THIS FUCKING BOOK I BEG YOU PLEASE!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Animal death
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, War
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Quirky and light, with amusing characters and family dynamics, a romantic Old Western fantasy setting (“Evening, Marshal!” *tips hat*) and a clever mythology. I enjoyed the main characters and their various sidekicks very much, though I rolled my eyes mightily at a late-breaking, maddeningly melodramatic, soap opera-esque ending to the “enemies-to-lovers” trope. The POV characters took turns being assholes and five minutes of direct conversation would have made the last third of the book far shorter and less irritating. There’s an ongoing Unknown Correspondent trope, too, which raises some serious doubts about the intelligence of the female lead.
I was mostly charmed by the fantasy world, though I raised my eyebrows at some of the overlap between our world and the fictional one. For example, one of the main characters uses the phrase “lather, rinse, repeat,” which jarred me right out of my happy immersion in the author’s world. Names are largely European derived and for the most part characters read as “white” which may further the American “Western” vibe for some readers (as long as you don’t think too deeply about the real Old West, which was peopled by North and South Americans, Asians, Africans, and Europeans. For a given value of “real,” I grant you.) There’s a character with a vaguely Hispanic last name but she never appears onstage, and of course, the name is still European in origin.
Much of the satisfying lack of homophobia (same sex relationships are common and unremarkable) is sadly undermined by the plentiful misogyny. A pregnant character is described in an almost caricatured way: cankles, waddling, and hemorrhoids, while her labor is played for laughs: the yuck factor of her water breaking, how she swears and her father flippantly dismisses her pain as “twenty hours of yelling.” WTF 😳 The male lead thinks of the woman main character largely in terms of her “fucking magnificent” boobs and other curves. Even though women seem to wield plenty of authority (they are law enforcement, doctors, zombie hunters) apparently a woman undertaker and business owner is a bridge too far: “Damn women have no business in undertaking anyhow!”
I’ll take a look at later installments in the series and see if some of these issues are resolved.
I was mostly charmed by the fantasy world, though I raised my eyebrows at some of the overlap between our world and the fictional one. For example, one of the main characters uses the phrase “lather, rinse, repeat,” which jarred me right out of my happy immersion in the author’s world. Names are largely European derived and for the most part characters read as “white” which may further the American “Western” vibe for some readers (as long as you don’t think too deeply about the real Old West, which was peopled by North and South Americans, Asians, Africans, and Europeans. For a given value of “real,” I grant you.) There’s a character with a vaguely Hispanic last name but she never appears onstage, and of course, the name is still European in origin.
Much of the satisfying lack of homophobia (same sex relationships are common and unremarkable) is sadly undermined by the plentiful misogyny. A pregnant character is described in an almost caricatured way: cankles, waddling, and hemorrhoids, while her labor is played for laughs: the yuck factor of her water breaking, how she swears and her father flippantly dismisses her pain as “twenty hours of yelling.” WTF 😳 The male lead thinks of the woman main character largely in terms of her “fucking magnificent” boobs and other curves. Even though women seem to wield plenty of authority (they are law enforcement, doctors, zombie hunters) apparently a woman undertaker and business owner is a bridge too far: “Damn women have no business in undertaking anyhow!”
I’ll take a look at later installments in the series and see if some of these issues are resolved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought the world-building was original and fun but the writing style had these repetitive beats that kept taking me out of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Violence, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fatphobia, Infidelity
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is for sure a quirky semi-cozy fantasy romance retelling of You've Got Mail. I have some qualms with that movie, but I think they were mostly alleviated in this version. Yes, there is letter writing at the beginning as part of the romance setup and that is cute. Yes, the guy still has ALL the information (aka finds out her identity and has to keep a secret) - a trope I dislike. But, at least he isn't also the villain trying to put her family's business out of business (this is my biggest issue with the movie) - that instead is another bigger mortuary, and there's a side plot regarding that as well.
The romance is def the strong point here. There's great banter - Hart and Mercy are set up as antagonistic from the get-go (I would not say they're enemies, they just don't like each other, but often have to see each other for work). I liked the dual pov, and I did some with audio so that narration was good as well. Mercy is a strong character and I like the way she handles things especially with the inevitable conflict in the relationship. Hart is just one of those guys who needs therapy and a hug. There is definitely a grumpy-sunshine element here. Also both MC's are tall, like tall tall (I think Hart is described as being 6'9" o_o)
As someone who reads a lot of fantasy the world-building in this left a lot to be desired. Things just weren't really explained all that well and whenever they were talking about Tanria I was often a little confused. Some things I just had to accept I wasn't going to know the 'why' behind (like your appendix is the source of your soul... oooook???). I tried to just kind of glaze over those parts, but there is a point in the book where suddenly it becomes important and I was left a bit frustrated for not being able to fully comprehend. It felt a bit like the book was trying to do a few too many things: Mercy dealing with family dynamics, Hart dealing with his personal past, then the family business is failing, and on top of that the town is at stake from stuff coming over from Tanria... so yeah this book didn't need to be so complicated and long!!!
The romance is def the strong point here. There's great banter - Hart and Mercy are set up as antagonistic from the get-go (I would not say they're enemies, they just don't like each other, but often have to see each other for work). I liked the dual pov, and I did some with audio so that narration was good as well. Mercy is a strong character and I like the way she handles things especially with the inevitable conflict in the relationship. Hart is just one of those guys who needs therapy and a hug. There is definitely a grumpy-sunshine element here. Also both MC's are tall, like tall tall (I think Hart is described as being 6'9" o_o)
As someone who reads a lot of fantasy the world-building in this left a lot to be desired. Things just weren't really explained all that well and whenever they were talking about Tanria I was often a little confused. Some things I just had to accept I wasn't going to know the 'why' behind (like your appendix is the source of your soul... oooook???). I tried to just kind of glaze over those parts, but there is a point in the book where suddenly it becomes important and I was left a bit frustrated for not being able to fully comprehend. It felt a bit like the book was trying to do a few too many things: Mercy dealing with family dynamics, Hart dealing with his personal past, then the family business is failing, and on top of that the town is at stake from stuff coming over from Tanria... so yeah this book didn't need to be so complicated and long!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Sexism
Mercy is an undertaker so if dead bodies etc grosses you out this is def not the book for you
Mercy's sister is pregnant (just to be clear that it's not the MC).
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent
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:
Yes
I loved this so deeply that I couldn’t put it down until I was finished at 5:30 this morning and the first thing I did when I got to work today was regale my coworker with a dramatic retelling. This flavor of kind-of-enemies to lovers is 100% my shit. I love me a broody MMC who needs help to remember that he has family even if they’re not blood. Even more so, I love me a FMC who has the weight of the world on her shoulders and just needs someone to truly see her.
Mercy and Hart are at each other’s throats from their first meeting onward and can’t seem to stop themselves from needling the other. Hart writes an anonymous letter to a friend after Mercy correctly assesses how lonely he is, without realizing she’s in the same boat. The letter is delivered to her via some fun animal messengers who insist that they know who it belongs with despite the lack of an address. She writes back as her life becomes more stressful, with her family members’ secrets piling up on her, and they develop a friendship through their anonymous letters. The correspondence gives them a sense of connection they feel is lacking in their daily lives. Things go awry when they decide to meet up, but I won’t spoil anything beyond that.
I would do absolutely anything for Mercy and Hart but I think my favorite character is Pen Duckers. He’s a champion for their relationship almost immediately and he is critical in Hart’s development, where he serves as a glimpse at Hart’s past when he was mentored by Bill. Although we don’t meet Bill really, it feels like Hart is a pseudo father for Pen like Bill was to him and it’s a chance for him to right what had previously gone wrong.
On Mercy’s side, I understand the feeling of keeping all the plates spinning and not being able to stop, lest one drops. Between her father’s health and the secrets she’s keeping, the last thing she needs is a smarmy competitor who is up to no good, which is where Cunningham comes in. I clocked his scheme right away which is normally something I would dock the rating for but the interplay of it with everything else balanced out in a nice way so I didn’t mind not being fooled by the reveal.
The highest praise I can possibly give this is that I borrowed it from the library, finished it within 6 hours, and immediately ordered both it and the sequel because I need to have them around to reread whenever I want.
Mercy and Hart are at each other’s throats from their first meeting onward and can’t seem to stop themselves from needling the other. Hart writes an anonymous letter to a friend after Mercy correctly assesses how lonely he is, without realizing she’s in the same boat. The letter is delivered to her via some fun animal messengers who insist that they know who it belongs with despite the lack of an address. She writes back as her life becomes more stressful, with her family members’ secrets piling up on her, and they develop a friendship through their anonymous letters. The correspondence gives them a sense of connection they feel is lacking in their daily lives. Things go awry when they decide to meet up, but I won’t spoil anything beyond that.
I would do absolutely anything for Mercy and Hart but I think my favorite character is Pen Duckers. He’s a champion for their relationship almost immediately and he is critical in Hart’s development, where he serves as a glimpse at Hart’s past when he was mentored by Bill. Although we don’t meet Bill really, it feels like Hart is a pseudo father for Pen like Bill was to him and it’s a chance for him to right what had previously gone wrong.
On Mercy’s side, I understand the feeling of keeping all the plates spinning and not being able to stop, lest one drops. Between her father’s health and the secrets she’s keeping, the last thing she needs is a smarmy competitor who is up to no good, which is where Cunningham comes in. I clocked his scheme right away which is normally something I would dock the rating for but the interplay of it with everything else balanced out in a nice way so I didn’t mind not being fooled by the reveal.
The highest praise I can possibly give this is that I borrowed it from the library, finished it within 6 hours, and immediately ordered both it and the sequel because I need to have them around to reread whenever I want.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Sexism
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The book was good but the storyline and some of the fantasy plot points were quite confusing. I also feel like the book could have been cut shorter and that the main relationship could have been better developed (some stuff didn’t make sense and too much back and forth). Nonetheless, I still enjoyed reading it and it made me feel things which is something I love in a book (I cried like 3 times).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
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
If you like You've Got Mail and Pride and Prejudice, then you'd enjoy this. The premise itself was refreshing and immersive. You'd think all the talk about dead bodies would make the story less romantic, but it doesn't lol I enjoyed the character development- especially Mercy. I'll admit that this spoke to my grumpy male protagonist bias, and I wish it veered more from You've Got Mail than it did (at least, in the first half). But as a whole, this book was heartfelt, amusing, and incredibly romantic to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death