Scan barcode
bibliomich's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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 Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a romantasy adaptation of Norah Ephron's 1998 classic rom-com You've Got Mail (one of my favorites). The references to the film were by far my favorite parts of the book. I loved the back and forth banter in the MMC and FMC’s letters, as well as the enemies-to-lovers arc of their relationship.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
katievallin's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexism, Vomit, Abandonment, Blood, Cancer, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment
popquizliz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Abandonment, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal death, Chronic illness, and Infidelity
britreadsbooks_'s review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Gun violence, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Ableism, and Infidelity
wilybooklover's review
adventurous
medium-paced
2.0
I’m so disappointed. I went into this book expecting to love it! Cosy fantasy romance is basically my brand and I was highly anticipating this one. Sadly, it fell flat for me (and really wasn't all that cosy IMO).
The worldbuilding had some really interesting customs, but it also felt kind of clunky and not well-explained. Parts of it seemed very modern and distractingly American. Like, not being able to legally drink alcohol at the age of nineteen is a distinctly American thing. Why exactly is it in this fantasy world with zombies and demigods and souls that live in the appendix? And it just felt like it was trying too hard to be cute and whimsical which was discordant when combined with the angst and the high stakes of the plot. I thought the nimkilim were an especially interesting addition though!
The other issue was that it felt like the story was constructed around the enemies to lovers and epistolary tropes rather than them developing as a natural part of the story? Like the tropes themselves felt kind of forced and thinly plotted. Don’t get me wrong, I love tropes but I need a book to offer me more than just tropes. The plot device that involved the letters ending up with each other was just way too convenient. And not realising who the letters were from, especially when they were describing their own nemesis situation in said letters right after seeing each other, was just too unrealistic to suspend disbelief. These people know each other's handwriting! The relationship development was rushed and all over the place; one minute they’re enemies (with extremely flimsy reasons for being so) and the next they’re in love, there’s no real gradual progression (literally, it’s like ten pages! At least on Mercy's part it is). They were apart for most of the book dealing with their individual problems, so we hardly get to see them interact meaningfully. Hart crossed the line into cruel too many times while constantly objectifying Mercy in his head — I didn't like him at all. He came across as pathetic and not in a good way. Hart knowing the truth about the letters and not informing Mercy before sleeping with her also made me very uncomfortable. The ending just felt so melodramatic and unnecessary.
I did like the family dynamics and the side characters, especially Penrose Duckers. I just wanted more cohesion of all the various plots and more romantic development. Just... more in general.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, Body horror, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Blood
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, and Animal death
sarrie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
Fantasy meets Western meets Romance. That’s the best three words I can use for this book. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is a Fantasy with an urban setting and a lot of romance. I think this one is going to be a interesting one to watch the reviews on solely because of the setting and style of it. I had fun though it may not be for everyone.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Sexism
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
If Ashely Poston's The Dead Romantics and TJ Klune's Under the Whispering Door went to a Western-themed party and played a game called "You've Got Mail, Gods and Zombies Edition" — you'd get this bonkers genre-mashup of a book. Which I reallllly wanted to wholeheartedly love, but ended up having a complicated response to instead.
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am freaking out about how much I love this book! Picture You’ve Got Mail set in a fantasy world not so different from ours. Its heroine, Mercy, is a sweet and sturdy undertaker who’s taken over the family business due to her father’s failing health. Her counterpart, Hart, is a grumpy marshal whose job is, essentially, to kill zombies—someone’s got to do it! Although they can’t stand each other at first, Hart and Mercy slowly peel back each other’s layers and discover the love that’s been right in front of them all along. Kansas City author Megan Bannen’s one-of-a-kind story goes from gut-busting to heartbreaking and back again, and I loved every word!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Pregnancy, Violence, Cursing, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Cancer, and Sexism
More...