Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

2 reviews

miss_berry315's review

slow-paced

2.5

I never could decide how I felt about this book tbh. I originally DNF'd it bc I had been listening to the audiobook and was just irritated the whole time.
I got the ebook to try it again, and it was much easier to digest, though I was not a big fan of the cheesy and confusing world building. I also just didn't really care tbh. The best parts of the book were about the characters and their interpersonal interactions, which we didn't get nearly enough of imo.

Then everything went downhill at the 80% mark. I almost DNF'd there, but skipped that chapter bc I couldn't read it through my sobbing. Honestly, I'm pretty angry that's the direction the author chose to go in. I think most people have some hard limits on what they want to read abut in their books, and there are expectations set prior when it comes to romance novels. I'm not sure how nobody thought it was important to mention what happens at the 80% mark in any content warnings I had read prior (was not on storygraph then, but I should have been!). The 80% mark is one of my hard limits and it completely ruined the book I was already undecided on.
Unfortunately, things just got even more cheesy somehow and I was cringing through the last few pages feeling like I was watching a sitcom. I cringed and rolled my eyes through the entire last chapters.

The letters between the characters, the middle 15% of the book, and the background relationship were the only good parts of the book.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Suicide attempt and Pregnancy

The following spoilers are things I wish I knew going into this book, because I probably would not have read the book had I known these things happened.

Right around the 80% mark, Hart decides to go check out a mysterious house that only he can see. It is a known dangerous mission that he had attempted when he was new to the job, which is how he lost his mentor. He decides to go on this mission alone, and this chapter is written with heavy implications of it being a suicide attempt. He has been depressed and lonely since the breakup with the woman he loves and suddenly feels like he knows what to do, so he goes about his day saying kind things to the people he interacts with, returning library books without checking out new ones, doesn't tell anyone where he is going with a bunch of weapons, goes alone to a place that he knows he will be overrun by the enemies, and writes one final letter to Mercy, but keeps it in his pocket. As I said above, its not explicitly written as a suicide attempt, but it's so heavily implied, it doesn't need to be stated outright for it to read that way. He does not make it, and sees his heavily injured body as his spirit floats away. Unfortunately for literally everyone involved (including us readers) he had purchased a funeral package at Birdsall and Sons and Mercy is the acting undertaker. Meaning, while these two are in their third act break up, he dies, his body is found, and it is brought to this poor woman who then has to go through the process of preparing his body for burial while processing all the emotions that lead to this point, both related to their relationship and related to the other stressful parts of her situation. The author dedicates an **entire chapter** to Mercy doing the necessary prepping of a body for burial. This is the only time the author chose to drag out this process. Every other time it is mentioned, they are salting the bodies for preservation and following their will for type or burial. With Hart though, the author slows down the process and puts every single bit of emotion into it as this is the climax of the story. I could not read this chapter. I almost DNF'd the book at this point. I skipped the chapter completely to figure out what happened. Mercy finds the letter in Hart's pocket and he's confessing his love for her in what is very clearly meant to be a suicide note. The chapter after this is Hart in a place of limbo where we learn that because of his demigod status, he has two lives to live and gets to go back to his body. Luckily, because Mercy is exhausted and emotionally distraught, she did not get too far in the post-death process. He ends up coming back to life and the ending is horribly cheesy and does not (imo) make up for the absolute heartbreak (no stupid pun intended ugh) of *that* chapter.

uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

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