Scan barcode
reneethebookbird's review
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Bullying, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide attempt
saimab's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
First off, I have to say that the cover for Mercury Boys is so beautiful, and drew me in immediately. What next interested me in the novel is premise involving a secret society and things going awry.
While a fascinating plot, Mercury Boys falls flat in its execution. A lot of the plot points were shallow, and the characters one-dimensional. Saskia wasn’t an entirely compelling main character; it wasn’t that I disliked her, I just felt little towards her. I liked her best friend Lila more, but still she and the other characters were not as developed as I hoped. The antagonists also were so one-dimensional it felt almost comical.
I liked seeing the secret society elements and how things started to take a turn for the worst, but the thing with secret societies is that they need a decent foundation of friendship to start off with. This barely had that, so when things started to go dark I just wondered why Saskia and Lila just didn’t get out since neither of them knew the other girls in the club that well anyway.
And the romance and the actual mercury boys – I couldn’t care less about them, to be frank. I wish we had gotten to see more of Lila and her dreams, but the others were not compelling.
Overall, while an interesting plot, it was pretty lacklustre as a novel and disappointing.
While a fascinating plot, Mercury Boys falls flat in its execution. A lot of the plot points were shallow, and the characters one-dimensional. Saskia wasn’t an entirely compelling main character; it wasn’t that I disliked her, I just felt little towards her. I liked her best friend Lila more, but still she and the other characters were not as developed as I hoped. The antagonists also were so one-dimensional it felt almost comical.
I liked seeing the secret society elements and how things started to take a turn for the worst, but the thing with secret societies is that they need a decent foundation of friendship to start off with. This barely had that, so when things started to go dark I just wondered why Saskia and Lila just didn’t get out since neither of them knew the other girls in the club that well anyway.
And the romance and the actual mercury boys – I couldn’t care less about them, to be frank. I wish we had gotten to see more of Lila and her dreams, but the others were not compelling.
Overall, while an interesting plot, it was pretty lacklustre as a novel and disappointing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Bullying, and Drug use
Minor: Racism and Gaslighting
More...