Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Iron Kissed

This series is not what I expected and this book in particular had some tough scenes. While there is sexual violence in this book, it is not graphic at all… in fact, I think it’s only a sentence or two that outright tells you what happen… but the pages following that, the reactions and how it was dealt with, brought tears to my eyes. Okay… I won’t lie, I cried a little because it was so relatable!

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alyssadorn's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

With this series’ writing style, I find myself being so slowly sucked in that at first I don’t realize how engrossed I am but by the end of this book I was up reading until 3am.

It reminds me of a style of book, a style of writing, I haven’t read in a while and it’s almost nostalgic for me— urban fantasy with less romance and that’s more detail-heavy. Less inside of the FMC’s head and emotions, and more focus on the mystery and her thought process on that. The emotions are very subtle, but effective.

I liked this book a lot more than the first one; the nuance of the characters really deepened and I enjoyed Adam’s playfulness and sweetness and protectiveness in equal measure.

And Samuel’s and her conversation about their relationship was so well done— it felt real and so true to their characters.

Now to discuss the last 20%— wow. So intense and heartbreaking and realistic, and how hard is it to have such a fraught plot point and still stay true to the character’s core self? But Briggs does it so well, and Mercy’s actions and reactions are so in line with her internal conflict that l had been brewing all book long about personal choice and autonomy, as well as everything we know about her strength.

And Ben is my new favorite character. His depth of understanding was heartbreaking in its own way, and his choice to be vulnerable to share his understanding and help Mercy was so impactful to me.

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cheriejanette's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I was not prepared for what happened in this book. It was heart wrenching and difficult to read. It brought tears to my eyes and also made me feel so seen. I do not recommend if you can't read stories about sexual assault. Highly recommend if you can. Excellent representation.

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noemiegvl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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jessereadsthings's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

3.0

Meh.

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simonlorden's review against another edition

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3.0

this was heavy.

1) not really a fan of werewolf power plays, posturing and possessiveness. i heard that it will get better later and i hope they're right because it was kind of getting too much.

2) major warning for on-page sexual assault, and mentioned past CSA. but the worst thing was the aftermath. having the assault be so public and be seen by so many people is horrifying.

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jailala's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

This book had some harder aspects to deal with but all in all, I really love the characters and the way they are portrayed. Aside from the werewolf/vampire/fairy aspect, I've known people who behave this way and that's not always something you can say about urban fantasy.

That said, there are some serious issues Mercy deals with in this installment. She's grappling with keeping her independence in a couple of different relationships - something most of the women I know have had to deal with - and she has to deal with friends needing her help but continuously telling her to keep out of it - something Coyote just wasn't ever good at.

The end is the hardest part of all. If you've ever been in a seriously bad relationship, been forced into anything sexual or know anyone who has, this book is both bad and good. Bad in that it might bring up some things you'd rather not think about but good in that Briggs makes some points that everyone should understand about these things.

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