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wooblatoober 's review for:
The Mercies
by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
i did not even attempt to restrain my spoilerage in this review. it’s littered with them. continue at your own risk.
i wish gay people could be happy.
incredible & timely narrative on witch hunts, as many witch hunt books are. explored lesbianism in a light i really enjoy—falling in love with a woman, or always being attracted to women, without consciously understanding, until you do understand & you’re in too deep & your guard is already down. you’re already in love with the woman that made you realize. there’s no going back, or else you lose her.
i really enjoyed the dynamics of maren’s relationship with diina. my interpretation of that whole scenario is far different from how i think it was meant to be interpreted—for a good part of the book, i shipped maren and diina more than maren and ursa. i felt like, for most of the book, the deep love she felt for diina, which was unconditional despite how she seemed to want it not to be, made her love for ursa seem like infatuation in comparison. i felt like she saw ursa’s face and fell in love, but saw diina’s self over years since her brother’s courtship & marriage to her, and over months of mourning, and fell in love with her that way. and i felt like diina felt the same way when she ran away😭but that’s neither here nor there. this isn’t a complaint about the book, just a discussion, because as far as complaints go, i think i have none.
loved the regret explored in the kirke-women as kirsten burned. every turn along the arc of the hunt was heartbreaking. Millwood Hargrave did an INCREDIBLE job of making an EXTREMELY likable character seem untouchable, & then setting up her execution. around every corner, i hoped & somewhat believed she would be saved. & then she just simply wasn’t. the burning continued, and she burned with the pyre. & that was what was so realistic about this hunt to me. hoping something would happen, and nothing does. i loved that toril yelled for kirsten to breathe deep, & that toril must live with regret. that kirsten was able to know in her last moments that even the women who condemned her cared, especially since she could have named any of their names and didn’t. that toril had to live with the consequences of her actions, & the thought exercise her contradictory actions can give you regarding power & compliance. i loved the parallel Millwood Hargrave drew with agnete breathing deep.
i loved the feminine rage in the end. absalom got off on power & inflicting pain, & he got what he deserved. i’m glad he never got to see his child, & i hope it’s a girl.
had an argument with my friend about what the ending meant. settled on it being intentionally left vague. i hope she chose to live. i think she could live a beautiful life with diina & erik. i know what it’s like for your time you’ve had with someone to be enough, & that can be a hopeful feeling, too.
incredible & timely narrative on witch hunts, as many witch hunt books are. explored lesbianism in a light i really enjoy—falling in love with a woman, or always being attracted to women, without consciously understanding, until you do understand & you’re in too deep & your guard is already down. you’re already in love with the woman that made you realize. there’s no going back, or else you lose her.
i really enjoyed the dynamics of maren’s relationship with diina. my interpretation of that whole scenario is far different from how i think it was meant to be interpreted—for a good part of the book, i shipped maren and diina more than maren and ursa. i felt like, for most of the book, the deep love she felt for diina, which was unconditional despite how she seemed to want it not to be, made her love for ursa seem like infatuation in comparison. i felt like she saw ursa’s face and fell in love, but saw diina’s self over years since her brother’s courtship & marriage to her, and over months of mourning, and fell in love with her that way. and i felt like diina felt the same way when she ran away😭but that’s neither here nor there. this isn’t a complaint about the book, just a discussion, because as far as complaints go, i think i have none.
loved the regret explored in the kirke-women as kirsten burned. every turn along the arc of the hunt was heartbreaking. Millwood Hargrave did an INCREDIBLE job of making an EXTREMELY likable character seem untouchable, & then setting up her execution. around every corner, i hoped & somewhat believed she would be saved. & then she just simply wasn’t. the burning continued, and she burned with the pyre. & that was what was so realistic about this hunt to me. hoping something would happen, and nothing does. i loved that toril yelled for kirsten to breathe deep, & that toril must live with regret. that kirsten was able to know in her last moments that even the women who condemned her cared, especially since she could have named any of their names and didn’t. that toril had to live with the consequences of her actions, & the thought exercise her contradictory actions can give you regarding power & compliance. i loved the parallel Millwood Hargrave drew with agnete breathing deep.
i loved the feminine rage in the end. absalom got off on power & inflicting pain, & he got what he deserved. i’m glad he never got to see his child, & i hope it’s a girl.
had an argument with my friend about what the ending meant. settled on it being intentionally left vague. i hope she chose to live. i think she could live a beautiful life with diina & erik. i know what it’s like for your time you’ve had with someone to be enough, & that can be a hopeful feeling, too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Genocide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Alcohol