A review by epellicci
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Let me begin by disclosing, I don't like books about the witch trails. It's a topic that gets very much under my skin, and so that was against The Mercies from the start. However the reason I didn't like this book is more than that. While the writing was easy to get along with, it doesn't go anywhere. The threat of Absalom Cornet's arrival on Vardo, and subsequent tension is dragged out far longer than any other event, as Hargrave's two main characters, Maren ad Ursa, are some of the most isolated in the book. Focusing on their relationship to Absalom and each other, much of the story is set internally between them and so as a reader, I got the impression that the main event of the story had developed without me.
The actual trials seem to begin, and were done with over the course of about a dozen pages at the end - which arrives suddenly with no resolution for Maren and Ursa. I found this incredibly disappointing given the vast majority of the book is based in teasing a romance between them during their shared solitude and fear.
Unfortunately this book felt short at several hurdles. 
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