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A review by banrions
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
iiiiiiii have a LOT of mixed feelings about this book and in a lot of ways i want to give it less stars but that doesn't feel fair because it is a very well written book and i was totally invested the entire time. however, the end left me furious. i'm not going to put a spoiler tag here, because i'd rather fellow queer women know what they're getting into, and this is not a happy ending. (it is not a bury your gays trope, but it's NOT happy) and that left me... so fucking frusturated because while, sure, there is a certain poetic feeling to the tragedy of the ending... and there IS a place for tragic stories about queer people, and in many ways, this DOES feel appropriate for one of them, it's goddamn witch trials!!! i'm still just... tired. just because something is historical doesn't mean it has to be tragic. if ursa and maren HAD been able to be together in the end, there would still be plenty of tragedy to go around. but there would have felt like something more bittersweet. and i'm just... i both really enjoyed and really hated this book and was just left, so mad and so tired.
THAT SAID, i do think that this is a very well written and obviously very well researched book. i have always been drawn to stories about witch trails. i loved the way that ursa and maren both came to understand their feelings for each other. i loved that there wasn't really much internalized homophobia going around. i think that the author really captured the claustrophobic, atmospheric feeling of a small town/village of people and the ways that religon and hysteria can be used as a weapon. i will be looking for her other works (and i will be looking for other words read by the narrator of this book too, she did a wonderful job bringing the tale to life).
i'm just... tired.
THAT SAID, i do think that this is a very well written and obviously very well researched book. i have always been drawn to stories about witch trails. i loved the way that ursa and maren both came to understand their feelings for each other. i loved that there wasn't really much internalized homophobia going around. i think that the author really captured the claustrophobic, atmospheric feeling of a small town/village of people and the ways that religon and hysteria can be used as a weapon. i will be looking for her other works (and i will be looking for other words read by the narrator of this book too, she did a wonderful job bringing the tale to life).
i'm just... tired.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Violence