Mercury

by Amy Jo Burns

A roofing family’s bonds of loyalty are tested when they uncover a long-hidden secret at the heart of their blue-collar town—from Amy Jo Burns, author of the critically acclaimed novel Shiner

It’s 1990 and seventeen-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone’s table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in town is three men standing on a rooftop. Their silhouettes blot out the sun.

The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance. With Marley as their light, the Joseph brothers must decide whether they can save the family they’ve always known—or whether together they can build something stronger in its place.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Romance, Family

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 2, 2024

About the author

Amy Jo Burns is the author of the memoir Cinderland and the novel Shiner, which was a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, NPR Best Book of the year, a Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club selection, and “told in language as incandescent as smoldering coal,” according to The New York Times. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review Daily, Tin House, Elle, Good Housekeeping, Ploughshares, Electric Literature, Literary Hub, and the anthology Not That Bad.

Her next novel, Mercury, is forthcoming in January 2024. You can find her on Instagram at @burnsamyjo.

Reviews

[Terrie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns is a Blend of Family, Literary, and Romance Fiction with a Touch of Coming-of-Age!

Seventeen-year-old Marley West is the new girl in Mercury, Pennsylvania, a town where few new people come to live. She gets noticed quickly by Baylor Joseph and eventually gets her place at the table of the Joseph Family. She's attracted to Baylor but when football season calls him away, it's his younger brother, Waylon, that Marley falls in love with...

Mercury is an intense Family Fiction story that begins in 1990 and travels with the characters through the years. The Joseph Family is at the heart of the story with parents, Mick and Elise, and their three sons, Baylor - the oldest, Waylon - thirteen months younger, and Shay - the youngest by quite a few years. This is one complicated dysfunctional family, and the dynamics are deep and ingrained.

At the center of this family is the business, JOSEPH & SONS ROOFING, and along with it are the expectations that each son will join the business in some capacity. The business, all it entails and consumes, is like another character in this story.

What stands out most about this book is the simple writing style that quickly connects you to the characters and the family drama. The way the story is written feels different and multi-layered, told from the 'outside in' and then from the 'inside out', and it works for this story, giving it a higher level of backstory and a character-study feel.

There's a mystery built into the story that takes a surprising twist. Still, it's our protagonist Marley who steers us through this story with her resilience, growth, and determination that kept me reading and listening until there was no more story left.

This was an immersion reading experience through the gifted Digital Reading Copy and Advanced Listening Copy. The audiobook is narrated by Maria Liatis, whose voicing skills are strong, however, either format will deliver a great experience.

I love Family Fiction and this one is surprisingly good. I have added both of Amy Jo Burns' previous books Cinderland: A Memoir and Shiner her debut novel to my TBR List. I highly recommend Mercury to readers who enjoy books with blended genres, engaging writing, fully fleshed-out characters, and discovering a surprise or two within the story!

4⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and Amy Jo Burns for a DRC and an ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

[Rachel Hanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was deep. I had never read this author before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I got was a complex study of a dysfunctional family dynamic, and a very character driven story. I was entranced in this story for some reason. I wanted to know what happened to each and every character. Why they acted the way they did, and how each person became that way. The author, Amy Jo Burns, delivered on all accounts.

This story starts off with a young teenage Marley moving into the town of Mercury, with her mother Ruth. Marley right away becomes involved with Baylor Joseph, which gets her a seat at the Joseph family table for dinner each night. The Joseph family consists of three brothers- Baylor, Waylon, and Shay. The Joseph parents are Mick and Elise. The Joseph men own their own roofing company, and Elise tries to uphold the family name.

As the story progresses, we learn of the many secrets the Joseph family is hiding. We see how Marley has made herself a part of the Joseph family as well, even though Elise may have never really liked her. Did Marley choose the wrong or right brother in the end? Was Marley more of a mother to Shay than Elise could ever be? And why do the Joseph men always stick up for each other?

This book was gritty and raw. The characters kept me captivated from the first page all the way through until the last page. If you enjoy highly developed, character-driven stories- then this is the book for you! I highly recommend this story, and I will be looking for other reads from this author going forward.

Many thanks to @CeladonBooks and Goodreads for the ARC of this book which I had the pleasure of reading. Publication date is: January 2, 2024.
#MercuryBook

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

"Head on straight, heart on straight."

I know this has nothing to do with this book (for those reading in the future who don't care and/or don't know about my personal sentiments and past year-long 2023 reading slump), but I had only one non-smut 5-star read in 2023 (and I only had one of those for perspective), so the fact that I loved this book so early in the year is VERY exciting for me.

That said...

I love books about family drama and the effects of generational habits (some might say "trauma" but I would argue that that's just LIFE), and this book delivered on that front in so many ways. The manner in which this book presented the nuances of parental expectations, familial canons, and relational compromises was so amazing. I just loved it.

And that can all be attributed to the fantastic level of showing versus telling. Just some outstanding storytelling here, folks, that's all I can say. Some character-driven awesomeness all around.

If the blurb interests you, jump on it.

That's all I got.

Will definitely be monitoring this author moving forward.

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family dramas can compelling and in this second novel by Amy Jo Burns, we get great character studies, family interactions that are shocking at times as well as touching, which indeed made for compelling reading. Of course , there are secrets, too. The narrative from multiple points of view gives us a picture of outright dysfunction of the Joseph family, owners of roofing business in Mercury, a small town in PA. The arrival in town of seventeen year old Marley and her connection with them brings out the good and the bad in them over the eight year span of this novel. Some of them fall in love with her. Some of them dislike her or even despise her, but in truth, she is the best thing that happened to them. Marley wanting a family of her own, wanting a place at the table jumps in to this hot mess heart first.

Much of the time it’s hard to like this family, but when they falter, it feels so realistic, making me as sympathetic as I was angry at them. There’s Mick, the stern, overbearing , yet suffering from war, father and head of the business. Elise, the stoic mother who in spite of her distance holds them together until she no longer can. The three sons - Baylor, tough and trouble, Waylon, who loves Marley deeply, but can’t seem to loosen the hold this family has on him, and Shay, sweet and caring, trying to grasp his identity had my heart from the beginning . Of course, there’s Marley, someone to be reckoned with by this family as she becomes the glue that holds them together, a fine example of a strong woman. There were times, though that I felt she took too much of the burden on herself and it felt unrealistic at times that such a young girl could manage so much. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Marley’s best friend Jade, the kind of friend we all hope to have.

This is about complicated family relationships, about wanting to have your own place in the world while at the same time being loyal and most importantly loved by your family. I read this because I loved the author’s debut novel Shiner, which I also recommend.

I received a copy of this book from Celadon through Edelweiss.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What took me so long to get to this? I have had the paper ARC sitting on my coffee table for months now. It’s already published and I actually ended up listening to the library’s audiobook. Don’t make my mistake! Move this one to the top of the queue.
Mercury is a strong drama about a roofing family in 1990s western Pennsylvania. The family consists of three brothers, each with his one distinct personality, a distant mother and a headstrong father. Burns has crafted some fascinating characters, especially Marley, who is forced to grow up quickly.
Marley is only 17 when she arrives in the small, blue collar town of Mercury. She initially takes up with Baylor, the oldest brother. But it’s eventually Waylon who captures her heart. She yearns to find a strong relationship with the mother, Elise, but Elise holds her at arm’s length. My heart went out to Marley and I was so drawn in, watching her take on more and more responsibilities. As time goes on, she even becomes a mother to young Shay. But it’s a reminder that marrying into a family doesn’t mean you actually become a part of that family. Marley remains the outsider and she is constantly disappointed by those she loves.
The story kept me engaged throughout. Everyone makes good and bad decisions, this group truly felt like real people. In fact, I always know a character feels real when I get mad at them. But Burns is also careful to provide a balanced view of each. These are people that are often so hurt, they can’t see beyond their own hurt to understand anyone else’s. Something I think all of us can understand.
In addition to the family drama, there’s a bit of a mystery that starts off the book that doesn’t get explained until about halfway through the book.
Lots of themes here - motherhood and family, self sacrifice and the need to stand up for yourself, the what ifs of the choices not taken, and keeping promises. Highly recommend this one. And it would make for a wonderful book club selection.
Maria Liatis is the narrator. I wasn’t totally enchanted by her men’s voices. But she did a great job capturing the emotions of the story.

[Brandice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mercury was my first read of 2024 and it was a great one! Family drama at its finest in this small town story set in the 1990s — When Marley arrives in Mercury as a teenager, she sees the silhouettes of 3 men on a roof and unbeknownst to her, she will quickly become an integral part of their life and their family. ⁣
⁣
The story follows Marley and the Joseph brothers — Baylor, Waylon and Shay — over several years, along with their parents, Mick and Elise. When a secret in the church attic is revealed years later, it may be enough to bring the Joseph family and all they’ve built, down, permanently. ⁣
⁣
Mercury had great character depth and while I didn’t always like each character, I loved how authentic they felt. I couldn’t get enough of this story!

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for providing an advance reader copy of Mercury in exchange for an honest review.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have not read a book by Amy Jo Burns, you are missing out. Seriously, you are missing out. What appears to be a simple story is so much more. This is a quiet book but speaks volumes about family, the ties that bind, the need to belong, identity, loyalty, love, marriage, motherhood, sacrifice and being a woman in an all-male family. Mercury is a book that tip toes up behind you, taps you on the shoulder and demands attention.

Marley West was a loner who moved frequently with Ruth, her single mother from one job to the next. When they arrived in Mercury, Pennsylvania in 1990, little did Marley know that the sight of three men standing on a rooftop, would have such a life changing effect on her. She was a loner who longed to belong, to be a part of something, and to be part of a family.

The Joseph family owned a roofing company and the entire family put effort into making it succeed. When Marley meets the Joseph brothers, she would go on to date one, marry another and become a part of their world. Living with all of them would prov to be challenging. Their parents Elise and Mick are an interesting pair. Elise welcomes Marly to her table but never fully to her family. Mick was unpredictable and his ego often got in his own way.

The dynamic between the characters, the storyline, the discovery in the church attic drew me in and had me turning the pages. This was not an edge-of-your-seat page turner but a quiet one with powerful themes. This book is heavy with emotions and a lingering sadness that flows through the family and family members.

What does it mean to be a part of a family? Do you lose yourself while taking care of others?

Through the course of the book, Marley grows in so many ways. I enjoyed reading about her and how her character grew over the course of this book. She was not the only character who grew. Each character has their own issues and unique personality. The Joseph family is dysfunctional but what family isn't?

The characters in this book are an interesting book. Shay (the youngest brother) and Marley were my favorites. I enjoyed learning more about Baylor, Waylon, and Shay at the end of the book. That was a nice touch and filled in some gaps and answered some questions that I had about them. I have a feeling that I will be thinking about this book for quite some time.

This family drama was well written, moving and powerful.


#Mercury #NetGalley #AmyJoBurns #CeladonBooks

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐


“There’s more to this life than just trying to survive it…”

Set in 1999 in the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania, the story revolves around the Joespeh family who own and operate their own roofing business headed by patriarch Mick Joseph with his sons. In 1990, then a newcomer to the town teenage Marley West meets the Joseph brothers, and though initially involved the Baylor, the eldest son eventually falls in love with and marries Waylon his younger brother and the middle son of the Joseph family. Marley, the daughter of a nurse who moves wherever work takes them, is happy to finally be a part of a family unit with roots. But families can be complicated and as Marley evolves from a lovestruck teenager to a young mother who eventually pushes her way into playing a significant role in the family business over the years she learns how to navigate the complex dynamics between the members, the tragedies and the sacrifices, the financial struggles and the secrets and the conflicting emotions that push each of these members to their emotional limits. When the discovery of a body in the attic of their church shocks the close-knit community, long-buried secrets, suspicions, and cover-ups threaten to fracture the fragile bonds and loyalties within the family.

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns is an intense , absorbing family drama with an element of mystery skillfully woven into the narrative. The strength of this novel lies in its characterization. Burns’ characters are flawed which makes them realistic and relatable. Each of these characters is well-thought-out and the author depicts sensitive issues such as PTSD and dementia with much emotional depth. Though initially we might find it difficult to feel sympathetic toward some of the characters , we are able to explore their motivations and the factors that have contributed to who they are and in doing so, we feel invested in their journey. Marley’s character arc is exceptionally well developed and particularly liked how the author depicts her complicated relationship with Elise, her mother-in-law, and the tender almost mother-child bond she shares with Shay, the youngest Joseph brother. I would recommend this novel to those who enjoy character-driven fiction that revolves around dysfunctional families.

This was my first time reading Amy Jo Burns and I hope to explore more of her work in the future.

Many thanks to Celadon Books for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Mercury was published on January 2, 2023.

Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph

[Nikki Yaste · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mercury is a long, slow and painful journey through nonsense. A bland “coming of age” novel that follows Marley, the epitome of a “goodie two shoes,” that can’t keep her nose out of people’s business and bites off more than she can chew with the Joseph family, who have a slew of “issues” that wouldn’t even really be considered “issues” by anyone who has lived life past 35 years old. Seriously, what’s “bad” about this family isn’t even that bad…Huge home, successful business, loved in the community, no one is on drugs. Wtf is the problem?

I’m getting ahead of myself…

Marley is instant potatoes to the Joseph family; instantly in love with the older son, Baylor; instantly invited to dinner by Elise Joseph, mother and true codependent villain of the story who raised man babies; instantly pregnant AND now in love with the second son, Waylon, after Baylor refused to take the backseat relationship to the next level; instantly second mother to third son, “Shay Baby” which was creepy, going so far as to PULL this kid out of school to homeschool without asking permission from either of his parents; instantly an important member of the Joseph & Son’s Roofing company, again making decisions WAY out of the boundaries of a daughter-in-law…all this and more before her 20th birthday.

Nauseating how this child interjects herself into this family without really even knowing them.

Jumping through timelines, the story opens with a dead body found in a Church attic. We find out WHY the body is in the attic through a painfully long 25-75% of the book though it’s hardly mentioned because Marley is fully engrossed in herself. Her needs, her desires, her wants to control absolutely everything, her sensitivity. Seriously, we’re supposed to believe the Patriarch of the family is a monster within the first opening chapters because at dinner he asked Marley, “Who’s your father?!” and then proceeds to play Beethoven on the piano.

Gasp*

Where is my fainting couch? What a POS.

Again, the true villain here is Elise, who babied her husband and son’s SO much, they are unable to survive.

And Marley, for allowing that shitty behavior to continue and injecting herself, weirdly, into this family.


Yet another Book of the Month book that leaves me disappointed.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are someone who feels like they are “failing” when Goodreads continually reminds you throughout the year you are behind in your reading challenge, I highly encourage you to follow my lead and “challenge” yourself to only one book. And if you do so, maybe you kind of guaranty yourself the first thing you pick up in the new year is going to be a winner as well ; )



I really dug Shiner by Amy Jo Burns so when I saw someone I follow on The ‘Gram post about this release I immediately went to the library to put a copy on hold. But typical me, my holds were at max capacity. I took a gamble and headed to NetGalley thinking I had a snowball’s chance, but turns out this was still a Read Now so I snatched it up quick without needing to know anything about it first. I figured if I liked Burns once, there was a good chance I’d like her again.

Turns out I didn’t just like this one – I looooooooved it. At its heart Mercury is a story about the Joseph family (and y’all know how much I dig family stories – truly they are my #1 genre). To make things even better . . .

“They found a body up in the church attic.”

Family drama with a side of murder? Ummmmm, yes please. This came out yesterday and if you like the stuff I like and know how stingy I am with ratings, you should get you a copy. You don’t need to know much more than what I’ve already told you regarding the plot so I’ll let the book itself tell you the rest . . .

Two young women arrived in this town, twenty years apart. The first was named Elise, the second named Marley. They lived in the same house. They loved the same men. They raised their children.

Every Star.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always fun for me whenever a book comes through as a donation for my Little Free Library Shed that I also think I will want to read. In this case, this one also appeared to be an exclusive Barnes & Noble Book Club edition. I have never read a B&N Book Club edition, so I was hopeful that this would be a good selection.

Mercury is a town in Pittsburgh. And it is a story that revolves around the Joseph family, the owners of a local roofing family.

The story starts around a gruesome discovery in the attic of a church when the brothers are summoned to fix the leaky roof. And…they come upon a decomposed body. Will this be a mystery, who-dun-it? Or more a character-driven-story in which by the very nature of who we meet along the way, people will be revealed? And, maybe even a love story might emerge, too?

This is a narrative about small town life. Imperfect. Flawed. Complex family dynamics. Who have a strong desire for belonging. Engrossing, beautifully crafted characters, that feel real. It may take a while to get in to it – you may wonder if the mystery will be solved, or if it is important to solve it. You may wonder if the love story is central to everything. If you can stay with it, it might be a semi-satisfying read.

And yes, I can see why this would be a good book club selection.

[Kasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Copy of this book provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Rarely books make me remember that English is my second language but this one made me wonder if I can understand it at all. At first I thought the story is simply so profound that I am just unable to comprehend it but the more I was trying the more meaningless it grew. And then, around page 160 I've read this sentences:

A mighty act, three women cleaning. Erasing skin and flesh and blood, as if they knew inherently what it took to make something un-exist outside the walls of memory

and it hit me. The prose in Mercury is unnecessarily convoluted to create this illusion of being deep. Or maybe it's not an illusion and I am simply to stupid to get it. Either way it was an exhausting reading experience and I finished this book relieved that it was over.

Which is a shame because the story it was telling wasn't that bad. We are following three Joseph brothers, Elise (the mother) and Marley (wife of one of the brothers) through the years and observe how the family dynamics change under different circumstances. First chapter describes discovery of a corpse and it is hinted that Josephs are involved so there is also a big overarching mystery that helps you get into the story. There is a lot to be liked here and I feel that with a good script in place it could turn into an engaging, slice of life show but weighted down by difficult language it does not shine as bright as it could. In the end it is quite disappointing.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of family, the one we are born into, and the ones we form through love.

Set in 1990, as this story begins, Marley West along with her mother have left the town where they previously lived, and have decided to settle in the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. Marley is seventeen, and will once more be the new girl in her new school. She is cautiously hopeful, but frequent moves have left her weary of trying to fit in, of trying to find the place and the people where she can feel like this is home.

This story goes back and forth through time, sharing her life in this town, the family she meets, the mother who welcomes her into their home, and the brothers who soon all seem like family. It isn’t long at all before she is sitting at their dinner table, sharing their food. The father owns a roofing business, and the oldest sons work for him, while the one that Marley meets at her new school is closer to her age. She loves being a part of this family, so different from the life she’s lived with her mother, who as a nurse is frequently working different hours from Marley’s school hours, they are like ships passing in the night, most nights.

It doesn’t take long before she becomes a wife to one, and the family grows. The men in this family are used to ruling the roost, and her mother-in-law doesn’t seem to have any say about it, and when she does, they dismiss her.

As time passes, the mother seems to be slipping further and further away, and so Marley steps in to help, watching over her, assisting her in a somewhat risky task that may come back to haunt her, and helping the company whether or not the men want her help.

This is a story of family, of love and sacrifices made, the bond of friendships, and the deep dark secrets we keep.


Pub Date: 02 Jan 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Celadon Books

[Maren’s Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

When 17 year old Marley comes blazing into the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania, she seeks friendship and a family of her own. Almost immediately she is brought into the world of the Josephs, a dynamic family of roofers struggling to keep their business afloat.

It is near impossible to not fall in love with the Joseph family, foibles and all, and I found myself so immersed in their world, I did not want to leave it. The author gives us just a taste of small town PA life and the hardships and struggles blue collar workers endure. One important aspect of this story is the concept of found family - the loner who finds their place in the world - and Burns executes it to perfection.

At the end of the day, the driving force of this story are the characters. Each and every one of them are incredibly authentic and wholly relatable. When they are sad, it is hard for the reader to not feel their pain; when they are happy, it’s hard not to feel elated. As I reached the midway point and began to encounter the mystery that is dangled at the beginning, I found myself flying through the pages wanting desperately to know what happens to this family and whether or not they would be okay both physically and emotionally.

I did an immersive read, reading with my ears (via the audiobook) while also reading the physical book, and have to say how amazing this story is on audio with Maria Liatis at its helm. She navigated through a large cast of characters and yet every single one was easily distinguishable. As emotional as this read is already, she ups the anti significantly and is part of the reason I connected on such a visceral level.

*2024 Favorites*

Read if you like:
•family dramas
•character driven
•mystery subplot
•strong MC
•found family
•coming of age

Thank you {partners} Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copies.

[DeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Dysfunctional Family Stars
*and now available

This family drama features a roofing family in Mercury, Pennsylvania. The Joseph brothers run the company along with their father.

Marley comes to town with her mother, a nurse. It’s her senior year, and she’s quickly drawn into the orbit of the Joseph family. At first, she’s attracted to Baylor but quickly falls for Waylon. The baby of the family, Shay, is loved by everyone.

The parents, Mick and Elise, are mercurial. Marley wants to be loved by Elise, but they never connect. And Mick is hard to love or understand.

As the roofing business struggles, Marley finds herself married to Waylon and trapped like Elise. As Marly tries to find a way to shepherd all these men, she wonders if she’s lost herself. Deep secrets and a mystery threaten the family and the business, and Marley wonders how to keep it together.

This was a deep book with complex characters. I definitely rooted for Marley. Towards the end of the book, we get perspectives from all of the men, and I understand all of the characters more deeply. I found it to be well-written, and Amy Jo Burns is going on my auto-request list. I also loved her book “Shiner.”

I didn’t want this one to end!

My thanks to Celadon for the opportunity to read and honestly review this one.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. It read differently than most books and I think it was because it felt a bit removed from the characters and story but also with deep knowledge of the characters? It was a unique style and it was interesting. I found the first half of the story to be a bit slow, it was interesting and it stuck with me but I was very easily distracted by anything and everything. The second half kept my interest a lot more easily, but I was frustrated with the choices the characters were making. I liked most of the characters pretty well, but I have to say this whole cast of characters was overall pretty frustrating. I did think Marley was onto something with her frustration with the Joseph family’s inability to ever say anything true or speak about anything. The small town of Mercury was not ready when Marley and her mother drove into and even more than the town the Joseph family wasn’t ready. The story starts in present day with Marley married to one Joseph brother, ex to another, and surrogate mother to the whole family. The story then goes back to her arrival and tells of how this rather dysfunctional family has been limping along. There is beauty even in the dysfunction of this family and these relationships. This is definitely a book that will stick with me and I think that is largely because I didn’t always like or agree with the characters and that can be powerful too. I went with 3.5 stars rounded up because this is a book that will be in my thoughts for a long time.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable novel about a family of roofers, that's right roofers and a young lady who came into their life and the experiences that they had together. We basically follow the exploits of the Joseph family, father Mick, and his wife Elise. And then we have the three sons:: Baylor, Waylon and Shay. It's a rather dysfunctional family and the story is set back in the 1990s when Marley and her mother arrive in the small town of Mercury, PǍ where they have come for Marley's mother to begin a new job. Marley spots the roofers on her way into town and before you know it she is interacting with two of them after a baseball game. All three of the brothers love Marley, each in different ways, just as each of the brothers have secrets, that no one knows about except themselves. We slowly unravel the twists and turns of the family, as a body is discovered in the steeple of the local church. Marley eventually married the middle child Waylon and moves into the family house, but she was never really accepted by Mick & Elise. As the book peels away the layers of the family, as well as the secrets that they hold. We are drawn into this world of small town life with all its simplicities and all its difficulties. It is a very well written book. It has a wonderful plot, and I was immediately drawn to the characters. One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is that you see certain events unfolding in the first half of the book, and then, in the latter stages of the book, we see the points of view changing, and now we understand why those events happened, and what was behind certain events. The secrets and the motivations behind all the actions that take place in the beginning of the book are all revealed bit by bit as we go through the 2nd half of the book.. Amy Jo Burns has written, a wonderful novel, a novel, filled joy, disappointments, family, intrigue, and small town USA! A definite 4.5 star in my reading scale.

[Deana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the story of the Joseph family: Mick, Elise, and their three sons, Baylor, Waylon and Shay. The father and sons run a roofing business in the town of Mercury, PA while Elise runs the home and is basically invisible, taken for granted by her husband and sons.

Newcomer Marley and her mother, Ruth, arrive in Mercury and Marley inserts herself into the Joseph family, looking for the stability she craves. What follows is an in depth look into the family dynamics and Marley's role to all of the members of the family. I don't want to give too much away, because her position in the family changes all through the book.

So, now for my two cents. This book started off great. I thought it was really going to pull me in. But, then it stared going downhill for me for two reasons. One (and this always irks me in any book), it seemed the author wanted to cram as many problems into the story for everyone as she possibly could. This always makes a story seem unrealistic to me. I understand people go through things, believe me, I've been there myself, but some things seemed like the author felt, "Well, I better throw THIS in, too."

The second thing that REALLY started to bug me as I was struggling to finish was all the characters seemed to think EXTREMELY deeply ALL the time. This was particularly annoying to me when Marley was only 19 in part of the story but was portrayed to be this wise old soul and psychoanalyzing everyone at every turn. I don't know. I guess there are definitely mature 19 year old kids, and I know we all dig deep sometimes but ALL the characters seemed to be doing it constantly, so no wonder they all seemed exhausted.

Marley was awfully assuming too, like she just had to be/wanted to be some kind of "savior" for this family when nobody asked her to. Also, she really overstepped with Shay, especially in the scenario when she had to go to the school for him. I totally get taking up for someone and helping out but screaming about how he was "her boy" and all was just over the top. Honestly, now that I think about it, I really can't think of anyone that was likable in this story, except maybe Ruth, who had sense and got out of town to live a peaceful life.

Definitely a family drama, but way too dramatically written for me. As always, you may love it and I hope you do. Publishes tomorrow. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I always appreciate the advance copies. Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to some great reading this year!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A piece of contemporary literary fiction that is so masterfully created that I felt like I was a member of the Joseph family; sharing in their losses, their disappointments, and their successes. What a gem! 💎

[Bkwmlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I’m somewhat behind with my reading goals this month, as I took on a bit more than I should have with school and work, plus an unexpected family incident upended some of my plans for this week — but the good news is that, going into next month, I was able to sort things out so that I should be able to get my reading back on track very soon.

With that said, I was able to squeeze in and finish another January ARC a couple days ago, Mercury by Amy Jo Burns — a book that I’ve been wanting to read ever since I found out about it several months back. I had read Burns’s fiction debut Shiner (she had written a memoir prior to it) a few years back for book club and it became one of my favorite reads that year (one that I had rated 5 stars). There was so much I loved about that book: the lyrical, immersive writing that flowed so beautifully that I found myself highlighting one quotable sentence after another; the atmospheric portrayal of time and place that made me feel as though I was right there alongside the characters; and of course, the strong female characters (the heart and soul of the story) who loved fiercely and devotedly, yet rarely got anything in return, instead having to forge their own paths in a world dominated by men whose power often when unchallenged and unchecked. (For more of my thoughts on Shiner, please check out my review of it). While Burns’s second novel, Mercury was a fantastic read that I loved quite a lot, if I had to choose between the two, Shiner would still be my favorite.

Mercury is about a family of roofers who live in a “great house” in the small river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania — the family patriarch Mick Joseph, his wife Elise, and their three boys Baylor, Waylon, and Shay. One day in 1990, teenager Marley West arrives in Mercury with her mother Ruth and while stopped at a light they spot 3 men standing atop a roof at the far side of the road. The next day, Marley encounters two of the men (the Joseph brothers) at a baseball game, where she also meets the youngest Joseph brother (10-year-old Shay) as well as their mother Elise — a woman who was beautiful, impeccably dressed, unapologetically cool and collected in a way Marley had never seen before, and also had the ability to “command attention [from everyone around her but especially from her boys] with a single word.” Marley is captivated by this family and as a perpetual loner who is tired of having to move from town to town, she yearns for a seat at the Joseph family table. Soon, that’s exactly what happens, as Marley’s world becomes inextricably melded with the family’s. As she comes to understand the Joseph family dynamics though, and encounters one difficulty after another, Marley soon realizes that she got more than she had bargained for. Years later, a discovery in the church attic unearths past hurts and the family finds themselves on the brink of falling apart. As the Josephs scramble to save their family, they must also rethink their priorities and decide what matters most to them.

Just like with Shiner , there were many things I loved about this book: the writing, of course, which was engaging and immersive and made me feel transported to the small town of Mercury; the characters were also well-developed and wonderfully drawn, especially the 3 Joseph brothers, who each had their own distinctive personalities as well as strengths and weaknesses (though admittedly, I couldn’t stand the patriarch of the family, Mick, who, to me, seemed to be a reincarnation of Briar from Shiner); most of all though, I loved the women in this story — Marley and Jade especially, and even Elise to some extent — who were all strong in their own distinctive ways and fought to forge a path for themselves despite society’s convictions and judgments. My one complaint is that there was a tad more romance than I expected, which made some scenes come across a little “soapy” to me, but luckily it wasn’t overwhelming so didn’t detract from the story too much.

Overall, this is definitely a story worth reading. One of the things I love about Amy Jo Burns is that she writes with lot of heart and empathy for her characters — even the “bad” characters are written in a way that you end up feeling sorry for them rather than hating them. I will admit that, despite the dysfunction of the Joseph family, I couldn’t help rooting for all of them (this is saying something, since dysfunctional family stories can be a hit or miss for me). I felt invested in the ups and downs that this family goes through — both the heartbreaking moments and the joyous ones — but most of all, I appreciated the message of resilience and hope that Marley’s experiences especially demonstrated.

This was a wonderful read and I can’t wait to see what Burns comes up with next!

Received ARC from Celadon Books via NetGalley.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy a slow-burn family drama with rich character development, you will love Mercury. The book takes its title from the name of the western Pennsylvania town where the story takes place. Marley moves to Mercury with her mother when she’s in high school (a senior) and meets the three sons of the Joseph family: Baylor, Waylon, and the much younger Shay. Mick, the father, runs a roofing business. Their mother, Elise, holds things together in the house but doesn’t involve herself in the business.

As the book opens, Marley and Waylon are married with a small son, Theo. The Joseph family is called in to help with a bad leak in the local church’s roof and a long-dead body is discovered in the attic. The rest of the book goes back in time and you eventually get the whole story.

Marley gets absorbed into the Joseph family and into the business. She turns out to be a whizz at the business side of things. They all live together in a large rambling house. After Elise dies, Marley is the glue that holds the family together.

This all takes place in the 1990s so there are no cell phones and almost no internet. I had to smile when Marley set up their first email and web presence - I remember doing that for a small business I worked at, at the same time.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The audiobook was beautifully narrated by Maria Liatis.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

[Meagan (Meagansbookclub) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mercury begins promisingly enough: a lovely young thing moves into a hardscrabble western Pennsylvania town and catches the eyes of a pair of handsome brothers who revere their mother and submit to carrying on the family roofing business started by their mercurial father. They vie for the new girl in a Cain and Abel rivalry that's also tied up in some sort of Oedipal complex with their mother and a King Lear-ish fever dream of a father.

The prose is often deft and sharp, but also too often florid. Burns is fond of describing everything in threes: "She was exhausted, and dirty, and frightened." "The bloodshed wasn't like her monthly period; it was urgent and clotted and woeful." and of making dramatic, declarative statements that are meant to be harbingers of doom: "Marley went to her husband, did as she'd always done, and made his stains, his pain, her own." "Elise was a woman who had opened her home and her table, yet not her heart, because she had no room left in it. Her husband and her boys had taken it all." Because these fraught ruminations happen so often, they weigh the story down with angst that wrests away plausibility. I was both deflated and bored soon after the halfway mark.

Mercury stumbles over its attempts to ratchet up the tension by plowing heavy emotion into every scene. It's 315 pages of melodrama, with characters who are miserable, deeply enamored of their misery, and have made it their personal missions to make everyone else around them just as miserable as they are.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely phenomenal. I was gifted a copy and I am so grateful because I never would have picked it up otherwise. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys family-centered, contemporary fiction that is beautifully written. It is a novel involving a family and its secrets, flawed individuals, and love. It shows us how a family can break us apart and also, ultimately, put us back together again. I finished this book two days ago and am still thinking about it. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5⭐️

RELEASE date: January 2, 2024

Disclaimer: My personal preferences have deeply influenced this review. Obviously, my opinions influence all my reviews, but I’m bringing this up because I feel like my preferences are a huge part of why I didn’t rate this book highly.

In the couple years that I’ve been on Bookstagram, I’ve come to realize that family dramas rarely work for me. Here are a few examples of books that many readers loved that I just didn’t:
📕Black Cake
📕The Dutch House
📕Hello Beautiful

Despite my personal feelings, this story has a lot going for it:
❤️Strong writing and character development
❤️A moving ending

😕Where it fell short for me was in the plotting. Because it moved slowly, I just didn’t have the desire to pick it up or keep reading, and it felt like a slog to finish.

🥰If you loved Hello Beautiful, pick this up.

⚠️Content warnings:
Profanity: 4/5 (fairly frequent)
Sexual content: 3/5 (several “cracked door” scenes between two MCs and a male-male scene)
✝️A special note for Christian readers: I feel like it’s worth mentioning that neither of the pastors in the story accurately reflect the God of the Bible or point their parishioners to Him through their actions or words. The second pastor offers words of moral relativism as advice.
This type of thing bothers me immensely because I would rather Christianity be left out of a story altogether than portrayed inaccurately.

Thank you to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for my ARC.

[Jessica Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unpopular opinion loading…

I’m usually a lover of flawed, messy characters and strained family dynamics but this family and its members are just INSUFFERABLE. There wasn’t a single character I was rooting for. It’s a case of an older generation passing down their horrible behaviors to the next.

It’s a slow and painful journey with timeline jumps, again - miserable characters that I despised, third person writing and a “mystery” that’s a tiny part of the plot. It’s also so unbelievable that an 18 year old can insert herself into a family’s life, have a baby, run a business, try to be a savior to a family she ISN’T responsible for…I’m exhausted just thinking of everything Marley did at her young, naive age. She tried SO hard to be loved by a family that didn’t know the meaning of it.

The author definitely captured the characters and their personalities so for that, I can give her props. At times, the writing felt poetic. But otherwise, this was a big miss for me. However, this is loved novel by most so check out the rave reviews if you’re looking for a character driven family saga with people you’ll love to hate.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Such an interesting mix of gritty, salt of the earth, tar-roof realism and soap opera-level melodramatic romantic hyperbole, like a really good 80s or early 90s movie or TV series? The love child of The Outsiders and Melrose Place? And yet also a contemporary streaming, Yellowstone-caliber level of family dysfunction. This one was sort of unreviewable for me as I’m not sure whether I appreciated it more than enjoyed it or enjoyed it more than appreciated it. I sure as hell something’d it, though!

[Melissa Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miserable people being miserable to each other. 2 stars only because I made it to the end without DNFing.

[Angela DeMott · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book somehow explains way too much and nothing at all, and it made for a very frustrating and boring reading experience for me. I think this book had a promising premise, but the writing was just so, so awful that it sucked any authenticity out of the story or characters.

On every page, the narrator tells the reader exactly what they should think, feel, and know about every character and every plot turn, leaving absolutely nothing to be inferenced. E.g. Two characters, both emotionally and physically stuck in a small town where they don't feel fully accepted, are having a conversation on a roof. One says, "It's slippery, but do what you want." And then Amy Jo Burns has to remind us that they're both stuck in their situation by continuing with "even though neither of them had ever done what they'd truly wanted." This happens over and over again, after every dialogue tag, every internal monologue, and even during just regular plot summary.

Then, we get into dialogue. Fortunately, there isn't much dialogue in this book. Burns opts for a more narrative structure, which is good in a way, because she struggles to write realistic dialogue. It's bad in a different way, because she also struggles to write good narration.

E.g. "I used to be like you, you know. Before I knew my whole world relies on the myth of the good man."
"Elise, you've raised three wonderful sons."
"That's not the point. Can't you see? This life is unmerciful to mothers. Always has been, always will be."
"I'm part of this life, too. I've tried to love you."
"But you shouldn't be here. I tried to warn you away from all this. I took pity on you that day at the ballpark and I regret it."
"Has it truly been so terrible, having me as a daughter?"

This is unbearable to read. But maybe not as unbearable as the overly written odd metaphors. The author's hand is so visible on every page of this book, trying to eke out as much meaning and depth as she could.

"He whispered her name, and it sounded like rain, and she wanted to drown herself in him. They were facing too many lasts for being so young - the last family dinner, the last time Elise would remember Theo's name, the last time she'd ask Mick to play "Moonlight Serenade" on the piano - and it had turned them into seekers. They hunted themselves down at night, leaving no part of themselves unturned."

"... a gristled wail clawed out of Baylor's mouth. The sound haunted the empty halls.... They looked like a pair of supplicants, begging for what they wouldn't get back."

"Mick suffered from a kind of cannibalism, Baylor realized, one that feasted on his own blood to survive. He thieved from the flesh of his flesh and bankrupted himself. Baylor did not want to steal from Jade - or from anyone - the way his father had stolen Elise's happiness scrap by scrap... At the same time, his mother had started to lose shavings of herself across the plane of her life."

I can't begin to talk about how confusing the relationships and characters were to me. Burns overexplains everyone's motivations and while you'd think that would bring clarity to her story, it didn't. I'm left with more questions and no desire to answer them. I honestly don't think I could recommend this book to anyone and I'm so mad that I read it.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty much a perfect novel. I love me a good, melancholy family story, and this one about a girl who comes to be part of a family of roofers was unusual and charming.

When 17yo Marley moves to Mercury, Pennsylvania with her mom, she meets the Joseph boys right away. The popular, oldest brother, Baylor, sets his sights on the new girl and lays a claim on her before she can decide whether that's what she wants. Meanwhile, her heart is stolen by 10yo brother Shay and she actually falls in love with middle brother Waylon. Her relationships with their parents, Mick and Elise, are a hell of a lot more complicated - especially once Marley turns up pregnant.

Mercury spans about seven or eight years in the life of this quirky but hardworking family, a period that covers a few major scandals and sees one skeleton pulled from a closet an attic. What's so great about this book?

• A super readable style;
• An unputdownable story - I went to bed thinking about it and finished it the next day;
• That small-town feel;
• Likeable, flawed characters - although Jade and Shay are practically angels;
• In-law troubles that nearly anyone can identify with;
• Characters you pull for to win - well, except maybe Mick and Elise, although the author really tries to garner sympathy with their backstory at the end.

This will be going on my short list of 2024 favorite reads for sure! Very highly recommended.