Eternally grateful to Netgalley and Naomi Hughes for providing me an ARC of Mercurial in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 4.5

I LOVE the idea of this book- blood, bodyguards, and magic, I couldn't ask for more. Mercurial delivered and I will be picking up all of Hughe's past and to come novels! The cover for Mercurial is perfect, it represents the story and is BEAUTIFUL.

Tal: My heart breaks when Tal's heart breaks. I feel what Tal feels. I might be in love with Tal. I loved his personality and his growth. He learns who he wants to become and the steps he will take for the ones he loves.

Nyx: Is probably my favorite. She's a fierce female, she breaks down walls and will suffer for the people she holds close. She pays attention to those around her and holds sympathy. Her energy is fun and determined. She's dedicated and I just love her character so so much!

The Destroyer: I love who she becomes. She learns to understand people and listen to them. The Destroyer takes everyone by surprise at each turn of this book! She's one of my favorites!

The plot is pure genius, it's twisty, original, and VERY fast-paced. It's everything I look for in a book. Mercurial is such a good book because the writing, plot, and characters are so well done. All elements have to be well done to create such a masterpiece. I couldn't predict this book- not once. I didn't know how it was going to end, who would live, or who would die.

My favorite element of this series is the worldbuilding. Words can't tell you how much I adore it. It's filled with magic, mountains, and majestic creatures. I love how important the magic is to the plot and how well structured it is. I can understand it and it inserts crazy plot twists. I love each of the settings and I can envision every movement and living thing.

I really enjoyed the writing style! I felt emerged in the book and loved the author's descriptions! There were a few times I cringed at some of the lines and the characters' thoughts but in the end- reading about the characters' thoughts is important to their personalities. This book felt MAGICAL.

I love the representation in Mercurial. It doesn't feel forced- it makes my heart warm and will welcome all readers!

Mercurial is a gem and I recommend it without a doubt!

An amazing enemies to lovers ya romance. I went into this with really not knowing much, but I came out really loving it! It was one of those quick reads that you find yourself reading. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

Mercurial was a simple and sweet book with an enchanting romance. Slow at times but wonderful nonetheless. While I had found myself despising a few of the characters, it held nothing against the book.

An enemies-to-lovers young adult fantasy with thought-provoking messages about faith, forgiveness, and the murky line between good and evil, Mercurial is a compelling read! I enjoyed the characters, the magic system, the thought-provoking messages, and, of course, the romance in this standalone novel.

Several characters in the story that stand out as favorites! The Destroyer, also known as Elodie, is so interesting. Though extremely powerful, she feels very alone. She is feared, justifiably so, for her violence and cruelty. Even when she loses her powers, that loneliness envelops her. Her story is so intriguing, especially considering how murky her past is. Plagued by nightmares, Elodie struggles to remember certain parts of her past, and her story becomes even more shocking as the story progresses. It’s clear that Elodie is on her own. Tal is one of the only people she can trust, and that’s mostly because he has taken an unbreakable oath to let no harm come to her.

Tal goes through many internal and external obstacles throughout the story, and his character is so well-developed. Tal is quite devout and is deeply affected by his religious beliefs and spiritual guidance. However, for the majority of the story he goes through a spiritual struggle and tries to reconcile his faith with his ever-changing feelings.

Tal also struggles to understand his changing feelings toward Elodie. At the start of the story, Tal despises The Destroyer and wishes he had never sworn himself to her. He has seen her do, and he has done unspeakable and unforgivable things, and he doesn’t understand why his God propelled him to protect The Destroyer. However, as the story progresses, Tal sees that there is much more to Elodie than just being The Destroyer, especially after she loses her memory. These conflicting feelings confuse and anger Tal. Elodie is more aware and quicker to reconcile her feelings for Tal. There are interesting messages here about trauma, forgiveness, acceptance, and the power of love, and I enjoyed Tal and Elodie’s enemies-to-lovers romance.

Speaking of love, I have to talk about how much I love Nyx, Tal’s sister. Nyx is determined to rid the world of The Destroyer and free her brother, and she is unflinching in her goals. She is a fighter, and she is passionate about those she loves. Though she is brutal and strong and unrelenting, she turns into a softie whenever she’s with her brother and her girlfriend. I love that we see so many sides of her character from her ambitions to her fears and everything in between. Like her brother, Nyx struggles to reconcile her feelings toward The Destroyer and her religious beliefs.

I found the religious aspect of this story really interesting. I didn’t find it preachy but instead felt it was more philosophical in examining and questioning religion. Characters like Tal, his mother, Nyx, and Nyx’s girlfriend show the difference between faith and fanaticism. They also show ways in which religion can help a person and when it can harm. It’s fascinating to see people who read and follow the same religious texts pull opposite interpretations depending on their own motivations and desires. It really makes you think about the different ways in which culture and religion influence people.

The world and magic system are unique and immersive, and the author skillfully creates a dynamic and fascinating setting. In addition to the intriguing world and magic, secrets, lies, fighting for a cause (or person) you believe in, political intrigue, and many heart-pounding scenes make for an immersive read. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the author for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

>> The Destroyer/ Elodie
“She was fire, she was mercury, she was death. She was a weapon in the hands of her empress.”
In the beginning she is shown to be a brutal, merciless killer, unapologetic and unafraid when in truth that is just a shell. She is barely an adult, afraid, uncertain, traumatised and starved of love. When she loses her memory in an accident, all her barriers vanish and she becomes her true self- honest and at least fair if not kind.
The thing I loved most about her that she goes from an unforgivable mass murderer to someone who has a soul. She is one of the most complex character and she gets her redemption arc.
>> Tal
“Once there was a boy who believed”
Tal is a silver smith, who are outlawed in the Alloyed Empire. He is defined by his faith towards the Unforged God. He has visions and can ascertain what will happen in the future due to his silver blood. He swears an oath to the destroyer to protect her. He believes that the path that his god has shown him will lead to the salvation of the destroyer and ultimately of the entire empire. Once she loses her memory, he sees her true self, he begins to fall for her, knowing that he shouldn’t.
“Because you are human, we were made to withstand such things”
Tal is shown as such a strong character. He is also a grey one. He is also put through many difficult circumstances where his faith wavers (or is lost). I learned that making a big change is never easy and will require sacrifices but is ultimately worth it.
>> Nyx
“Then let it cut me, but first, let me cut her”
She is Tal’s sister who is dedicated to saving him. She is tough and violent but she is necessary. She hates the destroyer with her entire being. I loved her and Helenia’s relationship so much. She is the older sister who will sacrifice everything and go to war with anyone just to protect someone she loves.
I really admired her endurance and strength though she could be a fanatic sometimes.
>> Themes
This book has strong themes of religion and people willing to go to war for it. This also shows realistic political scenarios for the two royal sisters and how people would be willing to kill for the crown and its power.
>> Trope
This was definitely an enemies-to-lovers trope. I also saw the one where a strong lady is supported by her man who just stands back. I even thought Nyx and Tal were the misinformed siblings who will do anything to protect each other one.
>> Pros
The plot is complex and gripping. I couldn’t keep this book down and finished it in a day. The characters are multi-faceted and almost no one (with some exceptions) is shown to be a villain who is entirely dark. There is a lot of diversity in the book. For ex. Nyx is a WOC who is also a lesbian. I loved the relationship between Tal and Elodie very much.
>> Cons
The spacing could have been done better. The world building had a lot more scope and could have been explored more.
Regardless, I enjoyed reading this book so much. A huge thank you to Naomi Hughes and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this gem.

This book isn't even out yet as of me writing this review, but I'm here to tell you that it's already underrated and will be bullying everyone in my life to add this to their TBR's immediately.

Mercurial really is a gem of a novel. While nothing about most of the tropes it uses are unique (blood based magic, enemies to lovers, enemies have to rely on each other to survive, Big Bad with secret tragic past, over protective misinformed siblings... the list really goes on and on) I don't think I've really seen any of them (especially an enemies to lovers standalone) handled this expertly before. This is also a trial perspective standalone fantasy which I've normally only seen done to flesh out world building or page count, but all 3 characters are believable and complex and every single chapter here adds to the narrative.

I'm absolutely obsessed and hopefully, you will be too.

(Will contain slight spoilers!!)

Two things I like about this book, one is the simplistic and easy to understand magic system and the politics. I find it interesting to see it as a backbone of this book, don't get to see them a lot in YA Fantasy. Props to Naomi Hughes on that.

The characters are a hit or miss to me. For instance, the Destroyer as the villain doesn't seem like one, and I get that the narrative weaved the character as morally grey but I just don't feel it. At times, the Destroyer started out to be this terrible and dangerous villain, according to various context. But when Elodie was reveal to be the Destroyer, her character suddenly change, showing the kind-hearted person she was. It feels unnatural, and really juxtapose the first part of the narrative. Did Tal forgot how abusive the Destroyer was? The only characters that I enjoy reading about are Tal and Nyx, especially their relationship as siblings. I could tell they both really cared for each other.

Like most of YA books, I don't put much thought in the enemies to lover trope and sometimes it could be insta-love. And in this case, Tal and Elodie relationship hits close being an insta-love.

Overall, I rated this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading the book but it was okay and decent in my opinion. Really hope the characters were develop more, has strong wlw representation, the worldbuilding is strong (it keeps me reading). Full review will be posted in my blog.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found Mercurial through NetGalley's "Available Now" section and I am so glad I did!

Mercurial revolves around the Alloyad Empire, and they fear The Destroyer. The metal in her blood gives her incendiary powers, and the coldness in her heart makes her the empress's perfect weapon until a rebel attack leaves her with no magic and no memories of herself.
Tal is a royal guard, protecting The Destroyer, who has now since regretted his hopes of changing The Destroyer. Now that she is powerless, he plans to finally end her reign of terror-if he can stop himself from falling for the wicked, funny, and utterly unfamiliar girl she has become.
Nyx was furious when Tal, her brother, abandoned her to protect a tyrant. Now, she hones herself as the rebel assassin until she can kill The Destroyer and rescue Tal. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes the entire empire hinges on the decisions all three of them will make.

This book had me by surprise. I went in expecting this fantasy story to be one that had barely any representation but MAN was I wrong!! Nyx has a girlfriend, Helenia, and she has dark brown skin. Tal is described as having lighter skin than Nyx, but he is not described with white skin.

My favourite character in this story has to be Nyx. I connected with her straight away. She reminds me of myself in a way (and not just because she is gay, like myself). The way she talks, the ways she thinks, reminded me of myself.

The plot itself was so interesting to read. There was never a part in the book that I was bored with and wanted to stop reading. The world-building is so well done for how long the book is. I did not think that the world-building would be so well done but I was blown away!

The romance between The Destroyer and Tal is great. You could say it is enemies to lovers, but The Destroyer never hated Tal. Tal hated The Destroyer so it can be added as enemies to lovers, but not exactly. I still loved it because you could tell through the entire story (when in The Destroyers POV) that she has feelings for Tal but never thinks about them until near the end of the book. I loved every second of being in one of their POVs and seeing how they think of one another. (Also, side note, the book is written in third person omniscient)

If you are looking for a fast-paced, memory loss, vengeance, and fantasy story, this book is for you!

Let me preface this review by saying that I’m not in the target audience for this book, and I can definitely see younger readers enjoying it more than I did.

The story follows Tal, a bodyguard to ‘the Destroyer’ (a.k.a. Elodie), sister to the empress and a fierce fighter known for violently quashing rebellions. Tal is under oath to serve as Elodie’s bodyguard, and hates every minute of it. Meanwhile, his sister Nyx has become involved with the Saints, a group of rebels. However, everything changes when after an accident, Elodie loses her memory, and she and Tal are forced to work together to survive in the wilderness.

When I’m reviewing a fantasy series, one of the most important elements for me is world-building - a superficially-developed world can tank an otherwise decent story. The world-building in Mercurial is OK - I’ve seen better, but I’ve also definitely seen worse in YA fantasy. I liked the magic system and the religion based on metals. It reminded me somewhat of the magic in the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, as that book’s magic system was also metal-based, but Mercurial had a different twist on it that I enjoyed. Another aspect that interested me was the world’s religion, especially Tal’s struggle with his belief in the Unforged God after his visions ended up with him suffering under his oath to the Destroyer.

The writing style was a little repetitive sometimes. I lost count of the number of times the word ‘mercurial’ appeared on the page. As for the plot, I enjoyed the various twists and turns the story took, as well as the themes of redemption and to what extent you can really forgive people.

*SLIGHT SPOILERS*
However, my biggest criticism of this book is that I think that the relationship between Tal and Elodie changed too quickly. Considering how she abused him while he was sworn to be her bodyguard, I felt that his change in feelings towards her happened too quickly. Even though Elodie became a completely different person once she lost her memories, I don’t think that spending one day in her company as a different person would completely erase all the harm she had caused him and how much he hated her. I didn't really buy that he fell for her after everything she had done to his friends and family, and how she had made him complicit in this violence.
*END OF SPOILERS*

Overall, this book was entertaining, and definitely kept me intrigued as to what would happen next. However, I had a few too many issues with some of the character development to fully get invested in the story.

I received this book for an honest review

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this story. An amazing Young Adult read I can't wait until the next one in the series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book (and stayed up too late to finish it). The story was fascinating, with excellent character development and plenty of twists and turns. At times it reminded me of Mistborn (with the metal magic) and a bit of Beauty and the Beast. I love that the story was complete in itself. The author could write more about the world, but I was satisfied with the end.

If I had to find a critique, the character dialogue, especially among the saints, wasn't as polished as it could be. But, that was pretty minor in the grand scheme of the story.

I would certainly read another fantasy book by this author! Thank you NetGalley for the free e-arc.

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to review an ARC of Mercurial!

You know that feeling when you're reading and you're so invested that you forget everything else until you suddenly look up and realize that you are in fact reading, and that no, it isn't actually happening in real life. That's what reading this book felt like. I had gotten about halfway through when I got interrupted and realized that I had been so pulled in that i forgot that it was fiction.

Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed by this book. I picked it up on a whim without knowing too much about it, mainly because I was bored and in the middle of a reading slump. Yet from the very first page, this book kept me hooked. The story follows three POVs: Tal, a boy whose faith in his God led him to swear an oath he would later regret; The destroyer, a young girl with incendiary powers that make her empire's most lethal weapon; and Nyx, a sister who just wants to save her brother and kill the one person responsible for his pain, the Destroyer.

The character dynamics and relationships within this book were complicated and muddled with contradictory feelings. Reading about Tal's anger towards the Destroyer, I expected this to be just another enemies-to-lovers. But it took me by surprise. At its core, this is a great story of forgiveness and redemption, of love and family, and of faith. I came to care for all of these characters and to root for all of them, even if they were all on seemingly opposite teams. I really enjoyed the sibling relationships in this book and how the bonds of family drove the characters and complicated the story.

I would 100% recommend this book to people who love fantasy, enemies-to-lovers, morally grey characters, family dynamics, and political fantasy.

I loved this book so much! I cannot believe that I actually spent the entire day reading this, neglecting everything else in my life! It was so addicting and fast paced. Each chapter left me wanting to read on and on!

Characters:
This book follows three main characters. The Destroyer, sister of the Empress, with enough fire magic to burn a city. Tal, her bodyguard, tricked by his god into swearing to protect her. Nyx, Tal's sister, risking everything to save his life. The entire empire's future rests on these three's actions.

Writing and Atmosphere:
Hughes' writing style was really captivating. I was especially hooked during the final arc of the book, and couldn't put it down. The pacing of her writing was consistent with what was going on in the book, and was done really well. In the final arc, with the highest stakes, Hughes completely slowed down the pacing to counter it with tense atmosphere, so we could actually experience what the characters were feeling.

World-building:
The magic system seems like a combination of the metal magic in Sanderson's Mistborn series with the different colours of blood in Aveyard's Red Queen series. Those without magic have red blood, whereas those with magic have different coloured blood. These people have an affinity to a specific metal, which gives them access to special powers. For example, the Destroyer has mercury in her blood, giving her incendiary magic (basically magic that makes you go BOOM!).

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book to those who like a good YA fantasy. There's even the classic enemies-to-lovers trope (which I always love!).

This book was so wonderful. It sucked me right in from the begin. It has some very amazing characters, and a plot that has you on the tip of your toes. This book really made feel with the characters. I can't do anything else then recommend this one!

“Mercurial” has immense potential but a very slow start and, at a time when I was overwhelmed with work, that made it very difficult for me to finish. I’d love to revisit this book at a better time, but right now wasn’t a great one.

3.75 Stars

Once, there was a boy who believed.

Mercurial centers around a society ‘The Alloyed Empire’ (clever, I like it), where the elite are born with metallic blood and each element gives the bearer certain gifts. One of the protagonists is Elodie, otherwise known as The Destroyer. A rare metal lies within her veins – mercury – leaving her able to wield destructive and cataclysmic fire. Everyone within the Empire fears her: she is the Empress’s perfect weapon. That is, until a rebel attack leaves her vulnerable, with her powers and memories are both stripped away.

On the reverse, we have Tal. Tal loathes the Empire and those at its helm but finds himself as a sworn bodyguard for the Destroyer due to his God frequently sending him visions of protecting her. Two years later, Tal’s belief is dwindling, and he has nothing but regret for his decision to swear fealty to the monster he now serves. But once he holds the knowledge that she’s now powerless and that freedom is within his grasp, he doesn’t know what to do with it.

Straight away, this interests me. I LOVE the idea of this Empire; I LOVE how blood magic has been wielded here and I LOVE the forbidden aspect we have going on. So much happens within the book and the pacing is fast – in a good way. Straight away the scene is set and the world is built. I find it rare in a stand-alone for worlds to be built this efficiently and the characters were also fleshed out in a believable, yet complex way. The author is truly skilled and I appreciated her writing style a lot.

Moving on to why I only gave it 3.75 stars…
Whilst the world building was great, I wanted more. I wanted SO MUCH MORE. I wanted to know all about the different metals, their abilities, was there a hierarchy within them? Why was there a rebellion? The way magic was manipulated was touched upon at the start of the book but where did it go? I just feel as though the book gave us just enough to see us through and understand the characters, but I wanted much deeper lore. This book had the potential to immerse me, but I felt like I only scratched the surface.

I feel as though if you were predominantly a reader of YA fantasy, this would be a 5 star read for you. Unfortunately for me, I like to be immersed a little bit more and this left me wanting because it had so much potential. I would be extremely interested if this author branched out into adult fantasy because her writing and imagery were flawless.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. It has fantastic writing and a fast-paced plot. It is a fantastic standalone and perfect for YA readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

ARC received from Net Galley for an honest review

The premise an exciting story of a bodyguard going through survival with the once-powerful girl he begrudgingly swore his protection to (that now lost her memory) is just what I needed. I would qualify this as somewhat enemies-to-lovers, which resulted in some nice banter as they try to make their way to civilisation after the incident of what caused the girl's memory loss can make for some fun reading.

"See, your hunger makes you irritable."
"It is not my hunger making me irritable"

However, it is not fun banter all of the time and there are of course more complex elements in play. Themes of sisterhood, love, questioning faith, forgiveness, pain, and healing also come to play in this magical world where people with different metals in their blood grant them different affinities. (There's also a WLW relationship that's so sweet and does involve one of the key characters)

The story is what I would consider a quick-read, and because of that I do have some uncertainty how the pacing of the relationship between the enemies-to-lovers took place. I found it just a bit difficult to believe that a person who hates someone for a really long and painful time in their life can forgive them and grow strong feelings such as love in only a few days of their adventure together in this survival situation but I did find the descriptions of the confusion and chaos of emotion (and magic) to be written in such a tangible way that the readers could get some sort of grasp on it.

The character development was well done, but I do wish the book had been a little more fleshed out with more subplots and conflicts in the overall story to make the build-up and the eventual repose of the ending be more satisfying. It was also kind of abrupt and I hoped to see the a more adequate closure for the characters instead of it having ended in a lovey-dovey romance ending. . There could have been more resolution in the aftermath of the ending, as pain and trauma has been referenced many times in the book.

"Finding the end of a journey satisfactory does not erase the pain of the path that brought you there."

Needless to say, I did enjoy this book and the world-building was easy to immerse yourself into with its nature-like and at times regal settings. Quick-read, easier high-fantasy, YA Fantasy with Romance.

You know when you're watching an old sports, coming-of-age movie and there's that inevitable moment when the team you're meant to be rooting for is failing SO badly? Like, man, has this team never even seen a *insert sport of choice* game before? And then! There's the magical moment! The switch! The moment when the coach pulls them aside and reminds them all of why they're here. They begin to believe in themselves and voila! The game (and their reputation) has been redeemed.

That's very similar to my experience with this book, with a few significant alterations.

The first and perhaps most notable one being this is a novel, not a team.

Beyond that, there was the fact this game - er, book - never fully got it's redemption. The second half was SO much better than the first, but it was still nowhere near what it had the potential to be. Which, I believe, is my biggest critique of this book. Don't get me wrong! I enjoyed it! But it was undeniably a shadow of what it could have been.

The world and plot was pretty interesting on its own, but what really made this story were the themes the author delved into. Not very many YA fantasy authors have decided to take a neutral, considerate approach to themes like religion and the different ways religions can help/harm different groups of people. She managed to do it in a way that really got you thinking, while pointing out the traps people fall into and the beauty that can come from religion.

And that's not even starting on the Destroyer and the walking moral dilemma that she was.

With that being said, I still had enough problems with this book that kept me from enjoying it the way I should have. As I mentioned earlier, I had problems with the first half of the book. It was so slow and not much happened, which brings me to another problem I had and that's the problem of 'telling not showing'.

Now, if you've ever been a part of the writing community, or even just the book community, you've heard the age old argument over show-not-tell. And here's the thing: both are necessary for a good story. The trick is knowing what to show and what to simply tell. This was a problem that I kept finding with this story. In the prologue, a decision is made and a union is formed between two characters. In chapter one, we've skipped two years ahead and are already moving past said union. We keep being told that this character does horrible things, but we're very rarely shown them (this does improve as the story carries on, though.) We keep being told these characters feel a certain way, but I very rarely felt like it was represented in their actions.

Overall, this was by no means a perfect book, but it was still enjoyable and I would recommend it for the themes alone.

Are you into enemies to lovers books? Good. This is one of those.

The destroyer is a soulless human who kills anyone her sister, the empress demands. And Tal has made a metal oath to defend the destroyer and thinking it is what his god wanted. Thought he could save this soulless human. But can he? Things go awry and the destroyer is led on a journey that shows another side to herself and tal as well.

I highly suggest this book, it’ll keep you on your toes at all times. The writing was very well done. I’d say I hope there’s a second book but the way it ended could go either way. It managed to end in a way that doesn’t need a second book, but at the same time I wouldn’t mind reading more about the characters.

*I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review*

This is one of my new favorite books by far. From beginning to end it kept me engaged and wondering what might happen next. The character development was superb and helped me as a reader to stay engaged between the pov flips. There was not a huge amount of world building, but the story and background makes up for that. I would personally recommend this book to fantasy readers who enjoy Sarah J Maas series' and Jennifer L. Armentrout series'. It is the perfect book to get someone out of a reading slump and remains engaging throughout.

Now delving into the characters, I found the multilevel character development to be very enticing. Just when a reader may begin to bore of a characters point of view (all readers know the feeling in pov switches), Naomi throws in a perfect piece of info or plot twist. The internal conflictss that both The Destroyer and Tal went through made this book a very thoughtful and reflective read.

Overall, I would rate this book a 4.7/5! I enjoyed the read and plowed through it in two days! I believe I only found two noticable typos, but that is considerably low in the ebook world. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy/romance/adventure!