💗💗
This book has my whole heart !
Mercury is a coming of age novel that introduces us to inside look at The Joseph family in the little town of Mercury that sets eyes on the young resilient and charming Marley.

"Sins are like butterflies" . Shay kept his cool. "They all began as something else"

This family saga will suck you in as you fall in love with the Joseph brothers Waylon, Baylor and Shay all who have a profound love for Marley and a mother in-law that envies her.
Marley is strong, smart , has a natural business savvy and ...shes pregnant.

Having to make choices for your future at a young age can make or break your future and who you are . There is ups and downs and we learn of the bond these brothers have no matter how much they pain one another .

I was enamored by this tale and admired watching Marley grow into such a bright wise woman , she grew on me so much and I found her character so relatable.

Mercury has family saga , mystery , romance ,finding your voice and the meaning of family !

Such a beautifully written novel and I am truly thankful to Netgally , Celadon Books and Amy Jo Burns for this digital copy.... I leave you with this quote that has still stuck with me :

"What do I always say?" Ruth asked , holding her close .
Head on straight , heart on straight.
As she drove away with her mother shrinking in the rearview mirror, Marley understood a bit more of what motherhood meant, this continual opening of every door for children to pass through, stay a while , leave , and return.

I think fans of Reminders of Him, Regretting You, The Connellys of County Down and Before I Let Go will devour this book!!

This is an extremely well-written book about a dysfunctional family and the crises and secrets each family member endures.

Those who love family drama and character-driven stories will love this one. While this book had elements of my favorite books, it had too little plot for my taste, which made reading tough to push through at times.

It’s 1990 and Marley moves to a new small town called Mercury. She gets involved with a local family in the roofing business and wants to belong to this family. They are a very disfunctional group, with many quirks and secrets, including a big one that shocks the town.

I really enjoyed this character driven family drama. We come to know Marley and the Joseph family living in small town USA. The Joseph family is a well known family in Mercury while Marley is the newcomer. I really enjoyed reading about the family and the women in the book, Elise and Marley were my favorite characters. I will definitely read more from Amy Jo Burns. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC.

I enjoyed the characters, and the author does a better job navigating timelines than others. I’m not sure I fully bought into the romanticized life on the roof. That said, I love a good family drama, and boy do the Josephs deliver!

This book got my year off to a spectacular start. When teenage Marley and her mom arrive in town ready to start anew, they become acutely aware of the Joseph family 3 brother, and their parents, all incredibly damaged people in their own way, The writing was such that I felt any of the characters could walk into my front door and zi would know them. But was the damaged inflicted on them or did they bring it on themselves? This book would be a great book club book. 📕

Short synopsis: At the age of 17 Markey moves to the small town of Mercury and meets the Joseph family, falling quickly for Waylon. Now, a body is found in the attic of the church.

My thoughts: Such a great family drama with well developed characters with completely relatable stories. This is a story of family, loyalty, work, and ultimately love.

I completely binged this one, I couldn’t help but immerse myself in the life of Marley and root for her growth. I really enjoyed the different relationships she forged with each person in the Josephs family.

The family as a whole was so flawed and complicated, starving for attention and love, but not quite sure how to show it or ask for it. I was completely enamored with the small roofing business and watching how each character worked to better (or diminish) it.

Read if you love:
- Complex family stories
- Slow burn
- Mystery
- Small businesses
- Character driven stories

This was a family drama that was very slow going. I thought the story would revolve around the mystery found in the attic, but instead it was a hodge podge of love and money issues. I skimmed the second half of the book because it was very repetitious. Maybe this book didn't work for me because I was looking for a darker story to go along with the long-hidden secret.

When I first saw 'Mercury', the cover caught my eye and the synopsis of the book sounded good. That being said, I was not prepared to be totally blown away by Amy Jo Burns' novel. I love the Joseph family as their story is typical of families everywhere. It is balm to my soul to read just such a story about the real nitty and gritty of everyday life that we all experience and grapple with. The dynamics between each of the six Joseph family members are fascinating and, just as in real life, relationships are rarely what they seem on the surface. The male Joseph family members are trying to provide for the family and support each other as they think they should and in the case of Shay are trying to figure out where they belong in the big picture. Elise and Marley are struggling to maintain an iota of self as they give of their very soul to the concept of their family. I was surprised in the end to find out that everybody's secrets were just that - everybody's. I give this book five stars and highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley, BookishFirst and Celadon books for getting an ARC in my hands.

I loved this character-driven story and found it to be a compulsive and compelling read. The characters were written with such depth and relatability making them feel familiar. The mystery elements made it hard to put down too! All around an amazing book and will definitely be reading more from this author!

With small town charm and family drama, Mercury takes the reader into the lives of the Joseph family. They're a family or roofers. As a teenager, Marley and her mother move into the small town of Mercury. She befriends and falls for the oldest son Baylor. Soon, she falls for the middle son Waylon and becomes a mother figure to the baby of the family, Shay. As the story unfolds, secrets are revealed, and events take place that tear the family apart before putting it back together.
The story could be dramatic at times, but overall, I enjoyed the small town feel and the characters.

I loved this literary fiction book so much! It was heavily character-driven, but unputdownable at the same time. Normally character-driven books are a bit sluggish for me and while I enjoy them, they aren't quick reads necessarily. This one was the exception! I flew through this story and found myself not wanting to read anything else. I loved the complicated Joseph family and of course, Marley. I highly recommend!

This is an intense family drama that will stay with you after you finish, Marley is the new girl in town and she connects with the dysfunctional Joseph family and found a seat at their dinner table. As this family struggles to keep their relationships and business together, Marley finds herself becoming entangled in their lives.

This book is full of family drama, secrets, complex relationships, tragedy, mental health challenges, love, sacrifices, perseverance and loyalty. This is the first book I have read by this author and I look forward to reading her backlist,

Thank you Celadon Books, Amy Jo Burns and NetGalley for the gifted eArc. Add this book to your TBR if it isn’t already on it! I gave this book 5 stars!

DNF @32%

I usually like family dramas, so I thought I'd love this. But the pacing was off and I didn't really care about much of what was happening.

Amy Jo Burns put her whole heart into this novel and it is evident from page 1. I loved the character development, the close storytelling and the writing. I thought it could have been edited down a bit and did feel it lagged in the middle for about 20-30 pages, but other than that, I really enjoyed spending time with this messy family.

3 stars .....as it was a slow burn with deep rooted family drama that I don't think I was ready for.

It's rare that Celadon provides a physical copy, and eArc and Audiobook for a book that doesn't capture my interest right off the bat. It may have been a miss for me, but if you are a fan of dysfunctional family drama and a very character driven story - then this book is for you!

Thank you to Amy Jo Burns, Celadon, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a physical copy, and eArc and an audiobook version of this publication. In return, I have promised to provide an unbiased review.

The premise to this one is right up my alley! I loved most of this story but one part that constantly annoyed me was Marley’s obsession with her in-laws. I totally understand the need to feel like you belong but her obsession with her mother-in-law is down right weird? The need for her constant approval, that she never gives, and how Marley seems like she admires her but also doesn’t respect her for the way she says to be a member of the family, you need to be silent. She claims to do everything for her family and doesn’t have them even acknowledge it. It’s confusing and truthfully, her mother-in-law doesn’t sound like she’d be easy to contend with.

All the characters are very woe-is-me, thinking they have the hardest life of all. One sentence talking about the mom says “Elise had carted him (Shay; the youngest son) everywhere - he, the shopping bag she had to set down to deal with her two oldest sons. It had worn her out, raising them, and Shay had paid the price.” 🙄🙄🙄

The author seems to almost martyr the mother and calls her “selfless” but when in reality that isn’t seen throughout the book, she isn’t a good woman at all. She pits family members against each other by bringing out their faults and raising said faults to each other instead of bringing them together and bringing out the best in each family member.

Past the 80 percent mark, told mainly from Baylor’s (the eldest son) POV, I really enjoyed it. It was almost heartbreaking from his perspective. And then beyond that, to the end I felt like the book had emotion and heart like I wanted the whole book to have from the start.

I know it doesn’t seem like I enjoyed this book, but I did. It felt very real, and it’s a book that you can totally picture in your mind as you read. It’s just very easy to nitpick Mercury but truth be told, that doesn’t mean I won’t still be thinking about this book for a long time.

“A whole person loves well.”

This book took me by surprise. I knew nothing about it before reading and I hadn’t really seen any reviews for it (mainly just book features), so I took that as a bad sign. I went into it expecting to not enjoy it, but oh my goodness, I couldn’t put it down.

First of all, this book is sad. So, so sad. There are so many heartbreaking moments that take place throughout, and my soul just ached for every character.

That was another thing. The characters were brilliantly written and I felt so connected to all of them. Marley and Elise, the Joseph brothers, Mick, even Jade. There was so much depth to all of them. They all had their flaws, but each of them had these beautiful qualities that were just dying to come out. They all frustrated me but I also loved each of them in a different way.

Also, the writing itself was honestly poetic. It was such an enjoyable reading experience.

I think that’s all I really have to say about this one. I know it may not be for everyone, but I highly recommend this coming-of-age story about a young girl who falls in love with the Joseph family and the trials that they face together.

Thank you to Celadon Books for my gifted copy!

I absolutely LOVED #mercurybooks book. This incredible story comes out in January - definitely preorder it now. The family dynamics were incredible - so dysfunctional and flawed, but written perfectly. The characters had more issues than I can count, yet they were also self aware. I loved how we got different perspectives of this story, making it easier to love and hate different characters at different times. The ending left me disappointed, not because I disliked it but because I did not want it to end. I want to know more about the family, their story and future generations. The story started slow, but became one that I could not put down. I strongly recommend this to all.
A story about 3 brothers, their family roofing business and the secrets, lies and love that bind them. Their father Mick has scars from the war. Their mother Elise is the glue that holds them together. Marley becomes a young mother, when the middle son gets her pregnant and marries her. Marley is the one that got away to the oldest, Baylor. And Shay, the youngest, looks to her as a second mother. They all hold secrets, tell lies, yet love one another in their own way.

thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy

This was a really solid family drama. It had more of a mystery within the plot that kept things moving along at a great pace compared to some other family dramas I have read. I loved the way the characters were introduced at a surface level first, then slowly digging deeper throughout the story until I had developed a strong attachment to the entire family. If you're a fan of complex character driven narratives, definitely give this book a try. It was really a beautiful story with some really deep themes of family, forgiveness and sacrifice.
Read this if you like:
family drama, small towns, character-driven, a bit of suspense