As a Celadon Reader, I was so happy to receive an arc of Mercury especially after I saw some rave reviews! And I loved it! It’s a character driven book with characters who you will get to know intimately and despite their faults and imperfections, they will touch your heart.
Joseph and Sons is more than just a roofing company. To the Joseph family, it's their identity, their lifeline and their purpose. The three sons think they know their place in the business and family, until Marley comes into town and catches the attention, and soon becomes part of, the whole family. Family drama and secrets threaten to break the family apart and destroy each of them individually. They are each only trying to find their purpose and their place, wanting to love and be loved.
And, understandably some might say the undercurrent of the book is sad, it’s also a beautiful story of found family, acceptance, survival and strength. Bravo to the author for introducing such faulted characters but bringing them to life in a way that you will still care for them, root for them and even love them.
I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more by this author!
Thank you so much NetGalley and Celadon Books for gifting me this ebook!

The Josephs are well known in town of Mercury as they have a busy roofing business, Elise, the mom, is a pillar of the church and community, and the boys are popular athletes in school. In the 90’s, Marley and her mom move to Mercury. Marley begins to date one of the Joseph sons and soon becomes a part of their family. Fast forward to about 10 years later and some of the family secrets are exposed. I enjoyed the writing style and getting to know each character. I feel like in some books, the more you know the character, the more you don’t like them, whereas in Mercury, even the problematic characters have redeeming qualities or at least an explanation for who they became. I loved the story, the small town setting, and especially the time period as I was also in high school in the 90’s. Definitely recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for the ARC!

Amy Jo Burns does it again with this beautiful story of found family and broken dreams. The small-town setting was perfect for this family saga. I found myself left with so many thoughts about the family you're born with and the family you create, particularly with Marley.


This was a truly extraordinary read. Thanks to Celadon, the author, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy!

"Head on straight, heart on straight."

Mercury is a character-driven drama about love, marriage, and the complicated relationships that make a family.

When 17-year-old Marley moves to the small Western Pennsylvania town of Mercury, she is enamored with the Joseph family. Soon, she is married and pregnant and holding up the family she once admired from afar. The burden is deep, and the secrets she holds are even deeper.

Marly is the primary character, but the Joseph brothers play large roles, and Marley's mother-in-law's story is constant. I didn’t love Marley’s character, but I felt like I should have. I was drawn to Baylor, Marley’s brother-in-law, and Elise, Marley’s mother-in-law. Their stories were fragile and complex. While I didn't love or even like the characters, I kept thinking about them.

The Josephs are a family of roofers, and Burns shares her family's connection to this element of the novel, which was a lot more interesting than I anticipated.

Amy Jo Burns writes with a sense of sadness, a quiet whimsy, and strength. She captures the essence of a family on the verge of crumbling at any moment. This is as much a story about family as it is about the women who hold families together.

Mercury is one of those books that I really liked but didn’t love. Burns keeps the characters at a distance, making it hard to connect. On the other hand, the atmosphere and her writing called me back in.

I love stories about imperfect families and Mercury is no exception. All the Josephs has flaws and when Marley arrives in town, she upsets the status quo they had been living in. Secrets are revealed through the span of several decades, moving between the present, the past and into the future. The cracks widen and threaten to split the family apart. I wouldn’t say it has a happy ending, but it wraps up with the Josephs learning what it truly means to be a family.

“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 Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world and soon bonds of loyalty will be tested when they uncover a long-hidden secret at the heart of their blue-collar town.”

This one started out a little slow, but halfway through, some things were finally revealed and that certainly helped quicken the pace.

Normally I would fall head over heels for a beautifully written, character-driven family drama. And while I very much enjoyed and appreciated “Mercury”, I never had a strong desire to pick it up. Other reviews stated you would fall in love with the Joseph family, but I found that to be a difficult task. There was just too much toxicity and family secrets, in my humble opinion. Quite frankly, they annoyed me most of the time and I had a hard time believing Marley would still be so drawn to this dysfunctional family after years of being stuck on their merry-go-round. However, there is no denying there is a great story here and my patience paid off with an overall rewarding read. This would be an excellent book club selection to discuss with friends!

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for this advanced copy!

I loved this family drama! I think being a mother and a wife it was easy to relate to the frustrations of being heard and seen and having your own life. The way Marley fit into the lives of the Joseph family was interesting to see evolve over time. I loved seeing the bonds and how each person struggled with their role in the family.

Mercury is a tale of complex family and community dynamics. But it's not just about the typical kinds of family like blood family but also found family, and the roots that bind them. The characters are well developed and grow through a number of years together. I went into reading Mercury with no expectations and found myself feeling all kinds of emptions while reading this. It is at the same time a heartbreaking and heartwarming story. I am not an avid fan of family saga books, but I did enjoy this one.

I love a good family story, and this one definitely stood out.

The Joseph family is both extremely complicated, and also just like every other family out there. The characters will make your heart ache in all different ways, and each time you think you’ve got a sense of the family dynamic, you get another layer. I loved the web of relationships and the individual stories and introspection, too!

Plot girlies, be warned — this is, obviously, more of a character study (my fave). There’s definitely conflicts along the way that drive continual changes in the family’s relationships, but the story is far more focused on the natures of the characters themselves than any particular plot arc.

Really loved this read, and it’s a BOTM choice this month if you want to give it a try too!

I’m not a fan of this one.

Thanks to the NetGalley and the author for this e-arc.

The things I did like about this book was the Western PA setting. I loved reading a book about an area that I live and grew up in. I loved Marley and Jade’s friendship. I also really enjoyed Shay’s arc.

But that was it. The Josephs felt like the Walmart version of the Brennans. This book had way too much going on. If it had just picked one thing it would have been fine. But there were so many random side stories that didn’t get wrapped up at all.

And really there was zero resolution for was Elise did to Hollis. Zero. Nothing. It’s like everyone in the family knew and no one did anything. Even if she didn’t kill him, she left him in that attic and put Marley in a bad position. And like Mick they protected her too.

Maybe that’s the point of the book? I am not sure.

Anyway, if you like family dramas you may like this one. I am glad I didn’t get it for my BOTM pick.

Marley lives with her Mom and they move around a lot without putting down any roots. They move to Mercury and suddenly she is dating one of the Joseph boys and finds herself immersed in their family and she loves everything about it because she’s never had it An unexpected pregnancy; marriage, a struggling family business, helping her best friend start her business and family dynamics she struggles to understand. I got really invested with each character and their good/bad/ugly traits and their story and how they love each other in their own way. I also enjoyed seeing them mature and grow individually and collectively as a family. I truly loved this book!

Thank you to Celadon Books for the ARC! #NetGalley. #Mercury

𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌

𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙮
by Amy Jo Burns

I love richly layered family dramas, and if you are like me, put Mercury at the top of your TBR. I will think about these characters for a long time. I read this in 2 days because I fell in love with this family. Amy Jo Burns has a gift for immersing us in the home life of a family striving and struggling as they live together in their great house in Mercury, PA. Joseph & Sons Roofing is the company Mick Joseph started after he returned from Vietnam, and this is the house he renovated after his wife Elise gave birth to their first son, Baylor. Waylon and Shay followed Baylor. Their sons lived with them and worked with Mick roofing. The novel begins as a girl named Marley arrives in Mercury with her mother. From that point on, we follow her and we are introduced to the Josephs.
I loved this character-driven story, and finished it in 2 days. I have seen comparisons to Hello Beautiful, and I think this family drama was even better.
I could see this novel playing like a movie in my mind, and hear the characters' conversations. I found myself becoming emotionally attached to them all.
See trigger warnings on Storygraph.
I can only hope it does appear on screen, even though the book was better.
2024 is off to a great start!
Thank you @netgalley & @celadonbooks for the opportunity to read this incredible novel.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#Mercury #bookstagram #books #currentlyreading #amreading #book #newbooks #JanuaryReads

Read at lightning speed I devoured this sad, emotional, hopeful family saga. I recommend it for anyone looking for an emotional page turner with a bit of mystery!

Mercury is the rural hometown to the Joseph family, where Mick and Elise own and operate a roofing company. Their three sons, Baylor, Waylon, and Shay help with the family business when they can. But when Marley West and her mom Ruth arrive into town, sibling rivalry and jealously threaten to upend the Joseph’s family dynamics. And will it be for the best or worse?

I really enjoyed Mercury. The novel was a little depressing at times as it portrayed a rural family struggling to make ends meet while also dealing with modern/contemporary issues such as PTSD, gay relationships, and dementia. It is not a light read due to the subject matter. And as a family drama, it did get a little intense at times. With numerous plot twists that unfold over multiple timelines, Mercury kept me engaged and captured till the end.

The characters are well developed and genuinely portray a rural family of the 90’s. I liked all of the characters as they all added flavor and color to the narrative. But it is the main character of Marley that really made the story come to life. I watched Marley grow from dependent teenager, to loving mother and wife, and into an independent, strong businesswoman that persevered through thick and thin.

Overall, Mercury was an excellent family drama well deserving of five solid stars.

I received a DRC and ARC from Celadon Books through NetGalley and the Bookish First Raffle. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

This book. Wow. So tragic and beautiful and full of truth.
The complexity of these characters was intoxicating. I was completely immersed in their life and their love and their pain while reading.
Marley’s character is everything. When she moves to Mercury she is noticed by the town bad boy. He belongs to the Joseph family, known for their roofing company. The tangled and complicated relationships that evolve after, make for one of the most beautifully honest books I have ever read.
Mercury was fearlessly written and Amy Jo Burns has my attention completely.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC.

I really wanted to love Mercury and I know that a lot of readers will, but it wasn’t a huge hit for me. I love character-driven books and family dramas, but there were two aspects that I struggled with: I felt like it stalled a bit about 2/3 of the way through, and I have a hard time believing a story with so many deep, introspective characters — especially especially teens/young adults. That’s a personal pet peeve of mine and might not bother other readers, but I think I would have liked this story better if the whole story was told from Marley’s perspective. I can believe one mature, old soul, but I have a hard time suspending disbelief for a whole town full of contemplative, wise young adults.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy of this book.

This book was amazing. The relationship between mother and daughter in law was so enraging and admirable and everything in between. The words were written to make me feel everything Marley was feeling while trying to fit into this family that was hers but wasn’t.

When I had the opportunity to choose this book for my book club last year, I declined because, who wants to pick a book about a western Pennsylvania family in the roofing business? Sounds boring, right? Well, I immediately got involved with Marley and her mom when they relocated to the small town of Mercury and teen Marley meets the Joseph family. Amy Jo Burns creates such real characters that I felt like if I drove through this town, I'd see the Joseph's fixing a roof and would have to go get a haircut at Jade's place. Woven throughout this story is the mystery of how a decomposing body ended up in the church's attic and that's all I'll say about that!

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns is a love story. It’s the story of life shared in a family, between each member of a family. It was one of the best family dramas I’ve read lately.

Marley is an only child of a single mom. She arrives in Mercury, PA and is quickly engulfed by the Joseph family. Mercury tells the story over 9 years.

Baylor, Waylon and Shay are the Joseph brothers. Each will impact, and be impacted by, Marley and their love for each other, as they grow from teenagers to adults.

But this isn’t a perfect love story. Things aren’t wrapped up in tidy bows at the end. These stories are messy, and there are hurts that go unacknowledged, and unresolved. But I loved my time with the Joseph family—all of them.

Thank you to @netgalley and @celadonbooks for the e-copy of #mercury. This book published 1/2/2024 and is available wherever books are sold.

First and foremost I want to thank Netgalley and the publishing company for allowing me to read this ARC. Thank y’all so much!

What I loved the most about this book is that it showed how important one person in your family can be and how they become the glue that keeps everything together, even though she may not get the proper response she’s looking for.

Marley stepped into the Joseph family knowing that it was going to be hard to feel accepted and loved.

The family goes through rollercoaster of emotions: lust, greed, love and anguish.

Such an amazing read showing that it’s ok to break a cycle.