This was an impressive character driven story about what it means to be a family, through love, dysfunction, secrets, hopes, and dreams.

When Marley and her mom move to Mercury, PA she is immediately drawn to the Joseph family. She initially becomes involved with one brother, Baylor, and earns a spot at the Joseph family dinner table. As the book moves forward, we learn of the many secrets the characters are keeping and the reasons for them.

It started out a little slow but if you like deep stories with complex characters, keep reading. It’s definitely worth it. This is a book that will stick with me for quite some time. It really makes you think, feel, and wonder about your purpose in life.

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns is an engaging novel about a family roofing business in Mercury, a western Pennsylvania town near Pittsburgh, somewhere around New Castle, Grove City, and Hermitage.

The novel focuses on the James and Sons roofing business and the two women who work behind the scenes to make Mick, the father, and Baylor, Waylon, and Shay, the brothers, and their craft, into a respectable local business.

The novel offers a soul-searching look into what makes women stray, leave, or stay. It is a beautiful book, highly recommended for libraries and discussion groups.

Neither Elsie, the mother, or Marley, the daughter-in-law, are born and raised in western PA. Elsie met Mick near Chicago as he was about to go to Vietnam; Marley arrived in Mercury in the early 1990s as a high school senior who relocated with her single mom. For this reason, the novel does not have the culture, food, religion, and sports refences that people who grew up in Pittsburgh know and love (there are no yinzers and the Steelers are mentioned once--but the novel does not need that hoo-ray).

Mercury is a thoughtful novel that deserves to be read more than once.

This book was absolutely stunning.

This was a heavy character-driven novel, which is one of my favorite things. These characters are messy, complicated, flawed, intriguing, and mostly (but not all) lovable. Seeing the dynamics between everyone was so captivating that it was hard to put this book down. There’s also multiple POVs at certain times throughout the book, and I loved getting inside the characters’ heads in those moments.

This was a story about a young woman and how she comes to be apart of a family, and the different roles she plays within that family; it’s also so much more than that. It was about what family means, the pressures and expectations that come from being in a family, and how all of this shapes a person and their choices in life.

I know that this book and these characters are going to stay with me for a while.

"Mercury" by Amy Jo Burns is a literary gem that captures the resilience of a small-town family in business together. In this multi-generational story, Burns delves into the inner lives of the Joseph family, exposing the complexities that arise from the passage of time and the choices made in the name of love, loyalty and familial duty. The strength of the novel lies in its rich character development, as each character is portrayed with distinct personalities, struggles, and, most significantly, untold truths. Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for sending this ARC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

A family drama set in the blue-collar town of Mercury, Pennsylvania and centers around the Joseph family - a mother, a father, three sons, and a daughter-in-law. A story about the struggle between reaching for your dreams while managing the expectations of others. Ultimately, secrets are revealed that shake this family to the core. Can this family be saved?

I enjoyed the development of the characters and the pacing of the story. My thanks to NetGalley and Cindy Burnett at Thoughts From a Page (Traveling Galley Program) and Celadon Books for the advanced copy of this book. Publish date - January 2, 2024.

Amy Jo Burns did not disappoint with characters so well created one feels as if they know them as neighbors by the time the book is over. Each character comes to life with such realism. The writing is so poetic and dynamic one can imagine the scene. A story that unfolded brilliantly from the first page and kept me intrigued to the last page. I devoured it in 2 days and will eagerly wait for another of her books. It was my last book of 2023 and will be book 75 and one of my favorites. I will be informing others to put Mercury on their reading list!

4.5 stars. This is that perfect kind of quiet family drama done the right way. It took a little while to get into the story but once I did, I was hooked. The characters were all complex and their secrets were slowly revealed over the course of the novel in a way that kept me turning pages. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this advance copy!

When I first picked up this book I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I thought this was going to be a suspense and was very pleasantly surprised that it is a character driven family drama (one of my favorite genres!).
When 17 year old Marley West first drives into Mercury, PA, the first people she sees are Mick Joseph and his two sons, Baylor and Waylon (18 & 17 respectively) standing atop a roof. Within a few weeks Marley finds herself woven into the family and their family business. Loved by the boys and their 10 year old brother Shay, hated by their mother Elise, and ignored by Mick, Marley quickly finds herself at the center of the family- their problems, their secrets, and their hearts.
Taking place during the years of 1990-1999, Amy Jo Burns has given us a family drama that will have you glued to the pages. I have to admit the first 30% was very slow moving and I wasn’t quite sure I would like it, but as soon as it picked up, it took off running and I couldn’t put it down.
The depth of Ms. Burns’ writing is something truly spectacular despite the slow beginning and her characters are three dimensional and jump off the page at every moment. This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Burns but it certainly won’t be the last. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advanced copy. This gem hits the shelves on January 2nd.

This is a novel for those who enjoy a close encounter with the emotional life of a family - an examination of its ties and its divides.
The story is of a girl, Marley, new in town, who sets her sights on becoming a member of the Joseph family as: girlfriend, spouse and substitute mom to one of its three brothers; confidant to the mother whose mental state is shaky; bookkeeper and conscience of the father who thinks only of keeping his business alive but can’t balance the books.
The novel is entirely character-driven. It is not actually much of the mystery it starts out, in parts, to be. Therefore, you have to engage with the characters and the world of the roofing contractor, which is the Joseph family’s business and forms the backbone of the minimalist plot and action in this book.
I have to say that the members of the Joseph family did not intrigue me, and neither did the small-town roofing contractor setting. (I apologize, but I only made it 60% through this book.) Without spoiling the story for others by being specific, I found Marley, the wannabe Joseph, to be vacuously unaware of the repercussions of the decisions she made. I also found she shucked off a series of life-changing events with remarkable ease and moved on without missing beat. Could anyone really do that?
The writing was good with some noteworthy insights into family relationships. I found the opening chapters of the book to be written in a heated rush, as if the author was scared of losing a reader by taking breath. But once Marley got married, the pace calmed down and the deep dive into characters and their motivations began in earnest.
As I said at the start of this review, if you enjoy prolonged character analysis of a close-knit group this book would be for you.

The Joseph family is well established in Mercury, a small town in Western Pennsylvania where they don’t get a lot of new residents. The Josephs are known for their father, Mick’s, somewhat erratic actions, the two older sons who like to fight, and their roofing company. Each family member has a very distinctive personality, and thrown into the mix is Marley, daughter of a single mother who recently moved to the town.
Mercury definitely has a different twist on the dysfunctional family theme with its focus on the men in the family. Ms. Burns tells an interesting story, but be prepared - the lives of the characters are all so sad you might end up a bit depressed. Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon for the opportunity to read Mercury in exchange for an honest review.

An incredible novel that follows Marley's unexpected journey into the intricate web of the Joseph brothers' lives. From the moment she meets them when she arrives in the small town of Mercury with her single mother, her world is forever altered as she becomes entangled in the complexities of familial bonds and the trials of love, loss, and resilience. This novel is hard to but down, and I will continue thinking about it for months. Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this bookl!

I devoured this book. I got so invested in the characters. The synopsis says it perfectly "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." It's set in the 90s which was very nostalgic for me.

This is one of the main picks for Book of the Month, or you can get it anywhere January 2nd!

Thank you @netgalley and @celadonbooks for the earc in exchange for my honest review!

An interesting read.
Two women, Elise and Marley, are the linchpins for the Joseph family. The husband three sons and the grandson revolve around the two women.
Burns tells the story from different viewpoints.
I found that the novel lacked some depth. I just didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, they were gliding along the surface, but nothing in depth was plumbed.

Mercury is already getting rave reviews and isn’t even out yet. After seeing it chosen as a BOTM, I moved it up on my list. This was a character driven story, but with enough plot to keep the story moving along. Highly recommend!

Thanks to Celadon for my #gifted ARC and the NetGalley digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. I started this back in November, during my Puerto Rico trip, but the pace was a bit too slow to keep my attention. I totally failed at reading it as part of a buddy read - sorry fellow buddy readers! I returned to the book, restarting while at my family home for the holidays, and I read it in a few sittings - this goes to show that timing is everything when you pick up a book!
Mercury is a slow burn character-driven family drama set in the small town of Mercury outside of Pittsburgh. The setting and a lot of the plot are depressing. However, there is an element of mystery underlying the book. The book starts with a decomposed body being discovered in the roof of the local church, and the reader is exposed to the different characters of the Joseph family, getting to see them grow and change over the course of about 8 years in the early-to-mid 1990s, up to the present of the body’s discovery. Whose body is it? How did it end up sealed in the roof of the church - and when? I had to keep reading to figure this out, even though it took about 2/3 of the book to get back to it. I had to keep reminding myself that Marley, the main character, was still in her mid-20s at the oldest as this book proceeded, as she seemed much older due to the story and her life experiences. And I loved the youngest Joseph brother, Shay, who I just wanted to give a big hug and tell life was going to be okay.
If you are a big fan of character driven books, you may find this one more engaging than I did. I have another book by Amy Jo Burns on my backlist (Shiner), but I think I will read that one via audiobook instead. Mercury is both a Book of the Month and an Indie Next pick for January, so I’m interested to hear more what others think of this one. It will be available this coming Tuesday!

This book is funny, and sad, and quirky, and basically all the things I love about reading. There are moments that are quite unbelievable and moments that are universal. All of the characters in this book are flawed and believable. The women are the true heroines of the story but goodness, I loved them all.

I enjoyed Amy Jo Burns’ previous book Shiner, but Mercury outdoes it.

4.5 stars. Thank you to the publisher for providing the ARC!

Oh my heart - the Joseph brothers got to me.

In this roofing’ family’s dysfunction are bonds of deep loyalty that are tested by so many secrets and untold truths.

So much hurt that could have been avoided yet - much strength, protectiveness and love keeps this fictional family together much like real life families rise and overcome the trials of family dramas.

Strong willed women behind the men, a fierce tidal wave.

How many times I wanted to shake all of these characters I cannot begin to count. They felt like family. They felt real.

The added mystery here was nice twist too.

Definitely worth the read.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐲
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐀𝐦𝐲 𝐉𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you #partner @CeladonBooks and @macmillan.audio for my gifted advanced copies of Mercury!

I had no clue what to expect when I started this book, but I can say I was surprised in the best way possible and I truly loved loved Mercury! Character driven, and beautifully written, Mercury is a book I will be thinking about for a long time! I found the main focus to be on found family and finding yourself and I really enjoyed this one!

When Marley moves to the town of Mercury, the first people she sees are three men on a rooftop, who end up being the Joseph brothers. Soon, Marley finds herself part of the Joseph family, regularly visiting the house and eating meals with the family, and forming relationships with the three brothers, Waylon, Baylor, and Shay. It’s not long before Marley finds herself pregnant and wanting to find a permanent place in the Joseph family. Elise, the mother of the Joseph brothers, has always accepted Marley into the family, but eventually distances herself from her when she sees too much of herself in Marley. When Elise starts to deteriorate due to health issues, Marley steps in to uphold the family. Later, a discovery in a church attic opens old wounds and threatens to tear the family apart.

Mercury
Found Family
Self-Discovery
Top Notch Character Development
Deep Dark Secrets
Literary Fiction with a Hint of Mystery
Perfect Book Club Pick

I alternated between the book and the audiobook and I adored Maria Liatis in this one! I found her emotions to be so powerful and I truly loved my listening experience. You can’t go wrong with either format!

Posted on Goodreads on December 30, 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- January 2, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on January 2, 2024
**-will post on designated date

Thank you, NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Macmillan Audio, for the Digital Review Copy and Advanced Listening Copy.

This. This is why I don’t post my “favorite books read” until the year is DONE. I never know when one will sneak in there, make me feel all the feels, reading for hours at a time, and finishing with tears in my eyes. Family dramas don’t always work for me, but when they hit just right, they take my whole heart.

Marley moved to Mercury, a small Pennsylvania town, in the 90s. She is pulled into the Joseph family, growing to be a “shepherdess” to the three sons while navigating some confusing and treacherous relationships with their mother and father. The story revolves around Marley, but we get to understand each of the other characters when they get their own point of view in the telling.

I love how Burns shows the characters’ evolution and growth at a perfect pace, providing drama and resolution at just the points I needed them. She also wrote one of my favorite characters ever. Marley is strong, intelligent, hardworking, opinionated, loyal, and loving. I want her to be a real person so we can be friends.

FYI, I attempted to read this as an audiobook but couldn’t connect to the story. Too many names and nicknames? The narrator’s delivery? The style of the writing? I don’t know, but I was SUNK once I switched to the e-book. I went back to the beginning and FELL IN LOVE by page three, “He swung at bad pitches like his heart had never been broken, rounded the bases as if time would never run out.”

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of Mercury, but this was not the book for me.
It was too slow and I couldn't get into it.
If you like slower paced character driven books you might enjoy this.