This was a great read! I don’t tend to like character driven plots but this was entertaining enough once I got into this story— I did have to restart it a couple times cause I just couldn’t get into it. The mystery that hung in the air from the start to the middle was low angst & revealed fairly quickly. The characters were developed well and came to life as I read about each of them individually.

Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this for an honest opinion!

A strong family drama with flawed characters, small town angst, and just enough secrets and deception to keep you going!

"Do you ever feel like the rest of the world is trying to save everyone but you?"

It's the 1990s and Marley West has moved to her umpteenth small town with her single mom Ruth. But upon arrival, she is immediately swept into the lure and pull of the Joseph family, a family that's complicated love, devastating secrets, and unfailing loyalty will change the course of Marley's life.

I really enjoyed this story overall. It was easy to pick up and get lost in the lives of the citizens of Mercury specifically the Joseph family. I loved how we truly got to know each character: their wants, their desires, their secrets, and their truths. I found each character to be more earnest than the last and despite their shortcomings, I empathized and rooted for each of them.

This is a more character driven book. While there is a mystery at the center, I felt it got solved pretty quickly and without much fuss and the focus was shifted immediately back to the characters. Even some of the higher stakes plot moments eventually centered on the feelings and actions of the characters versus the plot standing on its own. I didn't hate the focus on the characters as they are pretty interesting, but it did make the pacing a bit slower in some points, especially characters you didn't care for as much.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this one and recommend it to those looking for layered, character driven family drama with a bit of nostalgia and 90s flare mixed into it.

Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great slow-burn, very character driven story. I thought all of the characters were really well developed and it had me intrigued the whole way through. I've seen this comped to We Are The Brennans and I think that's a great comparison.

** I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

📖: Mercury
✍️: Amy Jo Burns
🎙: Maria Liatis
⭐️: 4 of 5

Trigger/Content Warnings:
- Sexual Content (Non Discriptive)
- Same Sex Relationship (Brief mention)
- Language (Minimal)

My Thoughts:
This book! This was not at all what I thought it was going to be. It was so much more. Family drama, mystery, and romance all perfectly packaged into a literary masterpiece. This is one that will stay with me for a while. I am looking forward to reading more from Burns in the future.
Thank you, NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Celadon Books, for the opportunity to listen and also read this advanced copy.

Love a good family drama? Look no further! This might be a little bit of a slow-burn but the expressive writing, memorable characters, and complex family dynamics made it fly by. I started this one day and finished by the next, a blur of emotions left in its wake. An unforgettable reading experience that I’ll be recommending loudly and often.

It really doesn’t compare to anything but I do think if you enjoyed books like We Are the Brennans or The People We Keep, you’ll enjoy this!

I did a combo of digital and audio and loved both. Big thanks to Macmillan Audio for the #alc and Celadon books for the #arc via netgalley in exchange for my thoughts.

This is a slow burn character driven family drama that hits all the right notes. We are immersed into the world of the Joseph brothers and the strong women that keep them together. I loved getting the perspectives of the different characters to understand the backstory of their choices. There was a bit of mystery, lots of family secrets, drama, and some loveable and not so likeable characters. If you enjoyed The Connellys of County Down, then this book will likely work for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Mercury is family drama from Amy Jo Burns.

"17-year-old Marley and her mother move to Mercury. Soon she is pulled into the Joseph family. She becomes a mother and a wife and a part of the family business. She may be the only one able to hold the family and the business together. Especially after a body is found in the church attic and old secrets come to light."

This is a family saga from Burns. There are several time jumps - somehting happens and then we're a couple of years in the future. Near the end a couple of characters revisit incidents and fill in the blanks. Most of the time I'm asking the characters "What are you doing?" The story is full of bad and irresponsible decisions. One big tragic event near the end. Burns surprises you with the resolution. Fans of books like We Are The Brennans and Connelly's of County Down will enjoy this one.

Thanks to Celadon Books for early access.

Wow what a great book. I had never read the author before so I didn’t know what to expect. What I got was a complicated family drama with well-developed characters that kept me wanting to know more. The story had intrigue, deep rooted secrets and murder.
I found myself drawn into the story. I couldn’t stop reading. I will be looking for other books by this author.
Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for my ARC.

@celadonbooks always has the BEST family dramas and Mercury is definitely added to that list!

“The Josephs were the close kind of family that fought in equal measure but didn’t know how to make up.”

I immediately was drawn to the Joseph family and their roofing business. There are three sons, all a bit different but all also a bit the same. There is also Marely, a character I loved from the minute I met her. I love a thoughtful and flawed character that becomes so real on the page and Marely is that.
I also loved that the story is told from multiple perspectives and there is so much character development. Complex family dynamics are explored and I really enjoyed what each character learns about themselves along the way. There are also some family secrets involved and the way the family handled them had me invested in this story until the very end.

If you are a fan of family dramas, a small town feel, and stories that are character driven, grab this one out early next year!

This one comes out 1/2/24!

4.25 stars!

Do you have a favorite character of all time? How is your week going so far?

I was so happy to see I was gifted a copy of this book; thank you! I loved this story. I especially enjoy reading stories about families and this one did not disappoint. I loved Marley's character and watching her become a member of the Joseph's family. I loved how the story focuses on the true ups and downs of family life and how everything isn't always picture perfect. This is the first book by the author I've read and I would like to go back and read more !

If you're looking for a quiet, character-driven novel that delves into complex family dynamics, this book might be the perfect choice for your next read.

What I enjoyed:
💙 Excellent character development: I particularly loved how the author developed the characters of Elise and Marley. Both are strong female characters trapped by circumstances beyond their control. Comparing and contrasting their lives, decisions, and sacrifices for their families offers a lively discussion for any book group.
💙Mystery: I enjoyed how the mystery unfolded. The nonlinear timeline provides clues to the dead body in the church’s attic without being the main plot of the story.
💙Emotionally invested: Burns pens beautiful and honest prose. The Joseph’s blue-collar life feels heavy: always struggling for money, a sense of desperation that lurks but is never discussed amongst the family.

I truly wanted to love this one, with all the raving reviews. Unfortunately it just didn't do it for me. I found myself disconnecting totally from the story, I wasn't truly invested i made it to 30% but it's truly dragging for me and I had to stop.

“Marriages were not measured by time. They were tracked by disappointments, by hurts. Betrayals and apologies.”

“Was it the same to be desired as it was to be seen—to be wanted, and to be understood?”

4.5 stars rounded up! Loved it. Just loved it. The Joseph family is broken, doing everything they can just to keep it all together. But every family is broken in their own way, aren’t they? So it’s the loyalty. The sticking it out during the rough times. The underlying love. That is what defines it.

This is a book about blood family, found family, and the roots that bind them. It’s so easy to judge another persons marriage or home life, as Marley frequently does to the Joseph’s. But once you learn their backstory it all falls into place. And I commend Elise, the matriarch of the Jospeh clan, for holding her family together and doing her best to support her husband through his demons from the war, despite what outsiders think of her actions.

I love character driven stories like this, especially when they revolve around a family. I felt like I was in that big beautiful house with these roofers, watching their lives unfold. I very much enjoyed the character arc of each of the three Joseph boys, too. If you enjoyed We Are The Brennans or The Connellys of County Down, as I did, then you will love this one.

Thank you to Netgalley, Celadon Books, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley the publisher and or the author for giving me the chance to read and review Mercury

Love the interaction between the characters.

Confused a little bit on the plot.

Seventeen year old Marley and her mother Ruth are newly moved to the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania in 1990. Mercury is a small sleepy working-class town where everybody knows everybody yet people seem to have their own secrets galore. Marley quickly becomes acquainted with the Joseph boys, a family of roofers, first befriending one brother then quickly marrying the other. And so begins the saga of a dysfunctional family drama. The twist in the plot is when a body is discovered in the church attic and soon secrets of the Joseph family come tumbling out one after the other.

This is not at all a fast-paced story but a slow burn full of love, loss, secrets, male ego, female sacrifices and the pressure that comes from impractical expectations. The novel explores the complex family dynamics between spouses, siblings, parents and children, and mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. I loved the way the author has aptly captured and described the love-hate relationships between siblings. All in all, a very poignant, evocative tale that truly makes us think about the adage: In the end, do we all tend to become our mothers (or our mothers-in law). Perfect for book club discussions.

On a side note, I was shocked to read that the town did not even have a proper hospital or its own fire station. I had no idea that such was the situation in any town in the United States that too as recently as the 1990's.

Thank you Netgalley, Celadon Books and Amy Jo Burns for the ARC.

A captivating multigenerational family saga and profound character study set small town Pennsylvania. The Joseph family are something else. The parents are out of touch with reality, the brothers can’t communicate unless it involves disagreements and physical altercations and there are secrets, so many secrets.

The thing is, these characters have everyday relatable problems. They just don’t know how to cope. They are all trapped in lives they don’t want. Trapped by other people’s decisions. Trapped by their circumstances. Trapped by their choices.

At its core, this story is really about two resilient women, who got married, raised children and did their best to build a home.

It’s a powerful and poignant story and also a cautionary tale focusing on the interplay between choices, consequences, sacrifices and family dynamics. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is not the typical genre I would pick up and read, but I am so glad that I did.

The book follows Marley who finds herself pregnant at 17. Marley marries into the Joseph family, and the book follows their lives. The Joseph's are a working class family living in a small town in the 1990's.

I found the book to be sweet and heartwarming. Marley is living in the Joseph household with her husband, his parents, and his two brothers. The family owns a roofing business that they are trying to keep afloat. Marley has to figure out her role in the family but also in life.

Each of the family members has their own troubles they are dealing with, and you truly fall in love with all of them (except the dad, I never liked him) and you get a sense of why they all are the way that they are.

This was just a great book about what it means to be family.

I first heard about this novel (before it had a title) from Amy Jo herself during an author talk about her novel Shiner. I’ve been keeping an eye out for it ever since - and it exceeded my expectations! Thank you #Celadon for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The novel starts with the turning point of the novel, but then goes back years before to tell the family saga when Marley comes to Mercury and becomes entrenched with the Joseph’s, a family who owns a roofing business.

This is the best kind of family saga - complicated, intricate, ugly at times, with no “wrapped-up-in-a-bow” ending. The relationships between the brothers, parents and sons, sons and newcomer Marley are all examined and written about exquisitely, warts and all, by Burns.

The first part of the novel introduces the characters and a hint into the relationship, but by the 25% mark, I was “all-in” and completely invested in the story, which Burns skillfully reveals layer by layer. Coming out on January 2, 2024, readers will certainly be talking about this book!

This might start with a body in the attic of a church but it's not a mystery- it's the tale of a family, a dysfunctional family that has trouble loving itself. Marley finds herself wrapped into the Josephs when she meets Baylor, the oldest Joseph son but he's not the one who makes her part of them- it's Elise, the mother. But Baylor isn't for her either- it's Waylon, the father of their son and her husband. They're so young when they marry (and sometimes you'll forget that they are in their mid-20s during the majority of the novel) but Marley becomes a surrogate mother for Shay, the youngest Joseph. The Josephs are roofers and this is key to the plot. Marley turns the business around, a move not initially welcomed by the others and then Elise's illness tears it all apart. This is slow at the beginning but then you'll find yourself engaged with Marley, Waylon, Baylor, and Elise (all of whom give their perspective at some point) and with Jade, Marley's very determined friend. Burns has a way of making you see the roof, sit at the dinner table, and fall into the lives of the Josephs. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Excellent read.

This is a story that stays with you. I finished this a week ago and still think about it. I miss the Joseph family. I want to know what happens to them for the rest of their lives. I was captivated from the beginning of the story to the end. I loved growing up with Marley as she made her way in life as a wife of a Joseph. She was a wife, mother, sister, and a mother figure to one not her own. Families are hard and it's not always pretty but it's always full of love. There is a lot of dysfunction and secrets in this family and we get to watch as it all unfolds. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ebook to review. All opinions are my own.