i highly recommend this book for anyone interested in thought provoking worldbuilding, adult fantasy in general, and/or to literary fiction readers who don't mind a bit of extra sex and a fantasy setting in a series.

iriset is a princess, of sorts. she is daughter to the "smuggler king" of the underground in the capital city of a religious autocratic kingdom. she's also a notorious practitioner of forbidden magic. she uses her talents to undermine the empire and its heavy-handed rules. she is young and has almost everything she wants.

everything she wants, until her father is discovered and she loses everything. iriset is taken as a handmaiden by a powerful noble of the empire, where she meets the beautiful, young, and unmarried ruler.

romantic shenanigans ensue. is it a hopeful romance? is it a tragedy? i'm still not sure. it has a cliffhanger feel. this is the first book in a series, after all.

the mercy makers is an adult fantasy novel, with all the lovely fantasy baggage fans love: initially unclear magic systems, beginnings with flashbacks to other beginnings, confusing names, imaginary settings with histories that call one to question if all 'this' is really important now. i think that it is all very well done.

**for anyone who struggles with getting into the setting of a new fantasy book. my personal recommendation, which has not been approved by anyone:
open the book, read chapter six, then return to the beginning.


there is a sexual elephant in the room. honestly, i'm all too prudish for all the sex. it might have been more of a no-go personally had it not been suggested by plot events that sex might be a metaphor for the magic...or the magic might be a metaphor for sexuality?? again, this is book one of a series. i think it might be going somewhere. that is confirmed by nobody, but it does make the plot more interesting to consider the possibilities.

The ending and later plot twists finally piqued my interest and justified my slog through the book. I want to read the sequel to see how the author builds out the universe.

I found the start of this novel jolting, exhausting, and a tad boring. The writing style and dialogue verbiage occasionally feel out of place or forced. The protagonist is also irritatingly libidinous. It’s valuable for books to realistically depict sexual urges and instincts, but it should be naturally inserted into the story. Iriset is randomly and frequently turned on in ways that break up the flow of her circumstance or are overly descriptive in a way that it’s incongruous with the rest of the writing. It also doesn’t lend itself to the plot or illustrate anything useful about her characterization for the purpose of the story.

The above made it difficult for me to feel invested in the story. Conversely, I found a number of aspects that kept me reading: the magic and world system revolving around the ‘balance’ of attributes numbered in multiples of four; a high confident (at times, snobbish) heroine driven by her own potential; a pinch of political intrigue and brutality.

3.5 - Not a priority read, but I’d be curious to see how Tessa Gratton continues to develop this universe, and, hopefully, create more fleshed out characters.

DNF @ 25%, just couldn’t finish it because it was not what I was interested in. Also, I was in a reading slump.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Born of criminal blood and gifted with forbidden magic, Iriset lives a double life—by day, a talented artificer in the shadows of the empire; by night, Silk, a master of illusion weaving enchantments no one else dares attempt. She dreams of revolutionizing humanity—of crafting wings, extending lifespans, dissolving the old binaries of body and soul. But in a realm where change is heresy and magic is tightly chained by the empire’s fanatical rulers, dreams like hers are dangerous.

When her father is captured and sentenced to die, Iriset’s only hope lies within the very heart of the empire: its glittering palace, its ruthless emperor, and the sharp-tongued princess who guards her secrets too well. To save her father, Iriset must seduce their trust—and perhaps their hearts. But love in a place like this is a weapon with two edges. And Iriset’s own desires might burn brighter—and deadlier—than any spell she’s ever cast.

Lush, daring, and utterly intoxicating, Silk is the breathtaking first book in a romantic epic fantasy trilogy about the magic we make, the love we choose, and the systems we’re willing to destroy to make something new.

Perfect for fans of Tamsyn Muir, R.F. Kuang, and Leigh Bardugo.

DNF @ 17%
I really tried to get into this. I tried reading it on my kindle before publishing date, wasn’t feeling it. Tried the audiobook once published, still not feeling it. For me, it could be the writing. The way it’s written makes everything seem so detached, there’s nothing drawing me into the story. I feel no sympathy for the main character or interest in her goals.
Another thing that bothered me was the actual descriptions of the characters. I love that this story pushes androgyny but i couldn’t stand how every time someone was introduced it would say something like “masculine forward” or “female forward”. I think it was the forward for me, that word suddenly got so annoying for me and I just can’t take it anymore.
I hope other people like it more than I did.

I have never read a Tessa Gratton book before, but the cover was so beautiful and I was intrigued by the synopsis. Although her writing is beautiful, the flowery prose made some things a little bit confusing for the worldbuilding, especially since it felt like the first half of this book was primarily random info dumps. Along with those info dumps was a hefty helping of horniness. That's the only way to really describe it. Iriset, our main character, basically wants to be sexual with almost everyone she hangs out with and this leads to a wild scene that ended in the actual catalyst for the story to get going. It was a time. The second half was almost even more in that vein as we got a ton of random sex scenes. Which, good for her, I just didn't really care. I didn't feel Iriset's connection with anyone. I was told it was there, but I never really felt the chemistry, and, for me, that means I just disengage from sexual scenes. It just does nothing for me. Many of them did nothing to move the story along either and with the book being 560 pages, I think we could have chopped some of them out and moved the story along a bit quicker. The plot itself was interesting once we actually got to more of it. I can't get too into it without spoilers, but essentially, she needs to pretend to be someone in order to protect her secret and try to move her personal plans along. Unfortunately, the plot takes some turns that had me confused where we could be going only to remember that oh there is a different plot string I was supposed to remember about. Though I will say that there was a very wild plot twist that kind of came out of nowhere towards that end that really threw me for a loop. I think if they make it through the first half where the story starts to actually take off, the people who like "spicier" romantasy and are looking for more queer rep in the space, could like this book. I don't know if I will continue in the series as of right now.

I really wanted to love this, but I definitely think it was a wrong book wrong time situation. I found it to be quite dense writing, with soo many moving puzzle pieces it was a bit hard for me to keep everything straight!

I found this to be very high fantasy, so there is definitely an audience out there for this but unfortunately its not me! I would reccomend it you love vivid world building, very intricate magic system, and lots of details!

tl;dr
Packed with political intrigue, startling plot twists, vibrant world building, and lots of sex. Purposefully dense writing makes it a difficult piece to get into.

Thoughts
This book was hard to read. Looking at other reviews, I see I am not alone. I initially thought it was just my usual friction with third person present tense narratives, but as the story went on, it became clear that the author was purposefully aiming for a difficult read. There's a dreamlike quality to the prose that makes scenes difficult to follow sometimes. Time passing is difficult to pin down; the speaker stops mid-story to drop in entire chapters about the world's lore, or a sliver of character history; even the scores of names, nicknames, and titles can be difficult to keep track of. It has the feel of a traveling storyteller spreading a tale via oral tradition, with various asides here and there. I do wonder if I'd have liked it better in audio book format.

That being said, I was promised court drama and plot twists, so I gamely pushed myself through the first half of the book until BAM! Everything suddenly took off at a dizzying speed. And yes, we get court drama and plot twists aplenty. At that point, I found that the initially confusing prose was also designed to punctuate the panic and uncertainty of the situation. It didn't necessarily push the story to be more immersive, but it did lend to the sense of vertigo that the reader is meant to feel as the main character attempts to navigate a situation far beyond her control.

And as for the main character, she's also difficult to pin down. She's a prodigy. She's very morally gray. She's also very sexual. But her own personality feels about as undefined and shapeless as the rest of the prose. One character refers to her as a "little arguer," an apt nickname. She is happy to point out flaws in the system (and rightfully so), but so far has not dedicated much time to considering solutions or even working towards them. It's something she knows about herself, but it does mean most of her momentum comes from outside forces and the urgency of immediacy. With a cliffhanger ending like that, though, I can only hope we'll see more from her.

Also, there are a LOT of sexual encounters in this book, all described in thorough and intimate detail. You already know if that's a plus or a minus for you. I'm just letting you know.

DNF 45%. I'm very sorry, but I feel as confused as if you just stood there yelling math equations at me. It's not even that I dislike the story or the characters, because I absolutely do not, I just can't keep up with them. There is such a thing as too much worldbuilding and I fear I found it with this book.

Chaotic and sexy heretic + spider magic + complex religious system. This should have been everything I've been looking for. Unfortunately, while it had all the elements that I'd be looking for, but the writing style and the density of the storytelling/new terms to learn just ended up being too much for me. I am used to reading a broad amount of fantasy with a lot of worldbuilding, but something stylistically here just did not work for me unfortunately.

There were a lot of moments when I really truly did not know what was going on, and as someone who usually can picture events as they happen in books, I couldn't "see" the action in this book at all. This may be my failure as a reader, but this just wasn't for me I think!

The Mercy Makers is the story of an empire poised on the edge of a precipice. Iriset is the daughter of a criminal and would be sentenced to death if the world knew what magic she possesses. Iriset is determined to bring the empire down after it imprisons her beloved father, She takes on an alter ego to infiltrate the nobility. As Iriset moves amongst the people she despises, she must decide how far she will go to take down the empire and expose the corruption within.

The Mercy Makers is a deeply complex and fascinating world. Tessa Gratton is incredibly good at crafting intricate magic systems. Iriset is such an interesting character, who is unafraid to do whatever it takes to bring down the empire. I enjoyed watching her navigate the friendships and relationships that form despite her best efforts. At times, the world-building is a bit dense but is it completely worth it once it all clicks together. Of course, I loved the LGBTQ+ rep. I also loved when one of the twists completely took me by surprise! In The Mercy Makers, Tessa Gratton expertly balances the intense politics, magic, and relationships. I can’t wait to read what happens next!

Thank you to Tessa Gratton, Orbit Books, and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

Maturity: 18+

This book includes:
- a very unique magic system
- non-binary and LGBTQ+ representation
- politics and manipulation

I wanted to love "the Mercy Makers" so badly. It has so many cool elements and had one of the most unique magic systems I have read in a long time. Unfortunately, I found the FMC immediately insufferable. The writing was convoluted to a point of annoyance, and I felt like the author was more concerned with writing a unique sentence than delivering a plot or characterization. There were many plot holes and it felt impossible to keep any of the details straight.

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Tessa Gratton, and Orbit for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863 and it will be posted to my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/ and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

This was a hard one for me. I reallly wanted to love it. I mean, the concept was quite interesting, and sounded right up my alley. But it ended up being a DNF. For now.

I just really struggled with getting into the story, and it felt like like I was constantly loss, having to look back on what I had just read to see if I miss something. And I think it might just be where my brain is these days, with struggling to remember all the information that is given to be able to truly gollow the story and get into it.

I do think I mighy give it another shot at some point (maybe when a sequel is released, so if I get into it this time, i can jump right into it. Sadly for now, it was a pass.

The Mercy Makers was ASTOUNDING. This is a complex read that demands your full attention. The world-building is so thorough and rich. You are introduced to a whole religious and political system, a very open perception of gender, and a bold not-really-magic system.

This world is inhabited by architects, people with the ability to manipulate the forces around them to create anything - security systems, filtration, fans, methods of travel - but where using this architecture to change a human body is apostasy. Throughout The Mercy Makers you must decide for yourself if you are on the side of the rebellion (that human architecture is true Balance) or the side of the court (that human design is the most egregious of sins).

The characters are so relatable because none of them are entirely likable. They are complicated and real. In a world of such imaginative fantasy, it is still so easy to imagine yourself among these characters. That’s how stunning a job Tessa Gratton has done here - I can’t change my hair texture at will, but it is such a vivid picture because the language is so strong and clear.

This was a thrilling read, with so many twists, turns, and truly unexpected betrayals. I truly never knew where we were headed or what decisions Iriset would make. I would recommend this to anyone with a love for fantasy, sci-fi, or political intrigue with a focus on religion.

Boy oh boy. Before I dove into this one, being late to the review stage of things already I thought why not see what the people were feeling, and, well, I saw a lot of DNFs for this one -- and I definitely understand why. I was almost one of them. But stubbornness paid off again; well, maybe not. But it fueled me.

I've read a lot of complex and confusing worldbuilding and or plot events before but still managed to have a good time; whether because of it or despite it. This isn't one of those times. What I enjoyed about this (and, being real, it was mostly the final chapter) was despite everything that came before. Which I still don't understand.

This is heavy on the religious themes, with lots of discussion on faith and philosophy, and basically how it's a crime to subvert, to heal, to change anything not natural. And this also obviously manifests itself with gender and sex, despite this being queer, and it's all just a dense mix.

But the heart of it is rebellion on a society that hinders progress and someone who is brazenly capable of this finds her way into the palace, next to the rulers who hold this balance in place through ruling and ritual. Which sounds like it could be fun, a the wolf in sheep's clothing, etc, except there's so much weird playacting mixed in, alongside etiquette around eye contact, and masks, and everyone's horny for everyone (or at least our "heroine" is), and I'll admit until a certain death I was reallllly being strung along against my will. Because her goal just wasn't interesting. After that, though, motivations change and that's when I got more interested.

Or, rather, when I finally got interested.

And I haven't even touched on the magic system, or delved into the aforementioned religious elements as it defines this society, because I couldn't. Even if I wanted to. I am definitely too dumb for this.

All that to say, good ending or no I don't quite know if I'll be reading on. This was a lot to get through and there was little payoff from my perspective. If it's a duology, maybe. Trilogy? Absolutely not.

It takes a lot for me to say I hate a book. But yeah, I hated this one. I still finished it, but it took me forever because I DREADED opening it on my Kindle. I forced myself to read about 10% a day because that's all I could take.

The concept itself is interesting enough, which is the only reason I gave this book ANY stars. I wish I could give it lower, but I can't on Goodreads. I didn't understand the author's ideas enough to be able to grasp the world. Readers are thrown into it from the start, and it doesn't get any more informative as the story rolls on. I hope I never see the word "apostasy" ever again, as it's everywhere in The Mercy Makers. I kept hoping the book would get better, but it never did.

And the prose was not enjoyable. I felt like the author rambled, and there was too much narration, too little dialogue. The narration kept going on and on, and Gratton would sometimes put things in parentheses as additional thoughts, and I got to the point I skipped them. It was just too much.

I didn't like how the author kept saying "female leaning" or "male leaning," and one character had imaginary pronouns. It wouldn't have been awful, but I'm sorry, "an" and "ans" didn't work for me. I couldn't interpret them. Once I knew the character was "male leaning," I just read them as "he/his/him" the rest of the novel.

The Mercy Makers has sex scenes, but everything about this book is blunt and clinical. This is the first book I've read that calls genitalia by biological terms. I wouldn't classify anything in this book as "spicy" or "smut," because there's no passion or true emotion anywhere in The Mercy Makers.

The book also had a big focus on race. I don't mean the characters were necessarily racist (though there is one), but the author mentions skin color all the time. People are people; skin color doesn't matter. And maybe that was the author's point by emphasizing it. But nope, didn't like it.

I know this review is harsh, but there was nothing about The Mercy Makers that I liked or enjoyed. I never understood the characters or their motivations, and the "love" is based in lust and nothing more, and I can't say I'll ever pick up another book by this author again.

Note: I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All views expressed are my own.

I don't have anything positive to say except that the premise The Mercy Makers was interesting. But somehow, this book didn't hook me at all. It took me four attempts to complete chapter 1 until I told myself that sometimes it takes a few pages to appreciate a story. This was not the case.

The dialogue hurts. Childish and stunted.
The prose felt weak; a blend of purple prose with "what happened three lines ago?!" The amount of times I had to go back and read passage was frequent. These weren't re-reads to doublecheck something. It was because things didn't make sense or the writing was confusing.

What's sad is the magic concept Gratton created isn't well explained and lost in overly gratuitous descriptions, details, and thoughts upon thoughts. Even the world building was interesting. But the dense writing and difficulty to grasp anything made it difficult to appreciate.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for an advanced ebook copy.

Now I can’t wait for book two in The Moon Heresies series.
The Mercy Makers by Tessa Gratton was a wonderful read!
The story is solid, and makes for a great first instalment in a series, with a convincing romance, lot of action and a light but vivid world building.
The cast of characters is really interesting and I found the main characters well developed and complex enough to make them interesting beyond their relationship.
I loved this epic fantasy and can’t wait for more!

I had a hard time with this one. While I enjoyed the plot, the writing style was tough for me. It felt overdone and felt as though it was trying a bit too hard. Maybe it was just me, but I had a hard time getting through this.

I was super into the premise of this story; but: I don't think this one's for me...I STRUGGLED with the initial few chapters. This writing is DENSE...and took me forever to get into the flow. Luckily I was also gifted an ALC of the audiobook which REALLY helped. For this book I'd recommend the audiobook format for sure! 

The Mercy Makers is a loooong con (emphasis on long) in which Silk (aka The Kitten, aka Iriset ne Isador) works her way into the ruling family to bring them down from the inside in order to save her father who has been imprisoned. 

The magic system within this world was very interesting and I enjoyed it very much in which there are strands that the architects use to create visuals and therefore masks/disguises within the world. The world building felt like a shock to me: either because of the superfluous descriptions, the info-dump style early on, or my just lack of "high fantasy" experience that it felt like work in the initial 25-30% of the book. 

Given the style of writing I had trouble feeling much of a deeper/emotional knowledge of the characters and their personalities and therefore some of the prose and dialogue felt a bit surface level and robotic to me. 

Again, the audio production itself of this book was great: the voice of the narrator, Emily Lawrence, was so easy to listen to and I appreciated her distinct enough voices for other characters. Lawrence's cadence and register fit perfectly with the vibe of a con-artist in a ruling-class setting. 

TL;DR: this book felt like a mix of The Mask of Mirrors (long cons) mixed with magic of Discovery of Witches (magic system built on weaving/threads of magic), and it would be for you if you want a slower paced, higher fantasy that still includes spice.