DNF at 28%

The narrator and production of the audiobook are excellent, the narrator is really great, has a great voice and smooth, clear diction that I could speed it up and still understand easily what was said.

That being said, I did go and read some of the other reviews before writing this to make sure I wasn’t crazy, and looks like I’m not. I’m going to echo a lot of what’s already been said, purely on my own opinion. I think this book may be better understood in book format than audio, and may just be more a cup of tea for those who love prose and meandering storylines.

The premise had a lot of promise, but the world building was just too much, the magic system/world is intricate all the way down to verbiage referenced constantly without much explanation. It’s hard to tell if some of the verbiage used is a religious term, societal term, or magic term. On top of the magic system, there are several religions mentioned, some which are described as a cult. It’s hard to keep straight who believe what and why, it feels like information is thrown at you constantly but it doesn’t make anything any clearer.

This world also accepts that gender is completely fluid, but apparently some religious sects don’t agree, and some others recognize four genders… or maybe some societies, not religions? I honestly have no idea. I got to 28% when I decided that the deeper explanations were just adding extra intricacies instead of clearing things up, and the plot finally started to reveal itself but it was buried under every characters constant sexual desire for anyone and everyone. It was still feeling like an info-dump though, and I think it may be a mixture of the intricate world and being told in third person POV so sometimes the history and mythology of the world/magic/religions that are being told to the reader are in the same tense and POV as current happenings with the characters at times.

Also, with the gender fluidity it takes you out of the story a bit because when each character is mentioned, you are given extra info on their gender choice (or lack thereof), chosen pronouns, as well as how they present visually (masc-leaning, fem-leaning, etc.). That, in addition to using sometimes multiple layers of pronouns for each character got very muddled and confusing to listen to, at times referring to a character by name only with no pronouns which breaks up a sentence weirdly (ex. John said we could go to John’s house after John gets home from work, and John will provide the food.).

Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit imprint, and Hachette Audio for the advanced audiobook copy to listen to! I’m so grateful and I wish I had better feedback, this one just wasn’t for me sadly.

I loved the narrator. She has a smooth, sensual voice that was honestly perfect for how sexually charged this book is, but that sexual energy was very much not what I was expecting.

The beginning (and all subsequent attempts at worldbuilding) was super wordy in an impenetrable tangle of in-world jargon. I saw that a lot of other early readers didn’t even make it very far past the opening scenes. But when we do go farther, it’s just sex and desire in a sort of sensual display since the royal siblings are basically just walking sex objects and any of our MC’s rational thoughts get completely drowned out any time either of them looks at her.

We spend so much time sinking into the viscous pit of the MC’s desire that we barely glance at the actual worldbuilding or plot-forward knowledge: like how the magic system functions and why exactly she’s so good at it apart from the fact that she thinks the rules are dumb. And when she does actually get to do her magic stuff, it’s always super glossed over.

I will admit that I ended up rather frustrated because I wanted a lot more plot and a lot less sexual yearning and indecipherable exposition.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars!

This is not an easy book to read/listen to because the plot is buried under some seriously poetic language but it has so much of what I love in a fantasy book, court politics, a unique magic system and a well built world. For me, the effort required to follow the story was worth it.

Emily Lawrence’s performance is outstanding, her vocals are almost hypnotic as she reads the dreamy prose but she can certainly draw you back to the action by introducing just a hint of urgency in her tone.

The sensuality was a bit more prominent than I usually like but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this ALC.

DNF 59%

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy of The Mercy Makers.

I really struggled with this. The narrative is so circular and flowery that I wasn't actually sure what was going on half the time. I am a very plot driven person and while there was plot there, it was so hard to understand what I was listening to that I had to keep going back and then I still couldn't quite understand. The narrator was good but this is definitely not a book to only listen to as the pronouns and names were not easy to parse. This was not the book for me.

This story has an ambitious scope and a richly built world that grabbed my attention early on. The writing is often lyrical and evocative, with some genuinely powerful themes around sacrifice, legacy, and the weight of power. There are moments where the emotional depth really shines.

However, the pacing felt inconsistent—some parts dragged while others moved too quickly, making the overall flow a bit hard to follow. I also struggled to fully connect with the characters; their motivations weren’t always clear, and a few emotional beats didn’t quite land as strongly as they seemed intended to.

Overall, it’s a beautifully written and imaginative book with some memorable moments, but it didn’t quite stick the landing for me.

DNF @ Chapter 7

I don’t even know how to be respectful with this one, so I’m just gonna go the direct route and be brutally honest: this is a hot mess. The writing is indecipherable. The dialogue reminded me of what 10 year old children might sound like if they were pretending to be kings and queens in the dark ages.

I can’t even tell you what it’s about. A chick who makes magic with silk and math? But she’s not supposed to use it because reasons? I’m not even certain about that. I seriously hate DNFing, but I can think of a whole host of other unpleasant things I’d rather be doing than reading this book.