Amy Jo Burns' Mercury is a solid read, especially if you're into stories with real people and a strong sense of place.
What really grabbed me was the blue-collar family drama. Burns just nails the complicated, messy, and fiercely loyal bonds of a big, working-class family. The characters feel incredibly authentic – flawed, loving, and totally lived-in. You'll be pulled right into their world, feeling all their triumphs and heartbreaks. It's a beautifully written look at love, legacy, and what actually holds a family together, even when things are falling apart. Definitely pick this one up!

This story was hard to get into and I just didn't find it entertaining. It was hard to want to pick this book up and be engaged with it but I don't think it's a reflection of the authors writing, more of what my preference is for reading.

A family drama novel based around a husband, wife, their 3 sons, and a roofing company, Joseph and Sons Roofing. This story is told through Marley, a 17 year old girl new in town, who gets herself involved with each of the family members.

The story starts off with finding a body in the attic of the church, but who is it and who did it is what the whole story revolves around. After the setting of the novel, the story then goes into the past and gives you the complete picture and builds the book. While there is a bit of a mystery aspect to this book, the book as a whole was slow and kinda boring for my taste.

Thank you to Netgalley, Amy Jo Burns, and the publishers for this free ebook. This review is 100% my own and honest opinion.

Amy Jo Burns crafts a tender and quietly powerful story in Mercury, a novel that pulses with emotional depth and small-town tension. Set in a working-class Pennsylvania town in the 1990s, the book beautifully captures the quiet desperation and deep yearning of its characters—particularly Marley West, a seventeen-year-old girl in search of stability, love, and belonging.

Burns’s prose is lyrical without being overdone, and the slow unraveling of the Joseph family's secrets is both compelling and heartbreaking. Marley’s voice is authentic and sympathetic, and her journey—from outsider to central figure in the Joseph family—feels both intimate and universal. The generational dynamics, her relationship begins with Baylor Joseph, the athlete but, he eventually dumps her, and she turns to a deeper connection with Waylon. They marry and as the matriarch of the family falls victim to dementia, Marley becomes the mother figure.

What keeps this from being a five-star read is the pacing in the middle third, which slows somewhat, and a few supporting characters who feel underdeveloped compared to the vividness of Marley and Waylon. However, the emotional payoff in the final chapters is well worth it, especially when long-buried truths come to light.

Overall, Mercury is a moving, character-driven novel that lingers long after the final page. Burns excels at exploring the quiet corners of family life, love, and loyalty—and the cost of keeping secrets. A worthy read for fans of literary fiction and intimate family dramas. 4 stars .

Amy Jo Burns is a new-to-me author, so I went into this novel without many expectations. I loved the characters - each one deep and developed well. I came to care for many of them. The story was emotional and, at times, raw. Complicated and messy, I didn't want to leave this family. I'm looking forward to Burns's next book!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read this!

I really enjoyed the character dynamics within this novel. I love a story about brothers and this one had some really intricate plot points and descriptions

I really enjoyed this slow burn family drama mystery. The family dynamic was so real and heartbreaking.

I was completely swept up by Mercury. The story follows Marley, a teenager who becomes deeply entangled with the Joseph brothers—a family of roofers with a complicated past. What starts as a love story turns into something deeper: a look at loyalty, identity, and the roles women often assume in families without even realizing it.

Amy Jo Burns’s writing is atmospheric and haunting in the best way. The setting—small-town Pennsylvania in the ’90s—felt gritty and real, and the characters were raw and layered. I loved how the tension slowly built, especially once the mystery element came into play.

This was one of those reads that left me thinking long after I put it down. Quietly intense and beautifully written—I definitely recommend it.

I started this book a few times because I just could not get into it much. I think the writing was good, but the story just was not for me. I think it was a slow burn that never fully got lit.

Compelling family drama filled with flawed characters, small-town tension, and just the right amount of secrets and deception to keeping you hooked!

DNF - I attempted to start this book and it just did not hold my interest. This may be a book I come back to in the future.

This was one of my favorite reads in January and in the year so far. It isn’t any flashy story, It’s a slow burn with deep character development as opposed to action, and that can be hit or miss for me. This one hit it out of the park. You were invested in all the characters, especially Marley, Baylor, Way and Shay. While the church discovery is a mystery to how the family ties it, it does come back and while it isn’t the focus of the story, you see how this discovery shaped the family is so many different ways.
The Joseph family felt real. Their emotions and experiences felt read. The book is beautifully written and really gets the reader connected to the characters and their stories, each one of them. How much this book drew me in was a complete surprise in the best way. I want to know more and what’s next for the whole Joseph family

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns was a captivating read—I genuinely loved it. Burns’ storytelling is beautifully atmospheric and deeply evocative, pulling me completely into the vivid, almost dreamlike world she created. Her characters felt raw, authentic, and unforgettable. The emotional depth and lyrical prose made it hard to put down, and the narrative stayed with me long after finishing. I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates immersive, thoughtfully written fiction.

In 1990, seventeen-year-old Marley West arrives in Mercury, Pennsylvania, and is quickly entwined with the troubled Joseph brothers, becoming one’s wife, another’s mother, and the third’s great lost love.

This ARC sat on my Kindle for over a year - I just couldn’t get past the first three chapters, which felt like a disjointed mix of a baseball game, strained family dynamics, and a dead body. But I was tired of seeing it on my TBR, I finally committed this month, and once I did… oh my. I ended up absolutely loving this book. Phenomenal characters, a plot that keeps the pages turning, and most importantly for me, a beautiful and harrowing commentary on what it means to be a mother. I’m really surprised that I didn’t hear more about this book around it’s publication, because it is definitely worth a read! I hope Burns’ other books are similar, because I will certainly be picking them up sometime in the future.

4.5/5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was good book! It was a slow build, but beautifully character-driven with lots of emotional depth. I loved the themes of motherhood and marriage and characters with some real flaws. The mystery-ish plot did keep my interest and the writing itself was compelling!

Interested to see what she comes out with next!

I almost quit this book because I cannot stand books in which the main female character moves from one brother to another, but for some reason I was drawn in enough to ignore it. I loved the character development & the shifting of viewports.

3.5 rounded to a 4

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book really touched me in ways I didn’t expect. It was slow paced, yet full of moments that made me so invested in the story.

Mercury follows one family as they struggle through life and family dynamics. At times, it was difficult to listen to. I was so stressed for things to go “right.” There was so much struggle and miscommunication, my heart ached for the characters, specifically Marley. Marley was so loyal, sometimes to her detriment. I loved her character and spirit. She held so much love for her family. Even if she didn’t feel that she belonged most of the time, she truly was the backbone of the Joseph family.

I also loved Shay. The dynamic between him and Marley was one of my favorite parts of the entire book.

I wasn’t quite ready for the story to come to an end. Even though this is a standalone book, I could read another book set with this family. There were a few things that had some loose ends. However, the ending was so beautifully written. I’m so happy I decided to pick this book up.

Average at best, boring at worst? Maybe it was the pacing. There were some parts that I was really engaged and others where it felt like I was slogging through the mud.

A solid/domestic town drama. Well written and I would definitely want to read more of Burns' work after this.

I'm rating this one on the writing of it rather than the enjoyability of the story. This story was very well written with strongly developed characters. A classic family saga rich with drama and character growth along the way. However, the story itself is a bit melancholy and not exactly "fun" to read. I listened to the audiobook of this while doing other things and that is probably the only way I could finish it. If I were reading in person, I'm not sure I would have kept with it.

If you like this type of book though, please read it! It is very well-written! it would make for a good book club book choice and discussion!