Iron Kissed

This book left me with all kinds of feelings. I have had a hard time getting it out of my head since I finished it hours ago. This was a re-read for me but it has been roughly 6 years since the first time I read this book and it really had a bigger impact on me this time around. I have so much love for this series having read all of the books set in the Mercy world and now working on re-reading them as time allows. This book felt like a really pivotal book this time around since I know how things do work out. I am in awe of the magic that is the Mercy Thompson series.

Mercy is asked by Zee to help out with an investigation investigation involving the fae. Things get a whole lot more complicated almost immediately after when Zee is arrested and charged with murder. Mercy knows that he is innocent so she is going to do everything in her power to set the record straight even when she is told to leave things alone. I will be honest and admit that I didn’t remember who the bad guy was in this mystery and was trying to puzzle through everything right along with Mercy and she discovered new pieces of information.

The other major point in this book focuses on Mercy’s love life. In the previous books in the series, Mercy has had both Adam and Sam showing interest in her. Sam ended up moving in with her as roommates and Adam has declared her as his mate. Sam and Adam are both very strong Alpha wolves and a choice has to be made. Mercy does finally figure out where her heart is in this book and she does it in a way that reminds me why I love her character as much as I do.

The final section of the book really got to me. It was intense to say the least. I was emotionally all over the place as I listened to the everything that happens to Mercy. I was angry for her. I wanted to cry for her. I wanted to help glue back all of the pieces or try to do something to make it be that things didn’t really happen. I think that the way that Patricia Briggs decided to share how Mercy was feeling during the aftermath of the big event is genius. I am in awe of her writing ability. Mercy dealt with the pain by turning into her coyote. In doing so, the way she acted and her body language took on a very obvious meaning. It was powerful stuff to say the least.

I loved the narration of this book. Lorelei King did a spectacular job in narrating this story. There are quite a few characters in this book and she did a fantastic job in using different and consistent voices for those characters. She really showed the emotions of the characters during this story. The pacing of her reading was really nice and I found myself being able to listen for hours at a time.

I would highly recommend this series to others. I do think that this is a series that is best read in order since the relationships between the character grow and change over the course of the series and events from earlier books do come up from time to time. I can’t wait to continue with my re-read of this fantastic series!

SPOILER WARNING

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So here is the good, elatively short fun story for the first two thirds of the book. Somewhat light on details, and a bit dues ex machina in several plot points, but overall good fun standard urban fantasy.

Then the rape. And its aftermath. Making her listen to the video. And the WTF sex three days after? Hard no.

Heres the deal. Rape isnt necessarily a topic I will say no never write about it but it was like the entire book walked Mercy who is already relationship shy towards this event. First she finds out that the weird love triangle thingy is over and she is Really Adams mate. (Which TBH I dont like because this isnt a paranormal romance whee woman and man find their life mate bologna). The she unknowingly flirts with a twit with an aggressive over patronizing persona going oh its so nice to use my history degree hard eye roll. She is a female mechanic and coyote. There is No Way she is dumb enough to fall for or flirt with the ass. Even given his use of magical objects. Every animal instinct she had should have triggered. The marsh horse fae who chased her into Adams house…that she then feels upset about but oh, shes Adams mate and is neglecting her duties so she better decide quickly if she wants to be his without him Ever asking if it was ok to claim her. Finally. The potion date rape rufie fae goblet, and Tim taking away her free will and destroying her arm. I was so angry I was sobbing. Then everyone watching the video…while she was in shock nearby….I get they are animals but.
And afterwards Ben watching her crawl and having to explain to Adam….Where the Hell is Any of the packs Drs or psychologists? These wolves never age. They live forever. And rape has to have occurred within their worldview before. The ending almost made me throw my eBook reader across the room. None of it was ok. None of it was correct. And Mercy needs therapy Now. Not to be within earshot when Ben tells Adam she crawled because she felt dirty and unclean. This should have been explained in the hospital, by a therapist, since she was In the hospital for a day? And to throw herself at Adam at the end of the book. No.

Lastly. The ending where she and Ben go reform some highschool kids…by threatening them? I really want to enjoy this series. But I am not a fan of fantasy characters being raped. Especially if its seems purely just to prove how week she is. Nothing in this story was her choice. She Had to help the fae to repay a debt then was manipulated into continuing to search for a killer. The choice of who she would be with was made by the Men not her. And Tim tiny narcissistic Tim, took her free will away. But thats ok because it was the only way she could kill him?

So three stars because I enjoyed the first part… and I realize many many people liked the ending because it is highly rated. But trauma to a MC doesnt mean its a good story.

The way the author dealt with rape left a sour taste. Ive enjoyed the books up until now. Raped on the Wednesday and ready to have hot sex with her dominant lover on the Monday? Give me a break. The next book better show the struggles that Mercy wil be feeling, both physical and emtional. pfft.

When Zee gets into trouble, as in arrested for murder we know there is no way Mercy is going to keep her nose out of it. The fae might be happy to sacrifice an innocent man but Mercy feels differently. This brings her to the attention of two ancient Fae, one seemingly benevolent the other just wants to eat her!

Oh she also makes a decision about Samuel and Adam!

Patricia Briggs is rapidly establishing a place on my top ten list of fiction writers I will read unconditionally. This is another from my comfort-reading booklist that came courtesy of a self-Santa order to Amazon. I gulped this book down in two sittings (and only took a break because by 6.00 a.m. I thought I should try and get a few hours sleep). At less than 300 pages it’s a quick read – quick too because of the roaring pace – but Briggs never sacrifices character for either plot or pace.

This is the third Mercy Thompson book. Mercy is a self-employed garage mechanic with a history degree. She is also a walker, a Native American shape-changer, maybe the last of her kind, whose other form is a coyote. Raised by werewolves, she knows just how deadly they can be and in the last two books, `Blood Bound’ and `Moon Called’, we saw Mercy getting drawn into the increasingly violent world inhabited by werewolf, vampire and fey as well as humans who can barely comprehend what they’ve only recently begun to be aware of. As a coyote amongst wolves she’s an outsider, as a walker amongst humans she’s an outsider, as a non-fey amongst fey she’s so far outside that she’s on a different world, but when she has her nose in the engine of an old VW she’s entirely at home. Her life is complicated by the fact that she must decide between two loves, both werewolves: her old flame Samuel and the alpha of the local pack, Adam, who makes her blood boil for two entirely opposing reasons. Briggs werewolves are not nice. Bad-tempered doesn’t even begin to cover the barely-held-in check killing rage that they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. It makes them grouchy, to say the least, but they are entirely three dimensional characters, swinging – sometimes wildly – between human and wolf.

In this book Mercy’s friend and mechanic-mentor, Zee, an ancient fey with the ability to work iron, is accused of a (human) murder he didn’t commit and it seems as though the rest of the fey are happy enough to let him take the (fatal) fall for it as long as it means the law doesn’t come snooping around their reservation. Mercy’s stubborn loyalty draws her in to a dangerous hunt for the real killer that brings her into closer contact that she ever thought she wanted with the world of the fey and causes conflict with and between her two potential werewolf lovers (remember those tempers?). It’s time to choose between Samuel and Adam, but how can she choose when she loves them both? It may not matter in the end because after some close brushes with death in the form of a Kelpie Mercy’s eventual discovery of the real killer puts her in mortal danger of the worst kind. By the time she’s been through the wringer she’s going to need a lot of love an understanding. From a werewolf? Yeah, right!

Highly recommended (but read the others first) and then order the next, Bone Crossed, due later this year.

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