Customer Reviews

River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Book 6)

5 star:		(111)
4 star:		(67)
3 star:		(53)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

One of the reasons I have come to love urban fantasy is the strong, female protagonists. Patricia Briggs writes one of the best heroines in the urban fantasy genre today in Mercy Thompson. Mercy is not only strong and tough but she's smart, loyal and genuinely good, making her a heroine that is so easy to love. In as much as I love her character and don't want her to change, I do want her to be happy with her growly, sexy Alpha werewolf Adam. That's why I was very excited to find that in River Marked we get to see a more romantic side of Mercy as she and Adam take their relationship to a whole new level.

River Marked had different feel to it than the previous Mercy Thompson books. While I've loved the whole series I have been frustrated at times in the past with amount of time Adam and Mercy have spent apart, but in River Marked we get plenty of Mercy and Adam quality time. In fact they are together the entire book. With Adam being so Alpha I half expected him to steal the show and over power the awesomeness that is Mercy but it didn't happen. While River Marked is a bit different from the previous books in that there is more romance, there is still gritty violence and some intense action and Mercy is still the star of the show.

At five books into the series I've become completely comfortable in the intricate world of Mercy Thompson. I love the cast of series characters and so I was disappointed by their absence. River Marked takes Mercy and Adam completely away from the pack and their group of friends and allies right into the heart of trouble. There are a few brief appearances of some familiar characters (Stefan, YES he's back people!) but for the most part it's only Adam and Mercy with the introduction of several new characters, with one or two having potential staying power for future installments in the series.

Mercy's father has always been somewhat of a mystery and her true heritage kind of hazy. Although we don't get any clear cut answers this time, we do get some insight to Mercy's heritage a whole new twist on her father. I look forward to more on that in the future.

While River Marked had a slightly different tone than its predecessors, I welcomed the change of pace and focus on the relationships and romance. Mercy has grown and matured but she has still maintained that edge that made me love her when I first became acquainted with her in Moon Called. This series continues to be a favorite and I eagerly look forward to the next book in the series.

I read this series for two reasons. One, I adore Mercy and Adam. Both separate and together. Mercy is such a strong, level-headed heroine who can claim her independence while surrounded by pack, vampires etc, yet she is so polite and warm. And Adam - well - he fulfills all my dirty needs when it comes to an alpha male. In River Marked we get a lot of Adam and Mercy. And by that I mean, almost the entire book is the two of them together. I was shocked, and I loved every second of it. We get a very intimate glimpse into their relationship. We see another side of Adam, and wow. What a sweetie. I love him even more.

We also learn a lot about what Mercy is. Her heritage is presented in much detail. At times I found these parts to be very slow. There is a point towards the middle that the pacing slows down so much I got worried for the rest of the book. But then something big happens and the rest finished quite nicely.

The second reason I read this series is for the amazing intricacies of pack life Patricia Briggs has created. I love her wolves, and their politics. How they live so closely as pack, yet are always on the verge of violence. I adore their dynamics and how Mercy has come to fit in. But - we don't get that in this book. Adam and Mercy are removed from pack (or as much as they can be) in this one. I miss that. I know I sound greedy because we do get awesome Adam and Mercy stuff, but I will be looking forward getting back to pack life hopefully in the next one.

Overall I enjoyed this book. Like I said, we see a side of Adam that made me smile. Don't worry, he totally loses it a few times and his alpha, growly, wolf takes over. But it is a very romantic, quieter side we see.

The mystery and conflict are interwoven into Mercy's ancestry and I think this look at who Mercy is and where she comes from really makes you understand Mercy better.

Patricia Briggs continues to write one of the best written urban fantasy series out there. If you don't read this series, pick up Moon Called immediately. You will not be disappointed.

I love the Mercy Thompson series and have looked forward to each book, but I have to say this installment fell short. The title refers to an ancient evil monster that Mercy doesn't even learn about until more than halfway through the book. So, what happened in that first half? Not a whole lot, as it turns out.

The first half is almost a house-keeping exercise. We haven't seen Stefan since the devastating events of Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson). So, Mercy visits him only to learn that he, and consequently his menagerie, are wasting away in apathy; he needs a friend to shake him out of it. Then we have Adam and Mercy's long delayed wedding and honeymoon. Readers get cameos from just about everyone important to Mercy. It's not to say I didn't enjoy reading the first half (especially the wedding) - I love the characters and even their mundane activities kept me turning the pages. But, as far as plot goes, this book felt like a short story stretched unnecessarily into a novel. There was a lot of incredibly detailed, and I think unnecessary, description in the story. It felt like every character and setting introduced was described down to the smallest stitch of clothing.

The second half was an exciting read. Readers get more information on Mercy's heritage, the return of Coyote and his contemporaries (Hawk, Wolf, etc.), a great battle and more world-building. The book also had a lot of the humor that makes Mercy so much fun to read - she's not kicking a$$, she's winning through courage and cunning, with a lot of help from friends. Overall, fans will no doubt enjoy this but I'm not sure it's worth the price of a hardcover. Here's hoping the next book gives these wonderful characters, and readers, a more complex plot to chew on.

I've been reading the super natural genre for many, many years. I have always enjoyed Ms. Briggs stories and have been especially fond of Mercy and her "group"(as well as the A/O series). I can't believe there are so many reviews giving this 4-5 stars. This story was HORRIBLE. Thank goodness, there are some "honest" reviews out here pointing out the numerous flaws in this book.

1. Very weak plot
2. You think about 1/3 into the story you might pick up some momentum and a hint of story line, but you're mistaken.
3. With the inconsequential characters, it's hard to keep them straight and really you don't care who is who.
4. Mercy and Adam by themselves isn't enough to sustain an entire book...short story, maybe. Mercy is too involved with the characters we've come to love in her books. They add too much to be dismissed here.

I made it to the last 1/4 of the book - skimmed the remaining pages and toss it back on the shelf. I neither wanted nor cared to finish this story. Unfortunately, I paid top book store price for the hard cover. After reading this, it was a hard pill to swallow.

Well written as always but what I love about Ms. Briggs worlds are the rich characters, this book lacked much of that. It felt flat and as other reviewers have said, read more as a short story than a novel. I think it's obvious when authors become bored with their characters and thus so does the reader.

Um, well, it was definitely different from her other books. It was shorter, less cohesive, and I felt as if the author was distracted while writing this book. I get the feeling she rushed through this one just to meet her deadline. At first I didn't blink about spending $12.99, but now after reading the book, I would like at least half of it back! Even though I am not thrilled about this book, I will still continue to follow the series. I just love Mercy's humor, selflessness and courage.

Well, I loved all the other books in this series, so I was kind of disappointed in this one. What I loved about the other books was the diversity in the dialogue, getting to know all the main characters and everything involving the pack. This book had none of that. The book starts off good with the marriage of Adam and Mercy. Then the go on their "honeymoon" and things go down hill from there. They basically go camping for their honeymoon, and that is where the rest of the story takes place. There is very little interaction with the pack, Jesse, Gabriel, or other characters I have come to love. There was no Samuel, Bran, Charles, Zee,etc, though they were mentioned some. There was the introduction of some new characters, and Mercy learns some more about her father. It becomes pretty violent and action packed near the end, but this book just drug along for me. I really just didn't enjoy the plot which was basically a lochness monster type theme. I can typically read a book in a day or so. This one took me 4 days to get through. It was easy for me to put down until near the end. I will continue to read the series because I do enjoy it, but I hope the next book refocuses on the pack, and the original characters.

I have enjoyed the Mercy books quite a lot. Though there was a fair amount of standard strong heroine formula, Briggs invented a very clever and engaging set of characters with fairly complex relationships between them. The word in which they are set is also fun to read about. However the last couple of books have been way too focused internally rather than on the adventure at hand. In this one, the wonder of coming face to face with the Platonic Forms of nature and the insight into Mercys true heritage is subordinated to her relationship/marriage to Adam.

I grew very tired of hearing how fiercely she loved and possessed Adam and no one else could have him. Even worse was the constant analysis of what he said and meant and how she felt about it and how she should respond or not respond and on and on. This has always been a part of the books but usually in doses that served to make the characters human ( well... you know what I mean ) and relateable. It was the salt rather than the meat. In this book the ratios were off, with almost 25% gone before the adventure begins to begin.

I am sure this won't bother everyone but for my tastes, I can find more interesting reads if it continues. I may try one more but am not sure.

So, I have loved all of the Mercy Thompson books so far. The series ranks in my top 3. But this one just wasn't as good as the first four I thought. I still love her writing style, and I love that we got to learn more about Mercy's background - Coyote is a great character, but so many of the other characters were left out or just showed up as cameos. I really thought that the book needed a second plot or a sub-plot. Maybe more about Stephen or Jesse and Gabriel...

I really like Adam and Mercy together, but there is so much more going on in Mercy's world I finished the book feeling a little short changed.

Especially at $12.99 for a Kindle edition!

What was there was good, but it just wasn't enough...

Hmm.....Well, I am a diehard Mercy Thompson fan and have been eagerly looking forward to her new book - that I purchased at Borders for $2.76 w/my points -but this book fell short of her other novels, which I assumed to be her best efforts.

It was enjoyable but it didn't fit in w/Mercy's world. The tone and sincerity seemed off. After all, Patricia is writing about entities that don't exist. I acknowledge that those authors have to invent and update their worlds frequently. The mistake she made was leaving Mercy's world stagnant. No (except for two characters) development and in books of this type the author also spends a certain amount of time rebreathing life into the main characters. Writers of fantasy and sci-fi books have to constantly recolor their protagonists or they fade away. I felt like I got a B&W outline - like the author was too tired to bother.

I worry and am left to assume that Patricia felt her introduction of American Indian mythology and world beliefs could function as a character in the book. They don't. These stories and beliefs are not news to me. Maybe she spent the time and energy on her research instead of on crafting a Mercy novel. Maybe she just didn't get it right.

In past books, Patricia has brought credible life and backstories to vampires, ghosts, the fae & accompanying tuatha de danann, & sorcerer. Let's not forget the witches! I think the American Indian history that she learned didn't provide her w/the ability to incorporate their ideas and bring a credible vibrancy to that part of her book. It needed many more pages. At least the same amount of time she speant creating the other worlds she writes about.

ONE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE between her other worlds and designing this one w/Amer Ind mythology is that there is a population of people who believe in them. None of her other worlds include entities that are still worshipped or revered today - in our current times. ???

SPOILERS OF A TYPE
Five things happen in this book: Stefan gets help, Mercy gets married, Mercy fights monster during honeymoon, Mercy meets other walkers, and lastly, Mercy meets her father.

Now, I'm one of those fans that can't get enough Adam. He's the only character from Mercy's world that plays apart in River Marked. So, it was nice to see more of him although we don't learn anything new.

I'm really sick of today's book editors. Don't they read these novels critically for story development? I think editors have put an end to the careers of numerous writers by not challenging them w/positive and productive feedback. Every book needs polishing.

Patricia Briggs is a great storyteller. This novels falls short of her other work. Oh, yeah, there is no ending. Start at the beginning of the Mercy Series and the Alpha & Omega Series. I highly recommend them. This book doesn't fare well in comparison to those that came before.

BAD NEWS - there are TWO sharp NEGATIVES - Patricia has contracted some "Laurell Hamiltonitis." If Bran's age changes one more time, I'm going to SCREAM. And, if the metamorphosis from human to werewolf continues to get increasingly painful from book to book, I have to wonder why they just don't end it and go for a swim. And, how scary is a were-animal that's takes 15 minutes to change, You could get on a bus and be miles away by the time they recover. LOL Right?

I'm a re-reader. I reread all of my books. Ya know, I just didn't care enough to reread River Marked. This deserves 2 1/2 stars. It could have easily have been 5 stars.

It all felt like an AFTERTHOUGHT. Check it out! If you pay for her HB, I'm afraid you will be diasappointed. PB price okay.

Over and out,
UNHAPPY