‘Mercurial’ Is an Explosion of Magic, Rebellion and Romance

Many thanks to NetGalley, IBPA and the author for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

• Title: Mercurial
• Author: Naomi Hughes
• Publisher: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
• Pub. date: 16 March 2021
• Series: none
• Pages: 412
• Genres: young adult, romance, fantasy, LGBTQ

The mercurial princess.
Everyone fears the Destroyer. The metal in her blood gives her incendiary powers, and the coldness in her heart makes her the empress’s perfect weapon…until a rebel attack leaves her with no magic and no memories.

The reluctant bodyguard sworn to serve her.
Tal’s god asked him to protect the Destroyer years ago. He said yes, and he’s regretted it ever since. Now that she’s powerless he can finally end her reign of terror—if he can stop himself from falling for the wicked, funny, utterly unfamiliar girl she’s become.

And the assassin who will save him.
Nyx was furious when her brother, Tal, abandoned her to obey a faithless god. Now, she hones herself as a rebel assassin until she can kill the Destroyer and rescue Tal. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes the entire empire hinges on the decisions the three of them will make…

Content warning: amnesia, anger issues, blood, child abuse, death of an animal, drowning, executions, genocide, loss of a loved one, murder, PTSD, torture, toxic relationships

I picked Mercurial simply because I love this genre. I have been deeply entrenched in stories of fantasy, rebellions and romance the past few months, so this story just checked all the boxes! Also, I love the cover art!

Mercurial is centred around three main characters: the Destroyer; her bodyguard, Tal; and Tal’s sister, Nyx. Tal swears a super-strong oath to protect the fearsome Destroyer because his God asks him to in a vision. But the kind and gentle Tal soon regrets it when he gets front row seats to every horrible thing the Destroyer does. Meanwhile, Nyx is dead-set on getting her brother back, so she trains to be a badass rebel assassin.

Then two years later, these three cross paths when Nyx tries to assassinate the Destroyer. The Destroyer ends up with her memories wiped out and her powers go poof! Tal is left with Elodie, the girl who’s the Destroyer but she’s not. LOL! Now Tal has to figure out what exactly he feels towards Elodie and keep his sister from killing this memory-less version of the Destroyer! Trust me, this story is just starting!

I think it is fair to say that Elodie and Nyx are antiheroines. And OH MY GOD I LOVE IT! I love this story mostly because the gals take on stronger, more powerful roles than the hero, and it. Is. So. Refreshing!

Tal was such a sweetheart and my heart goes out to this fella who is trying to figure out himself, his God, his life’s purpose and how to keep his sister from the girl he might like.

Elodie is by far my favourite character, whether she’s being the Destroyer or not. I love her twisted relationship with her sister, the Iron Empress, and her journey throughout the book just kept me on my toes the whole time.

Now, Nyx is a super badass character… but she can be so stubborn that it kept getting on my nerves! Going deeper into the book, I started to understand a lot more about her and she grew on me, she really did, but I just can’t forgive her for some of the things she did. Also, I wish there had been more scenes with Nyx and Helenia; they’re such a cute couple and I love their dynamic!

How can I even talk about the plot without spewing spoilers? I don’t know but let me try!

The plot was deceptively more complicated than I could have ever imagined! Some really well-placed plot twists were just chef’s kiss! I cannot stress enough how well-structured this story was!

Also, I love how Hughes took the time to explore the main characters’ backgrounds and help us understand their actions, even the fearful Destroyer. This did slow down the story in the beginning but I think it adds the crucial bits to the characterisation that really gets the story going later.

And that last few chapters! I cannot describe the suspense without swearing a bit, so that’s how good it was. I had to keep taking breaks because I felt like I was living the story! However, I was left in almost tears when I finished the last bit because I just wanted more! (P.S. Hughes did announce on her Twitter that she’ll be releasing a short story set 15 years later AND I WANNA SCREAM!)

https://twitter.com/NaomiHughesYA/status/1364288483930570753

Mercurial has such an interesting and unique magic system. I am just blown away by Hughes’ concepts of metal magic! It. Is. So. Good! I wish I lived in the Alloyed Empire and had all these powers! It was pretty fun to try and guess what powers each metal magic might be!

The politics in Mercurial is another plus point. To my non-political mind, this story had a very good system of politics. It plays such an important role in the whole plot, so I was worried about plot holes popping up, but Hughes really nailed it! Everything just fell together flawlessly!

I wanna really talk about the spiritual themes in this book! Normally I wouldn’t touch on a topic that can get controversial so fast, but I am so impressed by how Mercurial handled it. My favourite bit was about how interpreting scriptures doesn’t mean taking them literally but looking at what is underneath all of it. This was also a reason why I love Helenia’s character; I just loved her outlook on her religion.

Mercurial also discussed many other heavy themes, like family, love, and retribution. I love how Hughes tackled these themes.

Like when it comes to family, it wasn’t about trying to live happily as a family, but more of what does family mean to you? Would you do so and so for your sister or brother?

Even love didn’t necessarily mean a typical love story; there was a lot of soul-searching and self-reflection for both parties before much romance really happens.

Mercurial is a definite five star read! I am just so happy I picked this book and it is one of my best reads this year! Definitely re-read worthy as well, so I’m gonna give this one another go later this year maybe. I am in love with this whole book! How did Naomi Hughes write this perfection?!?

Naomi Hughes grew up all over the U.S. before finally settling in the Midwest, a place she loves even though it tries to murder her with tornadoes every spring. She writes quirky young adult fiction full-time. When she’s not writing she likes to read, travel with her family, and geek out over British TV and Marvel superheroes.

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Have you read Mercurial yet or will you be picking up this book? Let me know in the comments below!