The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
by Megan Bannen
Narrators: Michael Gallagher & Rachanee Lumayno
Release Date: August 23, 2022
Publisher: Orbit
Book #1 in The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy series
Number of Pages: 416
Fantasy/Romance
Ages 15 and up
CW: grief, abandonment, death of a parent,
cancer, violence
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Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.
Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.
After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.
If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most – Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares – each other?
I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I feel I have to give two separate reviews here—one for the actual story and writing and one for the narration. In many ways, it wouldn’t be fair to tie them completely together. If you’re coming to this review to try to decide if this book is worth reading, the short answer is yes, but not in audiobook format.
Let’s start with the good…the actual story and writing. This story flowed well and kept me engaged. Mercy and Hart are both lovable characters, even if Hart is a curmudgeon in the beginning. It’s obvious he is a good person even though he’s cranky. Mercy is a caring person who borders on having a sunshine personality, yet I could tell that persona was often a way for her to make it through the day. Poor Mercy had a lot on her shoulders and though her family thought they realized how much they put on her they really didn’t.
This book starts years after Hart and Mercy meet, but their initial contact is shown in a short flashback. These two definitely got off on the wrong foot and have been sniping at one another ever since. While I wouldn’t say they are enemies because there is no central point they argue over, I would still classify this story as enemies to lovers. Once the letter writing started, my heartstrings were tugged. These are two lonely individuals who are so much alike that they cannot see what is in front of their noses. The path from foes to friends to lovers is my favorite part of this book. I am not a fan of big secrets, but the secrets these two keep from each other and their loved ones made sense and weren’t kept from the reader. Every time I would start to think one of the secrets was going on too long, it would come out. Not always in the way I would have liked, but the secrets were revealed no matter what.
Mercy’s family is very loving, but they frustrated me beyond belief. The way these people thought they knew Mercy and knew what she wanted and needed, yet never truly listened to what she was saying. Mercy has been taking care of her father and siblings since she was a teenager so I understand them thinking it was her time to be free and stop holding everything up for everyone else, but they never really asked her what freedom and happiness meant to her. I love that the author included a family blow-up along with some conflict resolution instead of glossing over what happens between them all.
As for the narration, it wasn’t great. The female narrator barely changes her tone of voice for any of the characters, even Mercy’s dad. She did an okay job at portraying Mercy, but her dad and brother should not have sounded the same as Mercy and her sister. It didn’t seem consistent either. The male narrator was much better and I kind of wish he had narrated the whole thing. I honestly think I would have had a different rating for this story had I read the eBook instead of listening to the audio. There were too many times I didn’t know who was supposed to be talking because of how much alike the character’s voices were portrayed.
Overall, the world-building and storyline are spot on. And even when I was annoyed with the things they were doing, the characters were all well-written and fleshed out. This was a very hyped book (and still is) in the book blogging community so I tried to go in with my expectations in check. I’m glad the story lived up to the hype.
4 stars
All In Good Time 