Iron Kissed

Iron Kissed (2008) Patricia Briggs

I had forgotten just how dark this story was. Bad things happen to Mercy.

Very bad things.

And Mercy just doesn’t brush these things off, which means seeing Mercy suffer as she tries to recover.

It’s very hard to read.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s very well done, and it’s realistic. But it’s hard.

Zee needs help from Mercy, unfortunately, he pulls her into something bigger than he (or Mercy or Uncle Mike) expected.

Additionally, Mercy knows she has to choose between Samuel and Adam. Not that it’s really any surprise who she chooses. Samuel isn’t bad (he’s flawed, but that’s perfectly normal) but it’s been obvious from the beginning he isn’t good for Mercy.

Not that there aren’t fun parts.

“Shoot,” he said, the word obviously not giving him the satisfaction to be gotten out of cruder terms.

“Cheeses crusty, got all musty, got damp on the stone of a peach,” I agreed. He looked blank, so I repeated it with proper emphasis. “ChEEZ-zes crusty. Got Al-musty. Got DAMp on the StoneofapeaCH. My foster father used to say those around me all the time. He was an old-fashioned sort of wolf, too. He especially liked the Stoneofapeach. ‘Stoneofapeach, Mercedes. You don’t have the sense God gave little apples.’”

But be warned, there is a lot of darkness herein.

Published by Ace

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