With my passion for reading, it should come as no surprise to you, dear reader, that many of my favorite quotes come from books. It is with my great pleasure that this month’s quote also comes with a book recommendation (instead of sappy personal revelation) for the Mercy Thompson series!
New year, new (to me) book series
Despite owning the first four books of the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs since 2012 or 2013, I didn’t get around to reading them until January 2018! Now that I’m six books in, I have realized my grave mistake. I also have to admit that my mother was right…let’s just not share that with her though.
To get you up to speed…
Mercedes Thompson, aka Mercy, is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy’s next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy’s connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water… (Goodreads, 2018)
Mercy Thompson’s world
Each installment will be a pretty quick read for most of you. However, unlike a lot of books who spend the first hundred or so pages establishing the nooks and crannies of a new universe, Moon Called drops you right into the action. It was a little jarring at first but is something I quickly came to appreciate. Patricia Briggs does a wonderful job introducing her readers to fascinating folklore that doesn’t normally show up in most books in this genre. Her words can equally break my heart and activate my FEELS just as easily as Mercy shifts into a coyote.
My only criticism is that I often wish the books were a little longer to give Mercy and her pack of friends more time to catch the bad guys (or gals). So fair warning…if you are new to the series, grab several of them at a time so that you can read without losing momentum!
Reading Challenge Checkmarks
For those of you who are participating in reading challenges, these books cover several prompts! Outside of the first book of a series I’ve never read, the next book in a series I’ve already started, and a book I bought at a used bookstore, I also can check off the following:
- The prequel is a graphic novel, which was a new medium for me.
- There is an additional collection of short stories to fill those anthology requirements.
- Mercy is half Native American and fulfills the prompt of finding a protagonist with a heritage outside of my own.
- Book 5 is titled “Silver Borne” that fits my prompt of a book with a color in the title.
From books come personal (fictional) heroines
If you ask me who my personal heroes are, I have to admit that many of mine are fictional (but this doesn’t make them any less influential to me).
Mercy must quickly learn how to take care of herself and read the people around her after growing up in a world where she feels like she doesn’t belong (aka a lone coyote pup in the middle of a werewolf pack). Despite feeling alone for much of her life, she is unfailingly loyal to the friends she makes and would do anything to protect them. She is strong, intelligent, and scrappy. She fights for what she believes in and is a fierce survivor.
Mercy has become someone who inspires me and teaches me that I don’t have to compromise on the things that truly matter (Oops. I guess there was a little sappiness!). Therefore, right next to Cat Crawfield Russell and Eve Dallas, I am officially adding Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson.
