Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3)
by Patricia Briggs
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Book Reviews of Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3)
Book Review: Enjoyable, but a bit of a cheat
Summary: 3 Stars
IRON KISSED is everything a reader of the previous two novels has a right to expect. Although elements of the plot are completely predictable -- Mercy will get involved in a dangerous magic-related situation, she will do it against the advice of friends and enemies, she will require the assistance of her friends, and this will put some kind of strain on her relationships with her hunky, handsome, much-much-older, paranormal sort-of boyfriends -- many of the details and some of the plot twists are not predictable. The latter are enough to keep a fantasy reader who is not a romance reader happy, but the romance portion is enough to make even some romance readers (I would think) a little bit queasy--not simply because the romance is important, and not because it is pukey (which it isn't, although it may come close), but because of the undercurrent of violence against women and capitulation to that violence.
When I talk about violence, I am not referring primarily to the rape that some reviewers have made negative comments about. I am talking about the violence that, Mercy tells us, is implicit in male-female relations among the werewolves she was raised with and hangs out with now. Females are expected to defer to males and they can be subject to male violence at any time, particularly when they don't show due deference. Females are not allowed to live alone--and trying to live alone could be a death sentence. Females may be able to choose their own mates, but only within certain constraints, and they must choose someone. Mercy is not technically subject to these constraints, but she would have to leave her current life and her business and friends to escape them. In making a choice to be with a werewolf -- which she does, although I won't say who -- she capitulates to violence.
Returning to the topic of rape, given the sexual subjugation of female werewolves and the constant undercurrent of violence, it would not be surprising if one of the male werewolves commit a rape. To have Samuel or Adam rape Mercy, for example, would have been much powerful (albeit devastating and cruel), and it would have followed logically from what has gone before. I think, however, that Briggs is actually fond of the violent edge of the werewolves and ambivalent about their sexual politics, and she doesn't want to spoil their edge by having one of their leaders commit such an atrocity. Instead, the rapist is a secondary character we have little or no attachment to. While virtually everything else in the novel reveals something about the world Mercy inhabits, this rape seems more like an opportunity for Briggs to be didactic. She gets to teach us that rape is at least as much a psychological violation as a physical violation, and that a woman who knows her attacker and doesn't resist is nonetheless not guilty of inviting the rape. Those are important lessons, but given the pervasiveness of violence (actual and threatened) against women in Mercy's world, they are (narratively) almost beside the point.
Anyway, my "real" rating is 3.5. It's a (mostly) enjoyable book with some interesting plot twists, but not more than that. People mostly satisfied with the series should pick this one up, but those who got bored with book 2 can safely leave it alone.
Book Review: Just a little confused and...
Summary: 3 Stars
Iron Kissed is the third book in Mercy Thompson's world. Let me just say I really enjoyed the first two books but wasn't putting too much thought into them because I thought they served mostly as character development along with love story interests. This book I am not sure what I feel about it at all...I am confused is a good way of putting it.
It may have been me thinking too hard about the plot and how the story developed or it could be the book itself. The story revolves around the arrest of Mercy's friend and former boss Zee on murder charges. Mercy being the loyalist she is (and I love her for it) tries to clear his name even when he asks her to stop. In the first book we got to learn mostly about Brigg's vision of werewolves, the second we learned about vampires and in this one we learn a little about the Fae world. I am only familiar with the first two and I think she has maintained a good amount of what is known about them along with adding some of her own twists and visions. The Fae I really have no idea about them except that they have glamour so I am taking what she says as researched and then her own vision of it.
I enjoyed learning about the Fae and their magic and some of the stories that were told in the book. I enjoyed the characters as usual especially when they used their very well known sense of humor.
I knew before I started that the love triangle would be resolved from the author's notes. I was actually very fond of both if not all 3 men in her life. But when I got around to the part where the choice was made I felt like it didn't flow. I don't even think she really chose it seemed like it just resolved itself for her. I was very disappointed in not seeing Stefan at all (but I think that's explained in the next book) after he was thrown into the mix. Back to the main point though the resolution didn't add up to me without giving anything away I just didn't feel like it was real and sorta felt like it was just thrown in there so no body's feelings get hurt. I also didn't understand the need for Mercy to decide that quick...she wasn't even dating them (I know the wolf part might be the reason but still).
Onto the main story this is the first book where I noticed that Mercy never actually solves anything (except for finding Andre in book 2). But the first book the solution was thrown to her by a new character (that never appears again). The second time she actually does that on her own because of her ghost seeing ability and a lot of detective questioning. This time follows the first book and she can't figure it out based on her senses or her questioning around.
Mercy in this book seemed to have lost her usual character. She's usually independent and does what she wants. she still maintains a little of that but seems to worry a lot about the guy's reaction or what he (not giving away who) would react. I found myself being very bothered by that because it's not her.
Over all I found the story lacking and not up to par with the other ones so hope when I get the next one it fits better.
Book Review: great series, great book
Summary: 5 Stars
In Iron Kissed, Mercy is recruited by her fae friends to help sniff out (literally) a killer on the fae reservation. When friend and former boss, self-proclaimed gremlin, Zee, is later arrested, Mercy's search for the killer becomes more frantic -- and dangerous. In other (werewolf) news, Mercy comes to a resolution about Samuel and Adam, but will she live to see it through?
This book crystallized in my mind for me some of the reasons that I love this series so much. Briggs seems to intuitively understand restraint. She doesn't pad her books and draw every scene out, milking ever last drop. As a writer, it's tempting to make the reader see exactly what you want them to by writing every little detail. Briggs understands that sometimes, things are better left to each individual's imagination, and so she uses a light hand during crucial situations. This doesn't mean the books are bland and description less; rather, there is a base to work off of in the readers' mind so that they can supply all of the extraneous details. This is effective for two reasons: 1), the reader inherently makes the story better for his/herself when applying imagination and preference -- this is why the book is always better than the movie. 2) all of the excess scenework that you have to wade through as a reader isn't there. I know that scenework can be pretty, and you may love how someone describes something in such detail, but when they constantly do that, it gets old. I can tell you how many times I've read Anne Rice or Laurell K. Hamilton and rolled my eyes or said "get to the point already!" A 300-400 page book is often padded our to 600-700 pages. Briggs doesn't do this. The result is that the books fly by and leave you engaged the whole time, and leave you hungry for the next. Everything seems so brilliantly paced, and everything is necessary.
Now, one thing that almost knocked this particular book back to a 4 for me was a couple of Scooby Doo scenes. It drives me nuts when a villain spills their guts to the good guy, thereby tying up all the loose strings that had you wondering; b) I hate it when one character in conversation to another summarizes the whole book, essentially recapping, and thereby tying up loose strings. These things seem lazy to me, generally. But the reason that this didn't end up knocking the story back to a 4 was that in both cases where Briggs does this, there was a reason that actually made it work and made sense in the context of the story, as well as expanding the readers` understanding of the characters in a way that worked, when anything else would have shown less and seemed clumsy. I ended up being sort of impressed by something that normally drives me insane. (More on this, but it gets spoilery, so it will be on the blog, here:
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Book Review: Perfection!
Summary: 5 Stars
Iron Kissed is the third installment in Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson series. This one grabbed me from page one and I read it straight through in one six hour sitting.
Mercy Thompson, the mechanic and occasional coyote, proves just how gutsy and caring she is when she risks everything to save her fae friend Zee, who is imprisoned for a murder that she knows he did not commit. She wades deep into fae territory and uncovers some of their secrets, which makes her a target for murder by many in the fae community. In the end, Mercy is badly hurt, but I believe it will make her stronger as the series goes on. The steamy Adam-Mercy-Samuel triangle heats up and comes to a perfect end, but I won't spoil it by revealing who she chooses.
This book was perfect, I can't think of one thing that was wrong here. Briggs achieved a perfect blend of paranormal mystery, storytelling, emotional realism and romance in a story full of twists and turns. In addition to creating a world full of magical, but believable characters, Briggs perfectly captures the depth of human emotion. The scenes between Mercy and Adam after Mercy's horrible ordeal were so touching that they drew a tear (or two). And when Ben started talking and we finally saw what happened to him, the tears really started to flow.
If you're new to the series, I highly recommend that you start with book one, Moon Called. It was a little slower for me than the second and third books, but the payoff is well worth it. Enjoy!
SPOILERS BELOW
Some reviewers have griped about what happens to Mercy at the end. While it was graphically described and the violence that followed was brutal, I think it was handled well by the author. This is a character that surrounds herself with violent, dangerously magical beings and I have to admit that I feared something like this was coming for Mercy - I actually thought it possible in Blood Bound. It was hard to read, and yes, I do think it odd that after all of the chemistry building, she finally gives in to Adam days after a rape. But I was glad to see that she rebounded and think she will come back from it stronger than ever - she will not give her attacker the power over her that he sought by running away or stopping her life after the attack. All in all, I think that the scene with Adam should have come much later, but I think Briggs handled it well.
UPDATE: I just read the first few chapters of Bone Crossed (Book 4) and I have to take back what I said above. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but the scene between Adam and Mercy at the end is not at all what we thought. Adam is much smarter, stronger and more considerate than I gave Patricia Briggs credit for.
Book Review: Not For The Faint of Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
This third book in the Mercy Thompson series is set in a more serious tone than the first two -- fair warning to those who prefer their novels to be lighthearted with a happily ever after ending, this book is not that. This story is somber with grim overtones, but unlike some others, I found that this was appropriate for the third novel because it shows Mercy's character growing in depth and experience.
*SPOILER ALERT* I was, however, disappointed like some other reviewers before me in the conclusion of the romantic build-up between Mercy, Samuel, and Adam (and not just because I was a pro-Sam fan). I found it very anticlimatic and somewhat confusing that both characters (Samuel and Mercy) just suddenly seemed to wake up and say "you know what, you're right. I'm not attracted to you, I don't desire you, and I do love you but I'm not IN love with you." It just seemed weird to me. Maybe I could understand that kind of attitude from Mercy, especially given their past history, but Sam as well? It just seemed to me that he would have felt a lot more for her since he'd been pursuing her for the better part of a year. Given his prolonged courting of her -- you would have thought he'd have realized long before then that he wasn't even attracted to her!!!! I mean that's a long time to chase someone only to then do an about face and then say he wasn't physically attracted to her, didn't desire her, and didn't want her for his mate. If that was the case why did he pursue her in the first place? Ms. Briggs anticlimatic conclusion to the love triangle just didn't make much sense to me. I would have understood more if Sam had been upset at not being chosen, that would at least be logical. But to just have Sam shrug it off with the excuse that "I don't desire you anyway -- oh but I do care for you like a sister/packmate" was crazy considering he had been previously obsessed with her.
Regardless of that minor complaint, this was an excellent book that showed us a great deal about all of the characters involved, Mercy, Adam, Sam, Honey and her husband, Jesse and Gabriel, Zee, Uncle Mike, and especially Ben. Ms. Brigg's shows us her wonderful ability to capture her characters in depth and realism. And while this is definitely the best thing about her novels, Iron Kissed also keeps us hooked with the mystery solving, Mercy's sleuthing abilities, and the tantalizing glimpse into the Fae world. The trauma that Mercy goes through, and Adam's reaction to it, moved me to tears at times. Though the cliffhanger-like ending did irritate the heck out of me, it definitely did its job. I can't wait to read the next in the series and hope I don't have to wait another agonizing year to find out!