The Boneless Mercies: A Book Review

Before the summary: this book was amazing. It was also shelved in the wrong place in my local library, that place being the Young Adult section, which I will get into after the review and before the spoiler bits.

Written by April Genevieve Tucholke, this novel follows Frey and her fellow Boneless Mercies (women who wander town to town performing mercy killings in exchange for coin) Runa, Ovie, Juniper, and their male companion they picked up on the road, Trigve. These four ladies are tired of mercy killing. They are tired of killing the sick and the weak and just eking out a life. They are tired of everyone shunning them except when they need them. The want to live happy, heroic lives. And so they set out on a journey to kill a beast.

First, lets just look at this cover. This is a cover that, in a high school class, you could analyze down to the color. It is just beautiful, and a perfect match to this story.

Alright, down to what you really want to know – what makes this book so great?

The writing style is very much high fantasy, with a good balance of descriptions, metaphors and the like. But beyond that, the writing is just superb. It flows with the characters, and this is a novel that indirectly (for the most part) lets the reader get to know the characters. Every character has their own personalities, and it is explained why some of them are so flat. These are characters that have gone through a lot and hide most of their past. They try to live in the moment and be stoic warriors as their culture encourages.

Now, for the culture. This is very much a world where its medieval times in Scandinavia with magic. Vorse, they are Vorse. They want to die with honor in battle and go to Holhalla. There are witches and seers. There are some monsters, that many think are nothing more than a myth. They burn their dead while others bury theirs. They have nuns who will go through rights for those who have no one to do it for them. This is such a rich world, and I didn’t have any issues following along. However, if you aren’t familiar with Norse mythology, this could get confusing for you. That is a warning.

This is a dark saga. These are girls who do mercy killing for a living. If you don’t know what that is, they have individuals approach them and ask to be killed, or if they will come kill a loved one who is in terrible pain. Rarely do they do suicide kills, but these are people who want to die. Who want to end their suffering. Who can’t take that anymore. And because of that, I would NOT put this into the young adult section (and my local librarian will be moving it to general fiction). Because that is a big thing to try and understand, and I think it is something that could be easily misunderstood if someone isn’t reading to read something about that. Because that is the heart of this book: they are tired of providing mercy kills. They are tired of killing people who want to be killed. It is one thing, for them, to kill someone in battle. To fight someone who wants to live. It is another to take the life of one who is ready for it and welcoming to it. And that all plays into the culture that Tucholke has built, and it plays a big role. Which is why you might want to have some familiarity with Norse mythology before reading this.

A thing that was odd that I enjoyed but not everyone would was the relationship between Frey, Trigve, and Roth whom you meet later on. Frey and Trigve are an item, but they aren’t… it’s interesting. And an interesting approach. I think that Frey is supposed to be looking at everything as an opportunity, and not really as shutting any one door yet. There is enough to hint at that, as she is only 17, that would be something that still has a lot of space to grow and change in her future. The ending of the book is a good ending, but leaves enough room open for more to happen that makes the book have more of a real feel. This could be what the real people behind the great sagas were actually like.

Overall, this is a fantastic book. This is a novel that can be really analyzed (and I will be doing a bit below under the spoiler warnings), and is a great topic of discussion. This is a saga told from the view point of those trying to do great things and go beyond their past. And I, for one, loved it.

Who would enjoy this book? High fantasy lovers, adventure lovers, anyone who enjoys a true saga. Anyone who likes a dark story. Honestly, anyone who can handle the topic would enjoy this book.

Who wouldn’t like this book? People who don’t like fantasy/historical books, those who just want to read a romance, or who are looking for a light read.

Also, I changed my mind. Look for a SECOND post filled with spoilers! Because this review is quite long.