The Mercy Makers

The Moon Heresies #1

by Tessa Gratton

A talented heretic must decide between the pursuit of forbidden magic, or the ecstasy of forbidden love, in the start of a captivating epic fantasy trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Tessa Gratton.
 
★ "Laced with a vivid sensuality." —Jacqueline Carey, New York Times bestselling author of Kushiel's Dart
 
Can an empire trip and fall on a mere strand of silk? 
 
Iriset is a prodigy and an outlaw. The daughter of a powerful criminal, she dons her alter ego Silk to create magical disguises for those in her father’s organization, but she longs to do more with her to enhance what it means to be human by giving people wings, night-sight, and other abilities; to unlock the possibilities of gender and parenthood; to cure disease and even to end mortality itself.  
 
Everything changes when her father is captured and sentenced to death. To save him, Iriset must infiltrate the palace and the empire’s fanatical ruling family. There, she realizes she has a chance—and an obligation—to bring down the entire corrupt system. She'll have to entangle herself in the lives of the emperor and his sister, getting them to trust and even to love her.
 
But love is a two-way street, and Iriset’s own heart holds the most mysterious and impenetrable magic of all.  
 
★ "Beautiful, elegant, passionate novel. A triumph and a delight from start to finish." —Antonia Hodgson, author of The Raven Scholar
 
★ "Sexy and intriguing." —Ellen Kushner, author of Swordspoint
 
 

Genres: Fantasy, Queer, Adult, Romance, Romantasy, LGBT, Audiobook

555 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 17, 2025

About the author

Tessa Gratton is the author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, nominated twice for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Her most recent novels are the dark queer fairy tales Strange Grace and Night Shine, and queer the Shakespeare retelling Lady Hotspur. Her upcoming work includes the YA fantasy Chaos and Flame (2023), and novels of Star Wars: The High Republic. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife. Queer, nonbinary, she/any.

Reviews

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by Orbit - thank you so much

i feel like all i do it preface my reviews now, but the early reviews for this make me feel insane so - 2 things really quickly: 1) tessa is one of my favorite authors, and no one can write the way she makes me feel with her writing, so maybe i am a little subconsciously biased and 2) i do think that you will enjoy this story more if you have already read night shine and moon dark smile, but this story stands on its own and is the start of something new!

okay, insanity rationalizing aside, i really did love this and i found it so unique. architects in this world weave magic that involves creating alteration on the human body, and it is very illegal in this world that is dictated by those who worship certain gods. our main character, iriset, finds herself at the mercy of those who rule, because her father has been taken captive, yet she has learned a thing or two from working under her father while he was a crime lord with a very powerful system who still believes this magic shouldn’t be outlawed. iriset soon finds herself at the heart of this empire, working as a handmaiden to the princess, because they want to keep her close. but maybe being close is what she wanted all along, especially when the prince, and his bride in waiting, have caught her attention in all the ways. and maybe rebellion is the only answer, whether it’s forced or chosen.

i do recognize that it does have dense writing, and you really have to patiently wait for the dots to start connecting, and that the plot can feel slow while you are waiting. and that was truly my complaint, too, up until you hit that 50% mark and then i was inhaling every page like i didn’t trust my next breath. you want angst? you want yearning? oh my god, i am shaking just typing this.

another reason why tessa is one of my favorite authors of all time, is that i am obsessed with the way she discusses gender and sexuality (and fluidity that they can be) in her stories. to me, this really felt like the pansexuality anthem i desperately needed to read this pride. And i just respect (and loved) everything about gender and sexuality within these pages.

i really also loved seeing iriset being who the world has forced, and continues to force, her to be. all these different interactions, and how there is beauty in that, even when recognizing how hard and unfair it is. also, a common thread i have really been easily seeing in all my favorite books these last few years, is the central plot of “empire” and how the word always unapologetically destroys.

i loved this, i recognize it is slow, but i still loved it. and I respect it, so very much, and i am so happy it is out in the world! and if you have similar reading tastes to me, i highly recommend it. and i absolutely cannot wait to feel really insane when i get the honor of starting book two!

trigger + content warnings: war, spiders / insects, talk of animal death, prison, captivity, brief mention of the word rape, cancer mentions, talk of cults, misgendering (in a negative light), racism, slavery, talk of labor camps + refugee camps, talk of mass murder, executions / murder, death, anxiety, blackmail, loss of loved one (father), talk of cycles and pregnancy, a lot of sexual content (this is a horny book lol)

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➽ ♡.) Strange Grace ★★★★★
➽ 1.) The Queens of Innis Lear ★★★★★
➽ 1.) Night Shine ★★★★★
➽ 2.) Moon Dark Smile ★★★

[Jaidee (lost in Vegas for a few days) · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 "lord have mercy on my reading life" star !!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for an ecopy. This novel will be released June 2025. I am providing an honest reaction for the first 7 percent. I just had to stop...full stop.

I cannot go any further. The story has some interesting potential but the prose is so bloody tedious and precious and gives me both irritation and indigestion...cutting my losses....

[aeryn rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️ (DNF @ 34%)

Guys I cannot continue reading this book and boring myself to death for the sake of finishing this. As always, I will be reviewing the content that I HAVE read, not what I haven't. I've had to many people not realize that's what I do even if I plainly state it, so here I am making it even more obvious. 🙂

I will keep this book review short and sweet (the irony) since I've only made it to 180+ pages, but oh boy do I have some things to say.

Up to the point that I read, I strongly. STRONGLY disliked this book. The writing was so dense and repetitive and I could not have cared less about the characters. To read the same thing but in different variations was exhausting and I was physically falling asleep while reading this cause I was so. Damn. Bored. I really tried to convince myself to at least finish as much as I could, but I was getting angry. There were so many words, yet nothing was said. We were introduced to so many characters, yet none of them substantial. This book didn't have me hooked at any point while reading this.

I read many fantasy books, okay. I don't think I have EVER been this confused while reading something before. The language, the plot(?), the world building was so incredibly poorly executed. I'm so let down cause I was anticipating this so much. Nothing feels worse than having high, or even MID, expectations and getting let down in the worst way possible. Nothing in what I read made sense.

The way some of the chapters were set up fucking lost me. This book would have been SO MUCH BETTER had it been in first person. I normally don't care, but the writing was probably one of the worst things I experienced.

I didn't want to waste anymore of my precious time and energy on this, because this book took SO much. I don't think it was written well, I don't think it made any sense, and I don't think this book would be worth your time. There are so many other kinds of epic fantasy books that I guarantee would be more interesting than this. I really wouldn't recommend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭: 🌙💛

While this book has pretty...mixed reviews, the concept sounds very interesting to me so I want to give it a shot!
Who knows, I might find a gem in my pile of books 👀

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oof, the reviews for this are rough, but I loved it! I will say, it's a bit on the dense and complex side so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for those new to the fantasy genre. And it's worth saying that while this is quite steamy, it is NOT romantasy. The Mercy Makers is a queer fantasy novel with strong political and religious elements, court intrigue, a complex magic system interwoven with the religion, and the aforementioned high steam. (perhaps not in terms of frequency, but certainly in terms of spiciness!)

The main character is the daughter of a crime lord who experiments with forbidden magic that involves altering the human body, something considered apostasy. But when her father is caught and executed, the very attractive princess of the empire takes her a sort of handmaiden. Also her brother the ruler is pretty hot too. And so is his foreign-born intended bride. Basically there is a whole lot of sexual tension to go around, but also there are plots and rebellions, betrayals and dangerous secrets. It was fantastic and I really hope this gets into the hands of the right people! I adore Tessa Gratton's writing. The audio narration is also fantastic, though some readers might need the book to follow along with the level of detail involved. I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own.

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ Chapter 7

I don’t even know how to be respectful with this one, so I’m just gonna go the direct route and be brutally honest: this is a hot mess. The writing is indecipherable. The dialogue reminded me of what 10 year old children might sound like if they were pretending to be kings and queens in the dark ages.

I can’t even tell you what it’s about. A chick who makes magic with silk and math? But she’s not supposed to use it because reasons? I’m not even certain about that. I seriously hate DNFing, but I can think of a whole host of other unpleasant things I’d rather be doing than reading this book.

[Greekchoir · Rating 2 out of 5]

SUCH a promising start, I’ll give Tessa Gratton her flowers in that the plot is compelling, Iriset is pleasantly terrible, and there is clearly so much thought put into this world and how people would live in it. That being said…there is a hollowness where emotional and thematic weight should be; Iriset, by her own confession, is rarely invested in what is going around her beyond her direct involvement, and so never gives the reader a chance to care either. And while The Mercy Makers touches on a few themes (the failure of empire, racism and imperialism, innovation vs. religion), these ideas feel incidental to the story rather than what drives it. I love a bit of politicking and courtly intrigue and sensuality, but so little of it was actually saying or doing anything for taking up so much space…I see a world where The Mercy Makers is a very tight novella. Might recommend to fans of Mask of Mirrors, but otherwise will continue to direct people to Metal From Heaven for your sexy anti-establishment fantasy texts

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a casual read, this is not the book for you. The third person writing is dense and intricate, demanding your full attention. Blink, and you’ll miss something important. I had to reread the first six chapters just to wrap my head around the world building, magic systems, and unique terms. Chapter 8 is where things really began to click for me.

The world building is vivid, though the explanations of the magic systems could use a little more clarity. At times, it feels like the author is less telling a story and more so engineering a puzzle. Layering details so intricately that I was left scrambling to keep up. Some explanations came so late I felt like I had overlooked something. A quarter of the way through the book, I found myself relying on a sticky note to keep track of the growing list of characters, magic systems, and every growing list of specialized terms.

This book is heavy on religious and philosophical themes, specifically apostasy. Iriset challenges faith and tradition by using forbidden magic, a direct defiance of the Goddess’s domain. This creates constant tension between innovation and doctrine. Blurring the lines between science, faith, and transformation.

The writing style is a mix of old English and high fantasy academia. great for some, but at times it had my brain quietly checking out. An example of this is the Author’s preference for use of “anself” instead of “oneself”, which adds to the world’s distinct feel.

Honestly, it could also be that I’m genuinely just too dumb for this book. As reading it sometimes felt like trying to assemble furniture with no instructions. Just pure guesswork and a growing sense of defeat.

As Michael Scott once said, “I am Beyoncé always”. But in this case I feel more like Kelly, confused and way out of my depth.

Thank you to NetGally and Orbit for an ARC!

[Fernanda (ivyfer_isreading) · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 10% so don't take my rating too seriously.

This book came highly recommended by a friend and they absolutely loved it, said it was one of the best books they read this year, so this might work for you it just unfortunately didn't do it for me.
The reason I DNF-ed it when I absolutely hate doing it to ARCs: I couldn't get past the writing style. The prose walks in circles, it's not flowery exactly because I love writing that overly describes things with complicated words, but here it just confuses the reader unnecessarily. Maybe it gets better, but my kindle was telling me I still had 7 hours and I just couldn't do it.
I encourage you to try it, because like I said before I know people who loved it. I will probably buy the final version when it comes out in June and try again, but for now it is a DNF.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jena · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Mercy Makers had a ton of potential, but sadly, it fell incredibly flat for me. The world building of this story immediately drew me in. The Mercy Makers takes place in a world in which "architects" design more than buildings. They can design costumes and spells to completely change a person's genetic makeup. Iriset, our main character, dreams of conquering flight and gender norms with her designs, all made of silk. It's a really cool, though admittedly a little complex, magic system. Unfortunately, every other aspect of the novel let me down. The pacing was entirely off as the plot dragged on, none of the characters drew me in, the prose felt stagnant and dull, and the romance was entirely uninteresting, borderline off-putting. There was a bit of a love triangle, and yet whomever the main character was paired off with, I still couldn't care less. Not to mention the smut - also unenjoyable. Overall, I was really looking forward to a sapphic, political, high-fantasy, but The Mercy Makers did not deliver on what it promised. I'll probably give a different one of the author's books a try at some point, but this one just wasn't for me.
Thank you to Hachette Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Krissi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to DNF this. The premise sounds very interesting, but the writing is entirely too flowery and not cohesive to where you can't really keep track of what's going on and I found myself having to re-read paragraphs just to kind of figure out what's going on. This is my first attempt at this author's work, and I'm not sure if this is how Gratton writes all the time, but if so, they may not be an author for me. If you enjoy their work though give it a try as you may like it.

[Billie's Not So Secret Diary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mercy Makers
by Tessa Gratton
The Moon Heresies #1
Fantasy
NetGalley ARC Audio
Narrated by Emily Lawrence
Pub Date: Jun 17, 2025
Hachette Audio/Orbit
Ages: 18+

Hiding under the name Silk, Iriset creates disguises and other wonders for her father's criminal organization with a forbidden magic. Wanted by the empire, her creations are tracked, and she and her father are captured. She pretends to be a sheltered young lady because if they found out she was Silk, she would die right alongside her father.

Taken from prison by the Emperor's sister, Iriset keeps her charade and becomes a lady in waiting, using the time to find a way to free her father before his sentence of death is carried out. But a poisoned piece of candy changes her role, and she must use her skill as Silk. Now, in this new role, there might even be a chance she could bring down the Empire from the inside.


This book has a very unique magic system, but I wish it had been explained better. It felt as if the important aspects of it were jumped around and not clearly talked about in one place. Instead, there were tidbits here and there, but spread way too far apart to give the reader a clear definition of how the magic worked. I don't remember if it was ever explained in detail where the magic came from or the past. There were things mentioned, but not made clear. Sure, some of it made sense at the end, but the overall effect was lost because of the wait.

Speaking of wait, this book was slow to get going. I understand that it was building up, but it took too long to get there. One of the things that dragged on was the details of the food. It wasn't needed for every dish.

I did listen to the audio, and the narrator, Emily Lawrence, did a great job with the characters' voices.

There is some violence, but it's nothing compared to the adult content. There's way too much, both in details and occurrences, so it loses a star, and making it only suitable for readers over eighteen.

Even though I am disappointed in this story because of the lack of explanation and way too much adult content, I am still interested in reading the next in the series, but I would rather read than listen, so I can skip any excess adult content.

3 Stars

[Mag Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC! I LOVED this book and I am so excited for everyone to read this. I'm rating this 4.5 stars, rounded up.

My two favorite reads so far this year have been The Spear Cuts Through Water and These Burning Stars. Take the incredible world-building of The Spear Cuts Through Water (and even elements of the structure that dips into various POVs) and combine it with the morally gray, ambitiously motivated characters of These Burning Stars, and you’ll get the fat, sexy book baby that is The Mercy Makers.

The story follows Iriset, daughter of a crime boss and genius designer creating magical disguises and other illegal inventions. When her father is captured and sentenced to death, Iriset seizes an opportunity to get in close with the ruling family and attempt to manipulate them to save her father. But this is just the beginning: the arrival of a foreign princess betrothed to the emperor sets off a chain of events that pull Iriset deeper and deeper into a political world that she might want to destroy entirely.

This is one of those novels that is so surprising in its twists and turns that you have to tread carefully in reviewing it because there is so much that could be spoiled. The world-building is beautifully done, and you really just have to throw yourself into it and learn the magic as you read; explaining my favorite parts here would, in my opinion, be as much a spoiler as a plot point. But I love that this doesn’t just follow the cookie cutter “evil empire vs scrappy rebellion” scheme that has become so repetitive in a lot of fantasy novels. Iriset isn’t leading a revolution: she’s up close and personal with the makers of empire themselves, and while it’s always easy to identify and criticize what people do wrong, it’s much less simple to formulate what they should all be doing instead. The Mercy Makers also really excelled in its character development. None of these characters are good people, but there is so much nuance in both their actions and the world around them that you find them sympathetic and understandable even while they are behaving atrociously.

I will admit, this is absolutely the smuttiest fantasy book I’ve ever read, and that’s where I’m docking half a star. I don’t like gratuitous sex scenes in books: erotica and steamy romances exist for that. It’s fine for it to be sexy and have sex scenes — that’s part of the political intrigue, and Iriset’s behavior during sex does help define her — but several pages of graphic intercourse doesn’t need to be interrupting the plot.

——
Is it queer? Emphatically, YES. Iriset is blatantly bisexual, and there are a number of interesting takes on gender and gender roles as well (for example, the two ruling positions are decided by the order of birth of royal children, so even though one of them has the word “Mistress” in the title, that position can be and has been held by men). There is also a character with unique in-world pronouns, which I love to see.

Is it diverse? Yes, there are various racial and ethnic divides between the people. The ruling party, which contains a strain of religiously-motivated racial superiority, is not white. However, neither are the people they have conquered, and these are complex and fully developed characters. Complicated anti-hero/sympathetic villain roles should not be reserved for white people, and I like that we have other ethnicities in power here.

How long did it take? I spent around 15 hours reading this, though I was very definitely reading on the slow side (even for me!) for this one.

[Izzy⁷♡•°]

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ALC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

DNF at 19%/page 106

Yeah, no, this book is unreadable.

I seriously have never seen such an atrocious world building and magic system set up. This book is so wordy for absolute no reason and not in a setting the atmosphere way, more like a let me just write words that serve no point.

Let's break it down:
World building - All done with paragraphs and paragraphs of info dump, be it by the beginning of the chapter where the author just decides to start with a huge amount of lore dropped; by having the main character going on these tangents in her own mind which once again are just info dumps; and lastly we can also just have info dumps on the dialogue. If you are just going to make this world so "complicated," you have to have pages and pages of dumping information on your reader, maybe you should simplify it a little bit.

Magic system - So confusing, what even is the point. It's like architecture of faces, and you build maks, but there is clearly some magic because she could feel things in the air. There is also gods and religion and heresy and what wven is going on. Incredibly confusing and not well explained and established.

One hundred pages in and barely anything happened, just introducing a stupid long list of characters and establishing them by you guess it info dumps.

Anyways I tried (shout out to the audiobook, made it so much more bearable) but I'm not going to waist my time with this.

[alyssa✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

i had a fun time, not incredible but i did read this in basically one day lol

[Ashley Finafrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

  Reading this book felt a lot like having someone describe, in excessive detail, a mythological Renaissance painting depicting nymphs frolicking gaily at its center, and then, when you let your gaze wander towards the shadowy edges, you realize there are hidden gods peering in at the main subjects. It's a seemingly ornate, intriguing artwork to behold from its uniqueness. Gratton paints world so vividly different from our world in its architecture, political system, religion of the Moon Eater God, and its magic system, you can tell she painstakingly devoted a lot of time to designing the world. However, I think Gratton had spent so much time describing to the reader the intricate visuals and alien lands, that she had forgotten to tell the story, and just remembers to sprinkle it in as herbs and spices, when really the plot needed to be the main ingredient to make the meal feel meaty rather than insubstantial.

  I wouldn't say that the writing is flowery, but it is overly descriptive in aspects that do not propel the plot forward and over-indulges on emphasizing a unique world. And when it's not describing the world, a large portion of the story is devoted to love-making--not negative in itself, but at the same time, I'm like "plot is where?"

  One thing that I think is commendable is the magic system in The Mercy Makers, different from other fantasy novels, divided into 4 parts: rising, falling, flow, and ecstatic.
    • These forces were used to manipulate things that characters saw physically and as well as in feeling.
    • However, since the magic system was so different from other novels, there was just too much cognitive load devoted to understanding it, especially when it came to the magic described relating to emotions--it's just too abstract, hence making the already description-bloated story feel too much like "vibes" rather than a concrete tool.
  • Another thing that detracted from my enjoyment was the MC was largely isolated--sure there were plenty of people surrounding her, after she was captured by the royal family and forced to hide her true identity as one of the greatest architects alive (magic wielder), but Gratton primarily has her working on getting herself unensared from the trap by herself, leaving the reader alone with way too much of the MC's internal dialog. I keep saying this, this is why side-kicks are so useful when it comes to story telling, so the audience is just not trapped inside someone's head for too long.
  • Also, while introducing us to this wildly different world, Gratton also uses "an"/"ans"/"anself" as a gender neutral pronoun and it's not immediately obvious, especially as you're trying to just grasp what the heck is happening and in what kind of world.

  Anyways, if you're in the mood for a slower-paced high fantasy novel with a world and magic system different from other fantasy series that has a FMC very comfortable in her sexuality, then maybe this book is for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was honestly even better than I expected, and I love Tessa Gratton as an author already. This story is more complex, sexier, and more action-packed than I was prepared for - and it was a shock to my system in the best way. But it is DEFINITELY not for everyone. Isn't that a sign of great art, tbh?

This book drops you into an intricate world with a highly developed magic system and basically says, "figure it out, bitches" and I haven't had my brain given such a (welcome) workout in the longest time when it comes to fantasy epics. I compare it to fantasy books written pre-2000 where you are just dropped into these strange worlds with weird words, unfamiliar names, and super complicated and intertwined political / religious / magic systems. This one doesn't even have a glossary of terms - but it does have a map!

The difference is that Gratton is writing now, and like most of (all?) her stuff, it presents a society where gender and sexuality is much more expansive, which YES. Fans of how Everina Maxwell does gender, or Ann Leckie, will be at home here. This is the alternate queernorm world we all want and deserve.

And since it's a world we see primarily through the eyes of its main character, Iriset, it is a very emotional, sexy world. Iriset is the daughter of a crime lord, but also has an alter ego as "Silk" - someone able to manipulate the latent forces of the world to do things that are considered illegal by Silence, the dominant religion of the empire.

She's also what we'd call "very bi" (lol) and often times, relates to the people around her through physical connection. This aspect is very germane to her character, since she already has a fascination with changes and reactions in the human body (more of that off-limits stuff). The combination between emotional and physical means that Iriset ends up falling for so many people in this book - and doing something about it. If you are squeamish about references to sex, explicit sex on page, and attraction in all directions, you will likely struggle with this book. For me, it was catnip.

But this book also has plot (and twists!!) that had me gasping aloud at least three times! At the beginning of the story, Iriset gets captured by the ruling power alongside her father, who is set to be put to death. She has to figure out a way to try and save him while somehow protecting her identity as Silk, while somehow navigating complicated court power politics - and she doesn't even believe in the empire these people are trying to protect. It's a rich setup for some ANGSTY dynamics but also some stunning choices by Iriset and the other characters.

I could probably say soooo much more but I will just say I am absolutely in AWE of this book and am squirming waiting for the next entry to come along. Gratton has the makings of a magnus opus duology or trilogy here.

[h o l l i s · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy oh boy. Before I dove into this one, being late to the review stage of things already I thought why not see what the people were feeling, and, well, I saw a lot of DNFs for this one — and I definitely understand why. I was almost one of them. But stubbornness paid off again; well, maybe not. But it fueled me.

I've read a lot of complex and confusing worldbuilding and or plot events before but still managed to have a good time; whether because of it or despite it. This isn't one of those times. What I enjoyed about this (and, being real, it was mostly the final chapter) was despite everything that came before. Which I still don't understand.

This is heavy on the religious themes, with lots of discussion on faith and philosophy, and basically how it's a crime to subvert, to heal, to change anything not natural. And this also obviously manifests itself with gender and sex, despite this being queer, and it's all just a dense mix.

But the heart of it is rebellion on a society that hinders progress and someone who is brazenly capable of this finds her way into the palace, next to the rulers who hold this balance in place through ruling and ritual. Which sounds like it could be fun, a the wolf in sheep's clothing, etc, except there's so much weird playacting mixed in, alongside etiquette around eye contact, and masks, and everyone's horny for everyone (or at least our "heroine" is), and I'll admit until a certain death I was reallllly being strung along against my will. Because her goal just wasn't interesting. After that, though, motivations change and that's when I got more interested.

Or, rather, when I finally got interested.

And I haven't even touched on the magic system, or delved into the aforementioned religious elements as it defines this society, because I couldn't. Even if I wanted to. I am definitely too dumb for this.

All that to say, good ending or no I don't quite know if I'll be reading on. This was a lot to get through and there was little payoff from my perspective. If it's a duology, maybe. Trilogy? Absolutely not.

** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **

---

This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[Ai Jiang]

A big thank you to the editor, publisher, and author for an ARC of the book for a blurb!

THE MERCY MAKERS is a glorious web of political intrigue, stunning world building, and sharp plotting that combines a merciless empire built upon the pain of the prisoned, love, ambition, sacrifice, truth, and magic—the start of a series truly intricate in its design and meticulously woven.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, and hope it finds its audience! It was refreshing to read something that felt like a return to more serious fantasy, with intense world building and politics. I don't think that type of fantasy has been the most popular in recent years, which probably explains some of the ratings. This definitely does have intense world building, but the payoff is worth it, and I've never been the sort of person that has to understand and follow everything to enjoy fantasy.

I also really appreciated the characters in this. Iriset is amazing, and again, it is so refreshing to follow such a flawed woman character. She's smart, horny, and doesn't always make the best decisions. I wish we had more woman characters like her!

I received a copy of the ebook in a Goodreads giveaway, but I also purchased a copy, and am very much looking forward to any sequels.

[Ally]

Hot damn, is this level of “holy shit” how straight people felt reading game of thrones or something?

[nana✨️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars? 2.5 stars?

First, I have to say: the audiobook itself was phenomenal! Emily Lawrence's (the narrator) voice fit the tone of the world perfectly—sultry, smooth, and atmospheric. I’m always fascinated by how narrators can shift their voices to embody different characters, and this one absolutely nailed it! It was genuinely impressive how distinct and emotionally resonant the performance was. Honestly, I think the audiobook is the reason I made it through. I can’t imagine this would have been nearly as engaging to read physically.

Buuut I have complicated feelings about the book as a whole. I almost gave up around the 10% mark. If this hadn’t been an ARC and an audiobook (which definitely helped), I probably would’ve dnfed. The writing is dense, especially in the beginning. There are long, intricate explanations of the magic system and worldbuilding that left me more confused than informed. Even now, after finishing the book, I still have so many questions. But what I did understand of the world was genuinely fascinating. Gratton’s imagination is clearly vast, and there’s an epic scale here that’s undeniably impressive!

The plot doesn’t really kick in until around 45%, which is when I finally found myself getting pulled in. A major event happens that hooked me, and from that point on, I was much more engaged. Until it slowed again, only to pick up once more in the final 15%. So the pacing was definitely uneven. When it was good, it was actually so good, but in between those moments, it felt like I was wading through fog. I’ve seen other reviewers say they found the events hard to follow, and I totally agree.

As for Iriset, the main character... I have very mixed feelings. I liked certain aspects of her, but other times she confused me or even got on my nerves. A lot of the book revolves around lust and desire. Everything is erotic, and Iriset seems to lust after nearly everyone, including her husband's sister, which I found kind of odd. Many of the relationships felt based on power and physical attraction rather than deeper emotional connections, which didn’t really work for me personally. There's a thing between the main couple that bothered me, but it's a bit spoilery, so don't read what's in the brackets if you don't want to know! ((Iriset changed her appearance to look like her husband's fiancée because reasons. He thought she was someone else the whole time, and they were intimate A LOT. It just felt very iffy with the consent.))

There were sections I genuinely enjoyed, with great twists and emotionally charged moments that landed really well. But the slow pacing, confusing worldbuilding, and occasionally frustrating characters dragged it down for me. This might just not have been the book for me, but I can absolutely see it being someone else’s favorite!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the audiobook!

[Rodger’s Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️

First and foremost just know this book, and its main character, are INCREDIBLY horny. Boys, girls, non-binary, trans, if they have a pulse she probably wants to do things to them and have them do things to her…up to and including a cheeky little bit of fisting. If you can get on board with that, the messy character dynamics and lore of the world are really quite fun and interesting. And naturally, where the book left off makes me so curious where the series is going. If you want some sneaky espionage in between rounds of banging, and then some cool lore…and of course more banging…look no further.

Also I did quite enjoy the audiobook narration. There are a lot of accents over letters I’m not used to seeing that the narrator helped me breeze past rather than trying to puzzle out how to pronounce things.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy to review.

[Anastasia ｼ]

ahh i'm so excited for this one🥹🥹
Thank you for the ARC, Orbit!!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an advanced review copy via NetGalley.

The ending and later plot twists finally piqued my interest and justified my slog through the book. I want to read the sequel to see how the author builds out the universe.

I found the start of this novel jolting, exhausting, and a tad boring. The writing style and dialogue verbiage occasionally feel out of place or forced. The protagonist is also irritatingly libidinous. It’s valuable for books to realistically depict sexual urges and instincts, but it should be naturally inserted into the story. Iriset is randomly and frequently turned on in ways that break up the flow of her circumstance or are overly descriptive in a way that it’s incongruous with the rest of the writing. It also doesn’t lend itself to the plot or illustrate anything useful about her characterization for the purpose of the story.

The above made it difficult for me to feel invested in the story. Conversely, I found a number of aspects that kept me reading: the magic and world system revolving around the ‘balance’ of attributes numbered in multiples of four; a high confident (at times, snobbish) heroine driven by her own potential; a pinch of political intrigue and brutality.

3.5 - Not a priority read, but I’d be curious to see how Tessa Gratton continues to develop this universe, and, hopefully, create more fleshed out characters.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll start by saying this book is not for everyone. There is some complex world-building and a magic system inspired by math and architecture. As one who is not very mathematically inclined, it took some getting used to.

That being said, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I’ve not read a book like this one before. It was unique and unlike other fantasy books I’ve read, I wasn't able to guess where the story was going. Like the writing style and worldbuilding, it took me some time to warm up to the characters but by the end, I was cheering on Iriset as she plotted and schemed to take down the empire. I will definitely be picking up the next book.

The only thing I would have liked this book to have is a glossary of terms. I think it would have made getting into the story easier.

Thank you, NetGalley for the e-ARC.

[Miraclesnow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title of this review: Oops, Found a New Favorite

Yep, you heard that right folks. I’ve found yet another ‘FMC who performs a long con in the twisting dangerous metropolitan city, who has found both love and loss while fighting for what she believes is good’ while still having a unique plot that holds its own!
Never thought I’d find something so up my alley so soon after my favorite trilogy finished back in 2023, but I couldn’t be happier to have another hyperfixation to latch on to in the year of our lord(ess) 2025. What a underhyped one too!

And because of lack of said hype, I’m going to champion this book and suggest it to EVERYONE. In my opinion, as it stands now, it deserves a better score than 3.60 on Goodreads. So here’s a breakdown of why I think this book deserves my 5 stars and why I also think it needs to be found by people who will love it too.

First we start with the worldbuilding. It’s SO lush! An empire that grew because a moon fell to earth and the god from it taught them magic goes SO hard. And the magic comes from architecture? Love it! It’s crazy to relate to how we view science vs how the people in Moonshadow view their magic, not unlike how certain real-life religions used (and still use) fear of the unknown to keep people in control //clears throat. And the descriptions made the world seem so vivid and lifelike, which really helped me understand how their physical architecture was developed because of how geometry is so integral to their principles of magic.

The main cast of characters all seem interesting, with their own quirks and issues behind the scenes, though we focus on Iriset our main girl for 95% of the plot. And what a main woman we have. Iriset is capable, confident, (arrogant), and more than happy to be the one to mention uncomfortable truths. I couldn’t have been more happy watching her learn & grow from the beginning, starting as a fake ‘meek’ child of a crime lord to becoming a full apostate of the Miran religion. And I loved Amaranth, her kind-of friend as a true morally grey character. Iriset is in the category of morally grey too, but Amaranth is the poster child for that term. The character that felt the weakest was the main love interest Lyric, which is unfortunate but gives me hope we’ll find more hidden depths as the series continues on.

So if you love magic being a part of the core of a society, long cons, royal political shenanigans, capable fmcs, and sensual romance, this book has all of it and more! I genuinely can’t WAIT for book 2! Tess Gratton, I gotta keep my eye on you.

[Hadley Archey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: 4
Setting: 4
Characters: 4
Personal Enjoyment: 4
Overall:4

The first thirty percent was painful for me to get through with how intricate the prose was, and the borderline overdone character descriptions. But the character arc's, political intrigue, and addictive plot pacing made up for it all.

I quickly became invested in our FMC Iriset/Silk, and found the side characters to be intriguing, the plot gripping, and the setting unlike anything else I have ever read. While I have read of similar magic systems prior, the spin on the idea of 'threads' Gratton took I found to be fresh and unique. I really enjoyed the vulnerability portrayed in Lyric our MMC, while also illustrating his masculine traits creating a balance and depth in his character that has me hooked and invested.

The spice deserves its own paragraph:
HOLY...
1. I was not expecting it.
2. I have never been so scared that people around me could read my thoughts LOL. The bath scene was HOT, blush causing, and unforgettable. The tension and scenes with Lyric also had me scared my husband spontaneously developed mind reading abilities.

I will say, in the beginning Iriset's character felt juvenile to me, to the point that later on, during her first sexual encounter I felt uncomfortable reading it since her character had been made to seem so young, as time went on, her character developed, and I no longer felt this way and the way she was portrayed felt less child like. Iriset does come into herself as a woman which is part of the juvenile portrayl of her character in the beginning, but I feel the child like innocence could have been made less prevalent.

By the end of this, I loved the characters, wished book 2 was on netgalley (lol), and found myself in a book hangover from how much I enjoyed this world, setting, and the politics.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

The city that is the setting for author Tessa Gratton's latest novel was created when a moon fell to earth and left a massive crater. There is another moon, inhabited by a goddess, who watches over the city. The world used to be full of magic, called architecture, and practitioners experimented, healing, changing, and even creating beings of beauty and monstrosity.

A religion called Silence sprang up around this second, moon goddess, Aharté, which posits that all is as Aharté wills it, and any change to nature is wrong, and illegal. So, the engineered beings were seen as a step too far, and labelled apostasy and outlawed. The current empire, ruled by a sister and brother, the former a priestess, the latter the emperor, is orthodox in its belief in Silence, continuing to outlaw architecture for all but themselves and the wealthy. Architecture can be used for some things, but the rulers do not support architecture use on humans for things such as pregnancy or diseases or broken bones, or the transformation of a body in the case of body dysphoria. Also, everyone sports a mask to prevent the theft of their likenesses,

Under the guise of Silk, Iriset, a genius human architect, is absorbed in the thrill of her craft, and it's this constant striving that brings about her criminal father's capture and execution verdict, and her imprisonment. No one realizes that she is the legendary Silk, and she is brought into Amaranth's, the Priestess, household, where Iriset begins to understand the inherent conservatism of the ruling class, who benefit from non-human architecture, but prevent the vast and diverse population they rule over from similar advantages.

Iriset is determined to rescue her father prior to his execution, and gets to know Amaranth's inner circle, including a princess from another kingdom who is contracted to marry Lyric, Amaranthe's brother. While Amaranth has a more relaxed view of her religion, Lyric is a fundamentalist, and though he and Iriset have interesting discussions, he is not interested in expanding the boundaries of his faith or laws of the land.

When a shocking and sudden death occurs, this difference in the siblings comes to fore and Iriset finds herself in a difficult position, and one full of inner conflict. Iriset must maintain a fiction while finding herself unwillingly liking Amaranth and Lyric and wanting to remain in their cloistered world, even while still working towards freeing her father, and ultimately bringing the empire down.

Iriset is such a different kind of protagonist. She not only is self absorbed in the pursuit of her craft, but is terrific at it, and horny as heck, without any one of these attributes being a real detriment.

Gratton's world is complex, lush, breathtakingly beautiful, and full of inequality. The writing is dense, and the author provides a LOT of background on the world, its conventions and beliefs and practices. I sometimes got a little lost in it all, but thankfully the plot tightens up once the shocking situation occurs.

I want back and forth between the text and audio, and liked how voice actor Emily Lawrence inhabited Iriset, and Singix. Amaranth is nicely cold and ruthless, while Lyric comes off as reasonable, until he isn't.

I loved how unapologetic Iriset is about what she wants and likes and does and the world is fascinating. I would have given this a full 4 stars, except for how long the story takes to suddenly focus.

3.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley, Orbit Books and Hachette Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review.

[A.R. Hellbender · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Orbit books for sending an arc my way. But unfortunately I did not enjoy this book at all.
The one thing I did like was the worldbuilding. There was a lot of detail as far as how people are addressed, what they wear, what gender pronouns exist that aren’t taken from our world, etc.
Everything else about this book fell flat. The characters had little to no personality, and thusly any sex scenes felt gratuitous due to the complete lack of chemistry between the main character and whoever she’s hooking up with at any given time.
The magic system sounded cool but had no clear limits or any detail about how it worked. For example, the book opens with her father having been caught, and one of her friends warning her and destroying anything that could implicate her. The spiders on the wall are smashed, but we never find out why (were they created by her with any particular features that would show they weren’t natural? We aren’t told). Her mask and red glove are destroyed or taken to throw the authorities off of her trail, but we never find out what exactly those things do. Later, she says “if only I had a red glove, I could have” etc, etc. but since she doesn’t we don’t know what the red glove actually does. She seems to be able to do what she does without any particular aid from the objects referenced since she spends most of the story without them.
Ultimately, this author’s other books are so much better, and I wasn’t a fan of this one.

[Cheyenne Mcdonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks for my gifted copy.

I’ve honestly been sitting on this review for over a week. There were aspects that I liked but I just didn’t enjoy most of this book. I felt like I had to keep going back and trying to figure out what was going on. I couldn’t really connect to any characters. The plot was interesting enough but just didn’t grab my attention.

3 stars.