At first I found this book quite slow as it takes a while to build up the tension and introduce the world. However, once I got into it I was completely hooked by the characters, world-building and writing style. The story brought in elements of familiar stories, but twisted them just enough to make the book feel fresh and original.
I will definitely be looking out for more from this author!

This book felt really empowering, I am loving how many strong females there were in this book, it is the kind of book I wish I had 15 years ago. I really liked that there is a love story of sorts but it is not gone into too much and it does not depend the female character. I want to know what happens next in this world, I wish I didn't have to leave.

I was completely drawn in my the cover but this book blew away my expectations - bewitching and totally thrilling, dark, witchy and twisty.

Thank you Simon and Schuster UK Chidren's and Netgalley for the review copy.  THE BONELESS MERCIES had a really intriguing and interesting story idea but I unfortunately found the book boring and the pace dragging. But I think this was just a case of "it's me, not you".

An incredibly engaging and vividly imaged world full of monsters and magic that I desperately did not want to come back from. From the Sea Witches to the Cut-Queen, to the Giantine Wolves and the ancient Jotun, it's hard not to crave yet more of this world and I live in hope that April will revisit this world once more in the future, if not for the Witch War to come, then at least to tell another heart-pounding saga.

This was such a page turner; a deeply whimsical, quiet kind of book with eerie undertones drawing  upon the battles of Beowulf. 

The Boneless Mercies are four hired assassins conducting mercy killings, each in their own fashion. 

Whilst they initially grew together over a mutual feeling of being hopelessly lost, forming a dysfunctional family, each of them wants something more. Frey is looking for glory; a way to be remembered. When she hears of a beast slaying villagers and ravaging towns nearby (and of the reward for its death) she quickly realises that fame and fortune could be hers if she can successfully kill the monster.

There were lots of things I really liked about this book. Most notably I loved the atmosphere of the book. It has the really compelling otherwordly feel about it, almost like a playful and unusual fairytale, which resonates throughout the book in both the writing but also in the plot itself. 

I also liked the relationships between the main characters, who have a tangible sense of loyalty throughout the book; each of them had a unique backstory to fill in the gaps between travelling scenes, so I really felt like I got to grips with the fantasy world. Having said that, I failed to feel like I bonded with any of the characters and couldn't tell you many specifics about their appearance or personality traits. The limited  dialogue between some of the characters might account for this because it definitely stifled the opportunity to showcase personality types, but I think the problem is much larger than that. 

Consider this as an example: a reasonably significant death in this book happened so swiftly and with such little description or reaction from other characters that I genuinely missed it and had to read back to see how it had happened, whilst a very minor death happened over a number of pages and the characters were mortified. It just didn't really make sense. How can we be expected to care about a character death, and be expected to believe the other characters are profoundly hurt by this loss, when we have barely even met them? How can a larger death be so poorly executed that I failed to even notice it happening?

Similarly, the beast within this story was underwhelming. She is described by those who want to kill her fairly often as a monstrous, horrifically heartless creature determined to destroy everything in her power, but when she is finally revealed her alleged monstrous appearance and terrifying persona was actually a bit of a wet fish - she felt neither horrifically frightening or wretched in reality. Equally we only see her for the last few chapters of the book so the battles or challenges between the mercies and the monster I expected to see were pretty much resolved in one chapter - a beast of such design surely deserves some intense, eerie and perhaps even frightening introduction or to pose a challenge to the opposition. The wolves she kept as pets were far more vicious than she was.

Despite this I did really enjoy reading The Boneless Mercies. It's an easy, fun and atmospheric book and had genuine potential to be a 5 star book. Perhaps the Seven Endless Forests (a planned companion novel) will be an improvement.

A book that I wasn't expecting. The Boneless Mercies is reminiscent of old sagas, the hero's journey, and this is something that is played with a lot over the course of the book. It follows a ragtag group of girls who put aside their pasts and currently place as Mercies - aka. death traders - and decide they want more for themselves. 

Whilst the world is incredibly interesting and the book is full of impressive worldbuilding, that isn't the point of the story. The point is character growth and relationships, about these specific characters and this moment in their lives. April Genevieve Tucholke's writing is so poetic and eloquent and beautiful that you are wrapped into this world, into this story, and you grow attached before you even realize you have.

A gorgeous fantasy of the hero's journey, with a focus on the power of women above all else.

I loved the idea behind 'The Boneless Mercies', basing a YA novel on Beowulf/Norse saga and featuring a band of young female mercy killers as it's main characters. I enjoyed the writing, which is often quite soulful and poetic (as befits a saga of this kind). 

However, somethings also niggle at me about this novel. For one, as others have said, why change words ever so slightly (like Vorse for Norse), rather than either sticking with original spellings or creating a wholly different set if you felt it necessarily for your world building? 

Also, I think the idea that a YA book has to be very short and simplified perhaps sells short a potential readership at times - and as I felt here, also sacrifices wordage and detail that would have made for a better, fuller story.

Nevertheless, 'The Boneless Mercies' is still a rather enjoyable novel and will perhaps provide a foundation for further interests and deeper reading into Norse tales.

This wasn't has good has I hoped its be would be took me a long time to read end up stopping and starting it's again. I found its bit boring in places.
I received this book from net galley in exchange for a honest review.

The premise was good. I only managed to read 31%. This book really pissed me off. Hear me out. I don't mind authors taking inspiration from other cultures including my own. I don't own it and I don't have copyright to it. I like it went my culture/language/reference pops up in books. I'm usually like "yeah mate that's me!!". For example in Six of Crows, some drinks "brennvin" which in Norwegian is homebrewed spirits and in the book was a strong brown liquid (which it usually is in real life too). First time I heard that I burst out laughing! It was so funny and random. I like it when there is something that an author can take and make their own, within reason. A handful of references or something is a good amount. if the references are mixed with other cultural references from other countries it's even better. 

The Boneless Mercies have elements of Norwegian language, place names, and people names. It is the only country/culture/language there are references too which makes it stick out more. The use of these names are either taken directly or changed with one syllable, eg Vorse in the book is Norse in real life, and Obin in the book is Odin in real life. The author didn't make these named her own. it was too obvious and there was too many of these and one every single page. There was constant reference to Viking culture with longboats, attacks on Elshland (similar to England), eating mushrooms before a fight to become "berserk" which they did. There is a constant use of Norwegian names for people and places eg Finnmark used for a place name, its actually a country name of the most northern county, Aarne used as a male name, its actually a male name and spelt Arne, same with Trigve -> Trygve, and Else,, Lars, Embla, etc. I can go on, but I won't. This flow of Norwegian form a non-Norwegian author without hardly any effort at making it their own just feels cheap to me. there was so much of it, it really pissed me off and I had to DNF it.

Story-wise I have no idea what was happening as my judge meant is clouded by the language use and I will not make any comments on it. It would be unfair for me to judge the quality of the story itself.

This was a cut-throat YA fantasy, Following a band of female killer as they try and change their fate and their lives for the better. This was a great action adventure with brilliant feminist undertones.
Although not particularly fast paced this book suited me brilliantly. Definitely recommend to older YA readers!

A great book, I was hooked when I read the summary, let alone started the first chapter!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a strong female character, there are many in this book!

The story line was interesting but I believe the next book will be much much better for me as I prefer something that is a bit bigger picture. It was great to get to know the characters and a good basis for the rest of the series.

"I was a Mercy-girl with no family, no home, no fortune, and yet my blood sang a song of glory"

* * * *
4 / 5

I love stories about girls who want glory. Girls with knives and fear and sisterhood and battle cries on their lips who want the world to know their name. Frey wants to give up her life as a Mercy, a killer, and hunt glory instead. Feel the blood of monsters on her knives rather than the blood of men and women who want to die. And I loved her and her whole crew of wonderfully different, diverse ladies and their deranged quest.

"They called us the Mercies, or sometimes the Boneless Mercies. They said we were shadows, ghosts, and if you touched our skin, we dissolved into smoke"

Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are Boneless Mercies. They have a job that very few envy and yet their services are taken up across the land. They kill those that are too sick, that want to die, and sometimes, just sometimes, those who deserve it. They are friends, bound in blood and duty and gore, and their relationships with each other and themselves are deep and complicated. There's also a guy tagging alone with them who lost his family, who roves with a clan of killing women because he has nowhere else to call home. He and Frey are lovers, but they are friends first, and it's a lovely sensitive relationship that is quite unlike the normal stock YA romances.

More than that though, Frey has glory singing in her blood. She wants her name to be known across the land, to be remembered after her death. When something happens, she leads the Mercies to take on the most dangerous beast they have ever heard of. Frey is sad and desperate and violent and I loved her. They pick up their weapons and leave their tragic job behind them to seek out danger, which is when the action really gets going about halfway through.

"I would try my hand at greatness, and see where it led. Glory. I wanted to touch it. Taste it. I wanted it so deeply I thought my heart would swell up, claw its way out of me"

This book will not be for everyone. It is slow and sad and a little bit creepy. I thought it was melodic and beautiful, but that opinion won't be shared by all. It was also very norse inspired, but was weird about it - it used "Vorse" instead of "Norse" and "Holhalla" instead of "Valhalla" and I didn't really get the point. Why barely change it so obviously?? It was weird. 

The Boneless Mercies was a wild and beautiful book. It has a few flaws, sure, but it was a wonderful standalone that stands out in a sea of cliche YA fantasy literature. 

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of The Boneless Mercies

The book was fine, but the story and the characters felt unfinished and somewhat rushed. Doesn't seem like much happened either and the slow pacing of the story although immersive, it was too slow for my taste and struggled to maintain my interest. I also had an issue with the characters as I did not feel they were fleshed out enough. What I really enjoyed was the writing style which was very good and I believe that I will be picking up other works from the author in the future.

I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to the author, A.G. Tucholke, netgalley and the publishers for granting me an arc in exchange for an honest review. 

I loved the writing, the characters really drew me in and the world building (much like ours) was very well done that I believed in the plot and was carried along inside this world. I thought the battles and the tension could have been drawn out a lot more. I feel as though perhaps the author was under a word limit from the publisher? Maybe? ... and I feel as though if the second half was better expanded upon then overall this book would have been perfect. The end just felt very rushed. I loved it but it fell just short because of the speedy second half. 

The cover is perfect

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the first half of this book. Frey, Ovie, Juniper and Runa were a dynamic team of death traders who were well-developed in a world that drew on our own. However, I felt that at the halfway point it all went downhill. This is the point that all of the action started happening and I just feel like it all happened too quickly, the enemies defeated too easily. The book could have been at least 200 pages longer and I would have enjoyed it much more. 

The plot points themselves were interesting and as I said, the characters were fascinating but the pacing was messy. Overall, I would recommend this if you don't mind quite fast-paced fantasy but sadly I was a little disappointed in this.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster  ( UK ), and the author, April Tucholke, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Boneless Mercies in exchange for an honest,  unbiased opinion.
I was initially drawn to this book by the cover. I thought it was beautiful and mysterious. Once I read the premise,  I was hooked.  I am so glad I received a copy to review.
I found it an enjoyable read. I loved the central characters. I thought the storyline was well written and intriguing.  Would definitely read more from this author. 3.5 stars
Worth a read for fans of the genre.

This book turned out to be nothing like what I expected, which was actually a really good thing! I thought it would be fairly generic YA, with girl assassins and possibly a love triangle, but what I actually got was an ancient saga in novel form, told from the perspective of an unlikely, and somewhat unwilling, group of heroes. It stunned me.

For a book about a group of female assassins, who go by the name Boneless Mercies and offer their services for mercy killings, there’s not an actual lot of assassination in this book. I mean, sure, there’s some – the characters have a fairly casual relationship with death, so if you don’t like graphic on-page deaths, this book may not be for you. But the majority of this book is actually about this particular band of Mercies who get caught up in political machinations and the slaying of an epic beast. The girls (and their one male friend) set out to kill a monster, but discover along the way that war is looming, and they themselves may be unwittingly instrumental to the course of history.

There are Norse and Northern European mythological influences aplenty in this book, and indeed, it seems at times to take place in a world with some overlap with our own. This really helps create that sort of immortal saga-esque feeling to it, where you can see glimpses of history through the fantasy. The slaying of the beast brings Beowulf to mind, and though I’m not particularly familiar with the Edda stories, I feel like someone who was would spot more references than I managed to! However, this is not a book which glorifies heroism. The lives that the girls lead are difficult and dark, and the book doesn’t shy away from this (though it isn’t really grimdark, just realistic).

I thought that The Boneless Mercies was beautifully written, and something in the way that the scenes rolled out was just pitch perfect for the epic tradition. The fact that it’s almost a ‘behind-the-scenes’ of a legend just really worked for me. I appreciated the almost anti-climactic battle scenes, and the sense that tiny decisions could influence the way that the world turned – it creates a sense of magic and wonder at the same time as it undermines itself. I didn’t think that we really got to know the characters all that well, which again, just worked to create this excellent overall tone. Some readers may see these as flaws – and indeed, I might, had I been in a different mood while reading this – but it struck the right chord with me at the right time, so it gets five stars.

I didn't have a clue what to expect when I picked up The Boneless Mercies, it was the fascinating title that drew in me in. I definitely wasn't expecting a tale of death and determination. The story is a very interesting and unique concept, I don't think I've ever read anything similar, which in the world of YA is an achievement. However The Boneless Mercies  is a very slowly paced book. Although it's enjoyable, you really need to be in the mood for this paticular story or it might end up feeling like a chore, having to drag yourself through the slow parts to reach the climatic action scenes. All in all, I would definitely recommend this novel if it is of interest to you.

I really expected to love this -- stabby girls, Beowulf influences -- and... I didn't. I actually got distracted partway through, left it for nearly a week, and still struggled to get through it when I tried again. Now, I've been in a weird emotionally exhausted brainspace recently, so maybe it's that, but there were also a few things about this book I didn't get on with.

First of all, and not the author's fault in the least, the ARC I read had absolutely horrific formatting which often impeded on the reading experience, making it hard to follow what was going on and jarring me out of the moment with a misplaced header, random linebreaks, or missing letters. Like I said, not the author's fault at all, but if the publishers want bloggers to be able to give an honest review, they need to make it possible to actually read the book.

Secondly, this was sold to me as a Beowulf retelling. It isn't, really, and I feel like that description led me to expect a different story (one that didn't take until 70% of the way through to really embark on the monster-slaying mentioned in the opening chapter). Had I not been expecting something else, maybe I could have enjoyed what I was given a bit more, but I was constantly waiting for something that never came.

Mostly, though, the worldbuilding confused me. It was essentially fantasy, but all the names were similar to real historical names, so that I kept trying to pin them down in my head and identify them. It would have been easier if there's been a more complete separation but, particularly with references to sagas and so on, I kept being pulled back into wondering whether this was actually supposed to be our own world. Except it wasn't quite. But Snorri Sturluson was mentioned, and he's a real guy. But there are also witches. It... just kept throwing me off. It was neither firmly enough in the fantasy category for me to suspend my disbelief nor real enough to convince me, and as a result I was just confused.

Maybe my year of Old Norse and my interest in medieval literature in general got in the way there, because I picked up on references other people wouldn't have done and kept trying to map them onto the real thing in my head (especially the gods, THEY confused me), but... I don't know. If the names hadn't been so similar, it wouldn't have bothered me, and I'd have enjoyed it a lot more because I'd have been able to take it at face value as a fantasy novel inspired by medieval Germanic literature. As it was, I just couldn't figure out what it was trying to do and why.

But I also didn't entirely chime with the writing style, and I felt like the narrative wanted me to care about the characters and their backstories but just kept plonking them down in front of me without ever really MAKING me care about them, and... I just didn't click with it, at all. Which sucks, because like I said, I should've liked it. Stabby girls, medieval influences, it's like everything I look for in a book. Except apparently not.

Perhaps if I'd read it while not in a huge slump, I'd have enjoyed it despite my reservations about the worldbuilding, but I ended up having to force myself to finish it -- which I think isn't fair, it's worth more than that and my low mood definitely contributed to my complete apathy. As it is, though... well, reading's subjective, and in my present state, I struggled to enjoy this and was ultimately disappointed, even though I can see that it has a lot of elements that will appeal to others. It had girls supporting each other. It has empowerment and friendship alongside the stabbiness. It takes a very male genre of monster slaying stories and twists it to have women as both the heroes and the monsters of the story, and those roles are made complicated. So if you like those things, you might enjoy it a lot. I wish I had liked it more, because I think it deserved more than this very apathetic, unimpressed review.

(Sometimes I read a book and I think it's objectively bad but I love it. Sometimes I know something is good but I don't like it. This one was probably better than my enjoyment of it really reflects, even if it's not quite in the category of "literary masterpiece I dislike".)