I thought the cover was
intriguing, but the second i saw the word bodyguard, i wanted to read it.
I really enjoyed this!! To start with, i loved the plot but the execution was quick. I felt like it was too fast paced and
could do with a few more events in between the key points! Regardless the character development pulled through.
I loved Nyx and Helenia (her girlfriend) the most. She was strong, a quick thinker and willing to just get things done! The Destroyer had a lot of layers and was interesting and Tal
was SUPER intriguing. What sets this apart is the religion, prophecy and talks of god. I related, i was angry, i was curious, i was afraid, with all of the characters! Also, I'm a sucker for books about family so the fact that Tal and Nyx would do anything to save each other just kept me reading Well worth reading and its written so beautifully.

After I received a copy of this from NetGalley, I read so many amazing reviews that hyped this book up for me. I was so excited to read it and I can honestly say that I was not disappointed. I had high expectations and they were definitely met, maybe even exceeded!

Mercurial begins with Tal going to the palace to swear an oath to protect the Destroyer from harm from others and himself. Tal has visions from his God that told him to do this, despite it going against everything he believed in. This oath compelled him to protect the Destroyer and if he didn’t he felt physical pain. After the prologue, the story then fast forwards two years into the present. I really enjoyed the magic system in this book, it was so interesting. The colour of your blood was linked to your metal and power. The Destroyer has mercury in her blood, allowing her to wield fire. This magic system wasn’t just simply the magic system, it was weaved into the plot and became a large part of the story.

‘”Bitch” is what people call women whose power they fear.’

After a rebel attack, the Destroyer loses her memory and Tal and her are thrown together in order to survive. I loved their relationship and the way they grew and matured over the course of the novel. Tal and the Destroyer were definitely my favourite characters out of our three points of view, the other being Nyx, Tal’s sister. Throughout this book, Tal has a constant inner conflict with his feelings about the Destroyer, he does not like the way he begins to feel about her. The character arc of the Destroyer was also so interesting, I did kind of like her at the very beginning and I thought you could definitely see that she had a soft spot for Tal, her personal bodyguard. My appreciation for her character only grew once she lost her memory and we saw a completely different side to her. She seemed more human and easier for Tal to fall in love with! Nyx is also a really interesting character, she did irritate me at times as I felt like some decisions were made without thinking of others or even herself. However, she is very faithful to those she loves. Nyx is very protective of her brother and this is illustrated very clearly throughout the book. I also really liked her relationship with Helenia as it was such a positive portrayal of an LGBTQ+ relationship.

‘He was finally free of her, and yet more of him belonged to her now than ever before.’

Religion is a major theme in this book, and I didn’t realise how big of a theme it was until I was reading it. It was so interesting to see the different portrayals of faith from the characters of Tal, Nyx, Helenia and Saasha, Nyx’s mother and Tal’s Step-Mum. If you are not a fan of religious books, don’t let that deter you from reading this book as it is not at all preachy, rather it discusses and questions faith and how it can be harmful to others. It was really nice seeing Tal’s arc come full circle as he is constantly questioning his faith throughout this book and the author portrays this really well. Helenia and Saasha, whilst both being very religious and faithful have different beliefs on what it is to be faithful. Helenia looks for the positive, whilst Saasha presents a very all or nothing view of religion, forcing her daughter to sacrifice herself multiple times for their faith.

‘Finding the end of a journey satisfactory does not eras the pain of the path that brought you there.’

I could not put this book down. The plot was so interesting and had me hooked. There were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming and I was constantly kept on my toes. The way the characters responded to certain events felt very realistic and I loved watching the story unfold. This book 100% deserves the hype it’s getting from these early reviews so I hope everyone gives it a chance! I would recommend this book to every fantasy lover fan who loves enemies to lovers, enemies relying on each other and slow-burn romance. The characters are very well developed and are all complex in their own way. I loved everything about this book!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Naomi Hughes for giving me a copy of this book.



OMG this book was so good. The characters were amazing the magic was amazing the world was amazing. Only the plot wasn’t amazing. I really liked the story just some parts were a bit like we have a problem and their is no way to solve it and than out of nowhere their is a miracle happening. This happend multiple times throughout the book and I wasn’t really a fan of it.

The characters were very well written. I really liked the destroyer. She was just such a b*tch and I really enjoyed that😂. I also like the side characters more than the two main characters. I can’t explain why but I just enjoyed the side characters more. Tal was alright for me. He annoyed me sometimes. But I also felt really sad for him. I love Nyx by the way. She has just so much bloodlust and I love it. She is ready to murder anyone who touches her brother or her girlfriend. And Helenia is so cute. She is so sweet, she is just the mother of everyone. Their relationship is so cute.
She is just a very sweet cinnamon roll.

The world was amazing. The mountains, buildings, creatures everything was so well thought of. It was so beautiful. The magic in this world is also so interesting and amazing.

The plot was very well done but I hated the convenient moments. Like sometimes their were moments where I was like you should be dead.

Overall this book was so good. I had some criticisms but the good stuff greatly overweights the lesser parts.

Again a huge thank you too Naomi Hughes and NetGalley for giving me a copy.

I received an e-arc of this books from NetGalley for an honest review.

And boy am I grateful for that. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book, and I enjoyed it so much. I was nervous that this would be another fantasy story that fell short of what it could’ve been. But that was definitely not this. This was everything we should want and expect in a goood fantasy.

The world building was so well developed. I really enjoyed being in and experiencing the world of The Alloyed Empire. I adored the characters. I love that The Destroyer was really more of a mask. I love that there was more to her than that. I love that she was really broken and I love Tal for wanting to save her from early on, even if that’s not what happened. I just really love Tal. I love how his internal struggles were written. And Nyx? There’s just so much to admire about her. I can appreciate how much she gave up and risked to save and protect others. I love how she cared. They’re the kind of characters you always want to see.

I appreciated the pace of the story and the structure of the plot. And I loved the twists. I loved that this wasn’t another overly predictable fantasy story, and I appreciate that even though they were twists, they weren’t unnecessary, forceful twists just to prove the story wasn’t predictable.

I was even happy with the romance. It seems like lately, so many YA fantasies seem to make the romances such main focuses of the story that it washes out the actual plot, but this was just the perfect amount. And I loved that there was a w/w relationship. I’m always so ecstatic when there’s explicitly stated queer relationships, especially in fantasy.

Just, this story and these characters were beautiful and I’m happy to have read this.

Very good fantasy, amazing magic system, the social commentary on the religious theme was very good.
The characters are very well designed and the representation is amazing!
The plot was so good, very paced pace, the twists were very very good and unexpected.
The world-building is so good and I hope the author can continue in this world.
A down point for me was what I feel the relationship between Tal and Elodie was because it felt very much an instant love relationship.

Full review on my youtube Channel here: https://youtu.be/Ow56xR_CFlU

Actual rating : 4.5 stars

" I swear to protect you, and to never allow harm to come to you and to never harm you myself"

Tal lives in the Alloyed Empire, ruled by the Iron Empress and her younger sister, The Destroyer. Metal runs through her veins, giving her incendiary abilities. When Tal's god sends him a vision, requesting him to protect the Destroyer, it leads him to a memorable journey, ending, or maybe starting, with the loss of The Destroyer's memories

This book pleasingly surprised me and I had a really great time reading. I didn't read the synopsis before diving into the book, so I was delighted when i read about not only blood magic, but metal blood magic ! I think the magic system and the whole world building are so unique and well-thought.

The plot of this story was very complex, and by the end of each chapter, it became even elaborated. I did find some plot points boring but the action made up for it. The story is full of drama, , love, passion, determination, hatred, and betrayal.

Not only this, but the main characters are really complex and endearing and you find yourself sympathizing with all of them ( honorable mention to Maluk the super cute doggo).

- " Once there was a boy who believed" : Tal, I loved Tal, the selfless conflicted character, not able to choose between his belief and his feelings.

-" Once there was a girl who was afraid" : The Destroyer (Elodie) was my favorite character. Her character's arc was amazing, from the cruel, cold, powerful murderess to the afraid, vulnerable, but capable of love and sacrifices, girl.

-"Once there was a girl who believed only in her brother" : Even though Nyx was more of a background character, I still loved her, the girl, capable to go to hell and back for her brother. Her relationship with Helenia was the most adorable thing.

I definitely recommend this book especially if you like the following points :
- a unique YA fantasy
-blood magic
-enemies-to-lovers bound to each other by an oath
-amnesia
-revenge
-assasins
-poison
- swords and daggers
I'd also recommend this book to lovers of the Grisha trilogy !


here are some of my favorite scenes : “I wish you weren’t so dif­fer­ent now,” he muttered as he un­locked the man­acles from his wrists.
She raised an eye­brow. “Oh? Why is that?”
“Be­cause it shouldn’t be this hard to hate you,” he said, and without an­other word, he pushed past her to be­gin har­ness­ing the dogs.

Voice rough with pain, he said, “You will never let me go, will you?”
She didn’t un­der­stand the words, but she was afraid that she would soon if her memor­ies kept sur­fa­cing, and she dis­covered that she didn’t want to. “Shut up and let me save you,” she snapped, try­ing to heave him up without jost­ling him too much.


“she was fire, she was mercury, she was death. she was a weapon in the hands of her empress.”

I think that the magic system could be explained a bit more.
Also the love between elodie and tal was to instant after the destroyer died. It was too quick and I didn't enjoy it, since the destroyer was so bad for him during 2 years. I think that you can't just delete that and start fresh :(
I loved the relationship between nyx and helen.
Overall, I am a bit disappointed, because I was hopping for more action and build up

I really enjoyed this YA fantasy novel. The story focuses on Tal who made an oath to protect the destroyer (a princess of the realm), who is known for her cruelty and ruthlessness, because he believes in doing so he can help her save the empire. We also have Nyx, Tal’s sister, who is trying to save him from the destroyer and his unbreakable oath.
This book takes place in a interesting world where people have different magic based on the metal found in their blood. The characters are definitely morally grey and i enjoyed seeing all their different perspectives and the journey they went on to fight for what they believed in.
Overall I thought it was a fun, fast-pasted novel with interesting characters and magic that had me invested early on and intrigued about where the story was heading. Would recommend to those looking for a quick YA fantasy read.

Rating: 4.5 stars
"Mercurial" is written in third person from the perspective of three characters - the Destroyer, Tal, and his sister Nyx. It is a short and easy read. I really adored the writing style. It was so simple and yet so wonderfully written that I think it can easily fall under the "middle-grade" category. I couldn't really decide whether this was a character-driven story or a plot-driven one - there were times when the plot felt way more important than the characters and vice versa, but I don't mind that. It was very well balanced. The story is medium paced but it picks up drastically after the sixty percent mark, making it soo wonderfully enrapturing that you just can't put it down!
There were certain characters that I really hated but they grew on me at the end. All of it, all of them, all of everything made sense by the end. I really admire the way mental health was dealt with in this book. Naomi has soo wonderfully talked about loss, grief, violence, fear, love, trauma, split personality, memory loss, abuse, friendship, and family - it was really endearing to read. There was soo much showing instead of telling, which was really impressive because most new authors can't seem to achieve that in just a few published works and this is Naomi's third book! Another thing that I really liked is that - there is no real villain in this book. It was almost like the author is letting the reader decide who the villain was, which is really interesting. It was like all the characters had good or bad in them and it made sense.
Starting from the world to the characters to the plot to the ending to the love interest to the fact that it is stand-alone - it was great! The romance was really minimal in this book and yet omnipresent, which yet another interesting thing about this story. And there characters from various communities (the LGBT+, black characters); so, yay to diversity!

This was a book that I read in large chunks because of how much it drew me in. It was a fast paced story but I really enjoyed that. Reading it made me feel like I was watching a movie and I absolutely love that.

Tal is a character that you grow attached too. So when he feels pain, you feel it too. I think this is important for a main character as it draws the reader in, making them wanting to know more.

The Destroyer is such an amazing character and I am absolutely in love with her. She has some of the best character development I've seen in a character. I love who she becomes and that we get to be there for that growth.

The story is told from the perspectives of Tal, the Destroyer, and Nyx (Tal's sister), and I thought that it was well down. I love POV switches and it makes an amazing read when it was executed properly and thought out. These POV switches allow the reader to get to know the character's on a more personal level and allow the reader to know something that other characters don't.

I would 100% recommend this book to my friends.

Admittedly, I had neutral expectations when I started reading the first chapter before bed last night. Before I knew it, it was nearly 1am. Though I received an advance copy, I’ve just pre-ordered a copy for my collection.

In these magical pages, you’ll find — not one, but two — ship worthy romances. You’ll get tension with an “enemies to lovers” situation and an achingly beautiful sapphic couple. You’ll get villains worthy of scorn. You’ll get world building reminiscent of the most favorite stories of fandom.

With “Mercurial,” you’ll get a cast of fiercely strong, imperfect, diverse, compassionate characters with depth that may touch your soul as they have touched mine.

All the romance is PG, which could have been turned up a little bit. The characters are adults, after all. Something PG-13 would have fit in nicely, ya know?

## Quotes
> “He was finally free of her, and yet more of him belonged to her now than ever before.”

>“Damn,” said a weak female voice, again faintly familiar though he still couldn’t quite place it. “That was… my second favorite blade.”

> “Stop being stupid,” Helenia snapped.
> “I am obligated to do no such thing.”

## About Mercurial
The story starts when Tal — at the tender, beautifully naive age of 16 — pledges an oath to protect the Destroyer. With his life. For the rest of his life. What’s more? His pledge is bound by magic until death. Tal is compelled by his faith in the prophetic visions given to him by the Unforged God.

Two years later, Tal lives life as her bodyguard. Each day, he’s tormented by his hasty decision and commitment to the Unforged God. Each day, he bears witness to the Destroyer’s unspeakable violence and crimes against humanity. Time and time again, Tal is compelled by magic to protect the Destroyer from her assassins. Resentment, rage, disgust, and anger silently build in Tal. Every ounce is directed at himself, at the Destroyer, and at the Unforged God.

The catalyst for our story begins with (yet another) assassination attempt. As Tal pursues the assassin to avenge the Destroyer, he realizes the assassin is his sister, Nyx. And then, dear reader, we’re plunged into the icy depths of “Mercurial,” as told by Tal, Nyx, and the Destroyer.

## Review
Hughes expertly navigates the vast, deep gulf between good and evil, right and wrong. Through tragedy, trauma, and the question of humanity, “Mercurial” is a reminder of the resilience of love. Perhaps, the greatest tragedy is to live a life without love. To tolerate a world without love and acceptance. It is a reminder that we need more acceptance to heal. To become something better.

> “Regret is not absolution.”

Most refreshingly, “Mercurial” is an unexpectedly critical examination of the institutions of religion and belief. Set in a monotheistic world with saints and scripture befitting a fantasy novel, I found myself contemplating the nuances and depths of belief. Hughes depicts the complexity that comes with religion and the social interpretation of religious text and ideologies.

> “It portrayed a god who was the exact opposite of the god from Saasha’s scripture, and yet the two verses were found only a few pages apart.”

Hughes masterfully weaves a deeply touching story as the characters examine and question their belief in the Unforged God. She examines the the very human way people can look at the same text and extrapolate different meaning, shaped by their lived experiences. Shaped by the social and political values of the time.

> “I still curse his name every once in awhile. I doubt I’ll be over it anytime soon. But anger is not the absence of belief.”


Hughes’ critical examination lies beyond the framing and interpretation of religion and belief. We can all read the same book and walk away with our own interpretation. It’s the same reason book twitter is up in arms about Darkina, Nikolina, and Malina right now.

And I say _all_ this as a long-time atheist. Hughes’ examination is approachable, welcoming, and unbelievably human. “Mercurial” is a wonderfully sophisticated, emotionally intelligent page-turner. I can only hope more people find it as fulfilling as I have.

Forever a fan,

orla hall

This YA fantasy novel written by Naomi Hughes takes place in the world of The Alloyed Empire. A world where you can swear an everlasting oath on the metal in the world and the metal in you blood gives you power. The novel is in three POVs: The Destroyer, Tal and his sister, Nyx. Their stories all intertwine in interesting ways. Mercurial is a story of love, friendship, sacrifice and how manipulation can lead to destruction.

The writing was great, it is written in third-person. We jump between the perspectives of Tal, The Destroyer and Nyx. This was a short book but it was well-written and very easy to get through. Overall, the writing was great, though it was written more for the audience of the middle grade genre, rather than YA. The plot was well planned and had some expected twists and some unexpected ones as well.

The characters of the book were great! Tal had some great internal conflict regarding his faith, his oath and his charge. This added a lot to the plot and to Tal himself. He was loyal and kind but he was also fiercely protective of the people he loved and was willing to give up everything for them. I really like how in his perspective there was description of how the magic and the oath work. It was really well explained. The Destroyer was the most interesting character in this book. Throughout the book, there were glimpses of who she would have been, if it were not for the decisions made in the past. Nyx is a great character because of how much she cared for the people she loved as well. She gave up her dreams and hopes to save her brother and she risked her life multiple times to ensure the safety of others. I also enjoyed how her relationship with Helenia was written in without having any coming out moment or justification of the relationship. Their love and devotion just is. No need for explanation.

Overall, I really loved this book! The writing was thoroughly planned out and easy to read. The plot was original, fast-paced but also easy to understand and read. It really sucks you into the story and it's descriptive enough to immerse yourself wholly in The Alloyed Empire. And the characters were dynamic, interesting and very morally grey from all the POVs (as I mentioned before I LOVE some morally grey characters). Definitely a MUST READ!

Overall, this was an okay book. Personally, I thought it was a bit underwhelming, but it definitely was not bad by any means.

The one thing that bothered me the most is that I really didn't know much about the world. The metal blood part sounds so cool, but I really didn't know much about it. I feel like it wasn't explored much in the book, and it made everything kind of confusing. The general idea of the world, however, seems really well thought out. I just wished it was explained a bit more.

As for the characters, I loved Nyx, I liked Tal, and I was proud of the destroyer's character arc. Nyx I loved because of how fierce she is, and how much she fights for the ones she loves.
Tal was also a great character. I loved his POVs, especially ones in which he was conflicted over his feelings because I think they were an close to accurate representation on how a person in his situation may feel.

Now, the destroyer is much more complicated for me. On one hand, I can understand why she is the way she is, even if that will never excuse her actions. On the other hand, much of her actions towards the end just seem to be love based, and idk how I feel about that. I was really interested in her growth as a character, but I think she should have grown more over the course of the book. She is not my favorite character in the book.

Which leads us to the relationships:
I was actually really happy with the open ending. I personally don't think Tal's and the Destroyer's relationship is going to work out (I feel like Tal is too good for her), so I'm glad that it's not implied that they will be happy for ever. I wasn't the biggest fan of this romance.

However, I love Nyx and Helenia with my whole heart. They both are probably my favorite characters in the book, and their relationship is just...sigh.

As I mentioned, I felt that this book was a bit underwhelming. I feel like I just expected more action, or more stuff to happen, and it just didn't happen. Maybe it's just me though.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review

Under the guidance of visions from his god, Tal has pledged himself The Destroyer, the sister of a cruel and vicious ruler. She herself is not a victim of her sister but is just as ruthless and merciless.But Tal’s god had promised that by doing so, Tal could save both the empire and the Destroyer. Two years into his service, Tal has grown disillusioned with the promise and doesn’t see an end in sight. He has lost faith that his vow will ever make a difference. However events occur which mean the Destroyer loses her memory and her magic, which gives the two a chance to get to know each other better and find what drives the other. Meanwhile Tal’s sister, Nix has taken matters into her own hands and has a more direct plan in mind for saving the empire, and freeing her brother by killing the Destroyer.

I really like that the characters undergo a lot of change throughout the book. Tal is a man of principle but a principle which has worn him down and made him defeated, Throughout the course of the book he realises that his god didn’t force him into anything, that it was a choice he made, and continues to make right up until the end of the book. He’s also principled in what he says and how he acts, sometimes in ways that play out as sheer stubbornness when what’s driving him at that particular time isn’t clear to other characters. I do like him though as he’s not perfect. He doesn’t always take other people’s feelings into account and he’s very self-sacrificing at times.

The Destroyer or Eloise is just as stubborn but you get to see her uncertainty and her fear. You’re not asked to forgive the things that she’s done and the book doesn’t let you forget her brittleness and her quickness to lash out or use violence to solve a problem. But circumstances also highlight her humanity and potential to be better, although the end of the book does handwave a lot of the difficulties and transition to that better alternative and there’s a certain element of blaming external things which is a bit frustrating.

Nix is probably my favourite character. She’s direct and blunt and also likes using violence as a solution to a problem. She’s very single minded in how she approaches things, but her love for her brother shines through, and later in the book she shows she’s not just an unthinking weapon but believes in what she’s doing and why. Helenia, her girlfriend is a good foil to her, being more open to listening and tolerance even if harm has been done to her and people she cares about, although she’s not a pushover. Some of my favourite scenes are where she’s tearing Nix a new one for leaving her behind, something that happens several times throughout the book.

The world itself has interesting elements. I enjoyed the magic system with its focus on different metals and how they affect the people that carry them. You’re not hit over the head with an abundance of worldbuilding details to the detriment of everything else. The main focus here is between the characters and the journey they undergo in understanding themselves and each other.

A strong part of this book is about faith. What do you believe in, how far do you go to honour and live up to your beliefs and in what way do they shape your life? Tal, Nix and Helenia all believe in the Unforged God, but in different ways and different styles. Tal through his visions seems to treat his faith as a path, a thing he has to do or a thing promised to him. Nix is much more about vengeance and shaping the world to fit it to your own desires, whereas Helenia leans towards tolerance and moderation. Co-operation rather than dominance. I really enjoyed that although faith is a very strong thread through this book it doesn’t feel overwhelming or overly sanctimonious. I was surprised that the memory loss element of the story wasn’t actually a huge part of it given the book blurb. It’s more a way of breaking the pattern of behaviour between Tal and Elosie and giving them a chance to relate in different ways to each other.

Ultimately this was a very satisfying book that asked some interesting questions.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

This book has everything I could want. A unique magic system, enemies-to-lovers, great characters, fast plot, etc. I was in love from the first chapter. The only bad thing about this book is that I don’t have more. I needed more Tal and Elodie. It was magnificent. I don’t even have words right now.

This is a YA romance which is a little bit too much of both for my taste. I love YA but this leans into repetition to make sure we have figured out exactly what is going on. The monsters in this book are truly monstrous and shouldn't be forgiven just because of their pasts. I get that they're teenagers, but that didn't clarify their romance for me. Not my favorite.

This book was such a surprise i wasn't expecting how much i would love this book.

Naomi Hughes has such amzing talent at beautifully building the world. The pacing for this book was spot on i was grippped the whole way through and read it in one sitting.

I'm certain this book will be a big hit once released. It ticks all the boxes for an amazing YA fantasy read.

well deserved 5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

There were no surprises in this character-driven YA fantasy. But I loved it. It was a throwback to YA fantasy of 15-20 years ago. (That is to say, it was Megan Whalen Turner and Tamora Pierce.) It goes easy on plot twists, lacks political games and detailed world building. However, the story pacing and character development is just right for a stand alone. The Destroyer, Tal and Nyx are wonderful characters. The romance (hetero and GLBT) is sweet and believable.

With Thanks to Netgalley and Naomi Hughes for an advanced readers copy of this book!

This book was such a surprise, I absolutely loved it. A really good all round YA Fantasy.

Through her beautiful world building Hughes lets The Alloyed Empire come to life really early on in the novel, and introduces our 3 main characters a cruel princess her young guard a sister set on saving her brother and freeing the kingdom. The storytelling is flawless, and the pacing spot on not to mention the gipping story itself that is fully of twists and turns.

This book delivers everything likable about the genre, good story, enemies to lovers, a little romance, likable characters it really ticks all the boxes. This would be a perfect subscription book book, the cover is already beautiful but some nice sprayed edges..... I got side tracked.

Thoroughly deserving on its 5 stars.

I went into this book with zero expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story! This is a great fantasy standalone, which is usually so hard to achieve and find.

The pace of the story was really fast. It wasn't too long. There is also a great evolution throughout the book of the plot and the stakes. It was never boring, and it keeps you interested from start to finish. The ending was also super satisfying.

Another great thing about this story is the world-building. The magic system and the politics have clearly been thought out and they are well explained. I never felt lost, and I could easily keep up with every new plot point.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.