As the year is coming to end, I thought I had my favorite books of the year locked up. I thought I’d spend the rest of the year reading whatever and didn’t expect to be adding more books to the favorites list. Let alone a book about zombies!
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy follows the two titles characters in this fantasy world similar to our own, but with a zombie problem. Hart is a marshal in charge of keeping peace in Tanri and surrounding towns, killing zombies and protecting everyone. He’s lonely, been on his own since he was a teenager, and simply gets up, goes to work, goes to bed and repeats One day he decides to pour out his soul into a letter and sends it to “a friend,” hoping someone gets it and he can feel connected to someone, anyone.
Mercy is keeping her family’s funeral home, Birdsall and Son, afloat. Her father has stepped down due to health issues, and now she has stepped into his shoes. Her younger brother, set to take over the business, does not want to be involved and she’s left on her own. Hart and Mercy do not get along as they’ve interacted over the years with him bringing unidentified bodies to the funeral home. They are oil and water, but there’s something underneath the tension there’s something else that maybe…could be…attraction.
One day Mercy gets a letter in the mail addressed to “a friend” and a friendship builds between these two who in real life do not like each other but on paper find they have so much in common and become very close.
The side characters in this story are just as compelling as the leads, with Mercy’s family standing out and their relationship with each other, as well as Hart’s new partner and his only friends. Mercy is a fantastic character who is unique and headstrong, but Hart is the standout for me. Hart is such a complex and deep character that pulled on the heartstrings from the get-go. I think his story line is so well done and really made me emotional as the story progressed. I loved how he grew as a character, from this bottled up, lonely and standoff-ish man who didn’t let anyone in to becoming someone who wants other people in his life.
On top of everything else, there’s a funeral home wanting to buy out Mercy’s family’s business, old gods, new gods, owls and rabbit mail deliverers, enemies to lovers, pen pals, “I hate you but I also love you” vibes, lots of baking, zombies but not in a super gross scary way, little bit of a rescue and so many things in between!
The one thing I was a little bothered by is that there are things in this book that aren’t explained. There is a lot about this world that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me but you’re just supposed to accept them without any back story. I was a little confused by some things but just moved on and accepted. Other than that, this was a book that I will love and reread forever. It’s definitely not something everyone will love, but it’s just my right kind of weird.
Late Night Reading 