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A review by pagesplotsandpints
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen
3.25
<b>Read Completed 10/1/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
This was okay! I've seen a lot of amazing ratings for it, but I think I tend to have a hard time with "cozy fantasy" or this was kind of a fantasy romcom in a way, because I just want more world-building and that's not really the point.
The main focus here is the romance, but I really just wanted more development in a little bit of everything. I really liked the concept of sort of a mix-and-match fantasy world. It's a fictional world that doesn't exist here on Earth or in reality, but there are also some glaringly obvious things that do exist and glaringly obvious things that don't exist... but there was just something that didn't really make me believe that both things could exist in the same world. Somehow I just wasn't sold on it. I also really would have liked juuust a touch more about the worlds. There are old gods and new gods but I didn't really know a lot about either of them. I get that the romance is the focus here, but I'm consistently underwhelmed when we have these cozy / romcom fantasy books and I don't get enough world-building.
I actually didn't like Mercy. Hart was fine, and more enjoyable than Mercy for some reason though I can't really tell you at this point why I didn't like her. I felt like she wanted so many things and never spoke up for herself (until finally she did) and she took others down with her, which was so unnecessary. I also had a hard time that this was hate-to-love and there wasn't enough wooing or swooning for me to make that leap as quickly as they did to the love side. The letters were supposed to be that bridge but those were also fairly underwhelming and not really romantic. They were largely friends through the letters but I just didn't feel that swelling romantic vibe.
This was still very readable and a fun concept. I likely won't continue on with the next book unless I'm looking for a book by an author I've already read. I think I *personally* would have liked this more if this was undertaking in the real world or fantasy without the undertaking. It felt like one too many things, somehow. Maybe because I just really felt like everything was a little underbaked.
This was okay! I've seen a lot of amazing ratings for it, but I think I tend to have a hard time with "cozy fantasy" or this was kind of a fantasy romcom in a way, because I just want more world-building and that's not really the point.
The main focus here is the romance, but I really just wanted more development in a little bit of everything. I really liked the concept of sort of a mix-and-match fantasy world. It's a fictional world that doesn't exist here on Earth or in reality, but there are also some glaringly obvious things that do exist and glaringly obvious things that don't exist... but there was just something that didn't really make me believe that both things could exist in the same world. Somehow I just wasn't sold on it. I also really would have liked juuust a touch more about the worlds. There are old gods and new gods but I didn't really know a lot about either of them. I get that the romance is the focus here, but I'm consistently underwhelmed when we have these cozy / romcom fantasy books and I don't get enough world-building.
I actually didn't like Mercy. Hart was fine, and more enjoyable than Mercy for some reason though I can't really tell you at this point why I didn't like her. I felt like she wanted so many things and never spoke up for herself (until finally she did) and she took others down with her, which was so unnecessary. I also had a hard time that this was hate-to-love and there wasn't enough wooing or swooning for me to make that leap as quickly as they did to the love side. The letters were supposed to be that bridge but those were also fairly underwhelming and not really romantic. They were largely friends through the letters but I just didn't feel that swelling romantic vibe.
This was still very readable and a fun concept. I likely won't continue on with the next book unless I'm looking for a book by an author I've already read. I think I *personally* would have liked this more if this was undertaking in the real world or fantasy without the undertaking. It felt like one too many things, somehow. Maybe because I just really felt like everything was a little underbaked.