Review: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Title: Moon Called
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Mystery/Pranormal
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: January 31, 2006
Edition: Digital
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's | 

 

Synopsis:

   Mercy Thompson is a shapeshifter, and while she was raised by werewolves, she can never be one of them, especially after the pack ran her off for having a forbidden love affair. So she’s turned her talent for fixing cars into a business and now runs a one-woman mechanic shop in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State.
   But Mercy’s two worlds are colliding. A half-starved teenage boy arrives at her shop looking for work, only to reveal that he’s a newly changed werewolf—on the run and desperately trying to control his animal instincts. Mercy asks her neighbor Adam Hauptman, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, for assistance.
   But Mercy’s act of kindness has unexpected consequences that leave her no choice but to seek help from those she once considered family—the werewolves who abandoned her. 

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I didn't know what to expect going into this book. The cover gives off a tone that is not accurate to the content of the book. 

 

Mercy(Mercedes) Thompson is an interesting character. Her past has shaped who she is, and I like that even though she was kind of abandoned by her mother, she doesn't have a chip on her shoulder over it. I'm not exactly sure who old she's supposed to be, I'm guessing somewhere around 25/30 based on how she talks about teenagers, calling them kids... because they are. 

 

While I was invested in who was behind the attacks, and what they were trying to accomplish, the reveal was a little underwhelming. It might feel that way because this is a 20-year old book, and the "rug-pull" of it feels a little cliche now? Getting to the reveal, did have a lot of twists that I didn't expect.

 

I did have a lot of fun with the setting of the Tri-cities Washington. I grew up about a 2-hour drive from the Tri-Cities area so I could feel the setting when it mentioned what time of year it was. It's rare that a book set in Washington State doesn't treat it like that huge state is like Seattle, or have it basically set in Seattle. Eastern Washington, where this book is set, is a 180 from Western Washington (Seattle area).

 

The romance in this book is almost non-existent. But there's a hint of one to come in future books. And I do like the guy who it's hinted that she's going to have a romance with. I do not like her ex though. There's some... stuff about him that I just don't like, he isn't a dick or mean, but I just don't like him.

 

I am curious enough about this series to keep reading, it is a product of it's time, so there's aspects that are out dated, but I do like that it's old enough that in this book at last I didn't see any annoying pop-culture references. And I hope it stays that way.