Let me start off by saying, I love Patricia Briggs. She is a master at weaving story and building character. If you haven’t started her Mercy Thompson series. Do. Like now if at all possible. Right now. Do it.
Okay, now that I’m done peer pressuring you to read an excellent series, let’s talk about what Patricia Briggs has done in the first 118 pages of WINTER LOST.
We get so much. A little reminder of what happened with the scythe—the Soul Taker—and how it affected Mercy after the last book ended at the same time. Which is one of the things I love about this series. The story builds on itself.
We get a small chapter from the antagonistic winter creature, who we learn about right before the end of the third chapter, the Snow Elf’s brother. I didn’t catch this at first. I’m going to be honest. Only when I went back and read the first line of the Interlude, “Summer wasn’t his season, but the creature known to the locals as John Hunter still liked the storm,” did I make the connection. Not afraid to admit it, but it shows how much care she puts into making everything matter.
That’s one of my favorite things an author can do, make every word matter. I would love to know if you agree or not (because you certainly don’t have to).
Anyway, I’m not going to list everything that happens because you read it (or I’m assuming you have), but I did want to mention a few things that stuck out to me and what I’m predicting for the rest of the book.
First, I love how we get three stories at once when Mercy finally gets to Mary Jo. Their past and how Mercy’s worked to help her move on to create a bond, the story about Mary Jo going into the vault, and the story about her ex-boyfriend’s proposal. Sure, we get some more connection throughout to other things that have happened, but overall, three solid story lines in one scene. It was magnificent.
I just needed to gush about it for a second.
Although in this scene, I did wonder about Mercy taking a drink from Uncle Mike. Is this the first time that’s happened since she was forced to drink that magic brew by her rapist? I can’t remember her doing so before, and I like her progress because she’s been dealing with the PTSD from that encounter for a long time in the series. It makes me happy for Mercy to take a step like that.
I’m curious if Bonarata is going to play a big role in what will inevitably be a fight at the end of the book or if we’re being set up for a future book. My guess, currently, is the latter because of the way she described him playing with Mercy, and she wasn’t worried about him coming for them just yet. I could be wrong, but I think other things are afoot. What about you?
Big BIG question: What is up with the break in at Adam’s compound, and how is it going to play with what’s going on with Gary? A lot of the time, Briggs will give both Mercy and Adam their own storylines that either play out simultaneously, or separate them both. Although sometimes, one is dealt with, then the other as a team. Well, my point is, I don’t know if the two have anything to do with each other yet, and I’m curious about it. If you have a theory, I am up for hearing it.
My last two small notes are, first, I love little things like in the middle of a tense giving us some comic relief. Close to the end of chapter three, Jesse is being escorted to Tad’s place with the lure of cookies, and she doesn’t care who made them because she gets delicious cookies. I just love this. Sometimes, the small things really make you connect, you know?
And the last thing is, I have no clue what’s going on with Ymir, but I am down for learning about a new creature and/or set of creatures that are fae but not fae. I always learn so much about mythology when I read a Mercy Thompson book.
Okay, got predictions? Let me know.
Here’s mine: Mercy is going to kick ass.
All right, you caught me. It’s not much of a prediction because Mercy always kicks ass, but the fae’s motives are always a mystery to me in these books, and I can’t wait to see what happens.
Give me your thoughts below, and join me next week as we read up to page 202. I’ll see you then!