If you love the Hart and Mercy world, this is an easy choice. The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam is the latest installment and it 100% lived up to the hype. Keep reading this book review of The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam for my full thoughts.
Summary
Immortal demigod Rosie Fox has been patrolling Tanria for decades, but lately, the job has been losing its luster. After one hundred and fifty-seven years of being alive, everything is beginning to lose its luster. When Rosie dies (again) by electrocution (again) after poking around inside a portal choked with shadowy thorns only she can see, she feels stuck in the rut that is her unending life.
Thanks to Rosie’s meddling, the portal’s inventor, Dr. Adam Lee, must come in person to repair the damage. When all the portals begin to break down, he declares an emergency evacuation of Tanria. In the mad rush to get out, Rosie and Adam end up trapped inside the Mist. Together.
And uptight Adam Lee in his bespoke menswear seems to know a lot more about what’s happening than he lets on….
Rosie is determined to crack the shell of his cool exterior. But the more she learns about Adam, the more she realizes that they both have personal histories as tangled and thorny as the plant that has them trapped inside the Mist. Maybe two people who have found themselves stuck in this life can find a way to unstick each other … just when their time on this earth seems to be running out.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I love to see letters in the Hart and Mercy series and The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam is no exception. Okay let’s just get it out of the way. The romance in this is swoony as there’s this element of forced proximity as they are stuck together. It’s easy to fall into the romance, the ways Rosie has to see through Adam’s exterior and the cards he holds close to his chest. We also love a woman who loves her lingerie! But I think what I loved most was Rosie’s exploration with mortality and family.
A theme we’ve been witnessing ever since The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy were the ideas of mortality. For Rosie this is even more apparent as her immortal status means she has this scope to her life. First of all, she’s died, but she also realizes that she loses everyone she would love. I loved the way the world feels like it expands in The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam in terms of the gods and the lore. If you love the idea of the stories and the crumbs Bannen has been leaving about the ‘beyond’ this is for you!
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I cannot discuss more without spoilers, but I also loved the discussions about parentage. The way it’s never too late to make amends, to ask for forgiveness, and how when we realize that something could be lost, all the things we wish we could change. Even if we are immortal, it’s about time and what we do with it even when we have forever. The choices matter and so do the relationships we chose. Find The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.