Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson, #9)

by Patricia Briggs

[layawaydragon]

YAY, Mercy’s Back!


The Good:
+Fucking everything

I love how this series stays true while continuing. I’ve been burned by long series before and I’ve no doubt Mercy won’t disappoint.

She’s still her in all her snarky without going overboard glory. She’s not the “chosen one” or most powerful or any of that nonsense. But she’s loyal, smart, and a fucking menace. Why can’t other paranormal books take a hint?!?!

Not to mention, her issues are real and grounded. It’s not shrugged off. She still has her insecurities, and PTSD. (Same with other characters as well, really). Even after 8 books with her, we still get to learn and see her grow a bit.

Mercy and Adam’s hard fought romance is balanced between equals that work on their relationship. They’re on solid ground so Fire Touched isn’t all about them working it out. It’s just nice to see them being a happy, healthy kick-ass couple. Adam is the right kind of Alpha. And I don’t say that often.


While Christy’s still Christy, it’s nice to find out there’s some movement on that front. Okay, so it’s like a paragraph reveal but still. Because she really needs to be dealt with. She doesn’t and shouldn’t hang around anymore. It’s tiring and a stick in the mud in their relationship. They have other shit they can do and work on. They’re not perfect and don’t need her to provide pointless relationship drama.

I love learning about how Joel’s faring and some different wolves. And thank fuck Adam finally put his foot down! Bigger, badder, and better things are coming finally; they have to be united to face it all.


Fire Touched has more politics than action, which is a nice break from constant fighting. It gives a purpose within a larger picture. And we learn so much more about the Fae. It’s set-up wonderfully from the previous installments.

The plot with the human boy stolen by Fae, Aiden, is fully resolved while we’ve got open-ended world developments to follow in the next books. Plus, we get to see some characters that have been sorely missed return and new faces that mesh perfectly.

Aiden is a well-done little shit! His characterization makes perfect sense. I liked him with Mercy, Adam, and Jesse but he did deserve to get smacked. I’ll be happy to see more of him, his progression, and path.

I do wish we learned more about the walking stick, but Mercy doesn’t know shit about it and neither does anyone else apparently. It’s very important in this book and while I don’t like its conclusion, I can see why it had to be. It became rather convenient and perhaps a little too helpful for plotting, suspense, and to keep Mercy grounded.

Now to wait for the next book! :( This is why I like waiting for series to finish before starting but Mercy is too good to miss out on!