After her life is upended by divorce and a cross-country move, 16-year-old Saskia Brown feels like an outsider at her new school—not only is she a transplant, she’s biracial in a population of mostly white students. One day while visiting her only friend at her part-time library job, Saskia encounters a vial of liquid mercury, then touches an old daguerreotype—the precursor of the modern-day photograph—and makes a startling discovery. She is somehow able to visit the man in the portrait: Robert Cornelius, a brilliant young inventor from the nineteenth century. The hitch: she can see him only in her dreams.
Saskia shares her revelation with some classmates, hoping to find connection and friendship among strangers. Under her guidance, the other girls steal portraits of young men from a local college's daguerreotype collection and try the dangerous experiment for themselves. Soon, they each form a bond with their own "Mercury Boy," from an injured Union soldier to a charming pickpocket in New York City.
At night, the girls visit the boys in their dreams. During the day, they hold clandestine meetings of their new secret society. At first, the Mercury Boys Club is a thrilling diversion from their troubled everyday lives, but it's not long before jealousy, violence, and secrets threaten everything the girls hold dear.
Goodreads | Amazon
Rating: 2 Stars
My Review: This one felt like what I call a surface book. The premise was great but the execution was lacking. The characters were sub par and their interactions with other characters left much to be desired. Everyone just seemed like they were going through the motions. But nothing really stood out for the story to be amazing.
Review
Praise for Mercury Boys
Finalist for the 2022 Connecticut Book Awards
“Mercury Boys has daguerreotypes and dashing strangers, hiding spots and crossed lines. It's full of secrets and fraught with danger. Ultimately, it's like mercury itself—mesmerizing, terrifying, thrilling, and dangerously beautiful. It's pure alchemy.”
—Carrie Firestone, author of The Loose Ends List and The Unlikelies
“Mercury Boys is a thrilling journey into the perils of adolescent friendship and a touching commentary on love's timelessness.”
—Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Beasts Made of Night and Crown of Thunder
"With vividly drawn, multidimensional characters and a riveting voice, Mercury Boys weaves a compelling tale of the intoxicating power of friendship, female rivalry, and romance."
—Kate Marshall, author of I Am Still Alive, soon to be a major motion picture
“In this snapshot of modern teenage life with a historical twist, Prasad creates a world as haunting as a daguerreotype and as vivid as a high-resolution photo. An exhilarating and thought-provoking ride that will make you think twice next time you’re thumbing through a photo album.”
—Michael Belanger, author of The History of Jane Doe
“For history buffs and hopeless romantics alike, Mercury Boys is a compelling, imaginative romp that will leave teen readers longing for an alternate reality—and a Mercury Boy—of their own.”
—Natasha Friend, author of How We Roll and Perfect
"The concept of ‘mean girl’ time travelers has enormous cinematic potential, particularly as it is tethered to the zeitgeist. In Mercury Boys, Chandra Prasad shows her unique ability to give voice to the acute angst of today’s adolescents, caught between the malaise of contemporary society and an inchoate yearning for the values and romance of the past.”
—Amy Adelson, Motion Picture/Television Producer ofAbove Suspicionand You Know My Name
“The twist in Chandra Prasad’s Mercury Boys is that the nightly adventures in the past are not the source of danger, but rather the reason behind an ever-expanding web of lies that entraps both girls. In fact, the supernatural aspects of the novel take a backseat to intense, and sadly all-too familiar, high school drama . . . Mercury Boys has a clear supernatural component with the leaps into the worlds of the daguerreotypes, but the major tension exists in the real world.”
—Locus Magazine
“A unique and thought-provoking YA magical realism, Mercury Boys is an unexpected story about group culture and friendship with an intriguing combination of past and present.”
—Young Adult Books Central
“When everyone learns about her mom’s affair with a substitute teacher half her age, Saskia and her dad move from Arizona to Connecticut for a fresh start. Saskia is having trouble adjusting to her new reality and doesn’t feel like she fits in at school; she’s an outsider, mixed race, and not rich...Prasad explores power dynamics among teen girls through an interplay of various influences such as wealth, appearance, and race.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This well-researched speculative narrative centering history, romance, and toxic friendships will appeal.”
—Publisher's Weekly
“A secret society shifts from exciting to toxic in this dark tale with hints of magic . . . This story is layered and unique; the surface-level concepts of time travel and secret societies will draw readers in, but the jealousy and desire for revenge that fuel the secret society add depth and unexpected elements to the plot.”
—School Library Journal
Finalist for the 2022 Connecticut Book Awards
“Mercury Boys has daguerreotypes and dashing strangers, hiding spots and crossed lines. It's full of secrets and fraught with danger. Ultimately, it's like mercury itself—mesmerizing, terrifying, thrilling, and dangerously beautiful. It's pure alchemy.”
—Carrie Firestone, author of The Loose Ends List and The Unlikelies
“Mercury Boys is a thrilling journey into the perils of adolescent friendship and a touching commentary on love's timelessness.”
—Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Beasts Made of Night and Crown of Thunder
"With vividly drawn, multidimensional characters and a riveting voice, Mercury Boys weaves a compelling tale of the intoxicating power of friendship, female rivalry, and romance."
—Kate Marshall, author of I Am Still Alive, soon to be a major motion picture
“In this snapshot of modern teenage life with a historical twist, Prasad creates a world as haunting as a daguerreotype and as vivid as a high-resolution photo. An exhilarating and thought-provoking ride that will make you think twice next time you’re thumbing through a photo album.”
—Michael Belanger, author of The History of Jane Doe
“For history buffs and hopeless romantics alike, Mercury Boys is a compelling, imaginative romp that will leave teen readers longing for an alternate reality—and a Mercury Boy—of their own.”
—Natasha Friend, author of How We Roll and Perfect
"The concept of ‘mean girl’ time travelers has enormous cinematic potential, particularly as it is tethered to the zeitgeist. In Mercury Boys, Chandra Prasad shows her unique ability to give voice to the acute angst of today’s adolescents, caught between the malaise of contemporary society and an inchoate yearning for the values and romance of the past.”
—Amy Adelson, Motion Picture/Television Producer ofAbove Suspicionand You Know My Name
“The twist in Chandra Prasad’s Mercury Boys is that the nightly adventures in the past are not the source of danger, but rather the reason behind an ever-expanding web of lies that entraps both girls. In fact, the supernatural aspects of the novel take a backseat to intense, and sadly all-too familiar, high school drama . . . Mercury Boys has a clear supernatural component with the leaps into the worlds of the daguerreotypes, but the major tension exists in the real world.”
—Locus Magazine
“A unique and thought-provoking YA magical realism, Mercury Boys is an unexpected story about group culture and friendship with an intriguing combination of past and present.”
—Young Adult Books Central
“When everyone learns about her mom’s affair with a substitute teacher half her age, Saskia and her dad move from Arizona to Connecticut for a fresh start. Saskia is having trouble adjusting to her new reality and doesn’t feel like she fits in at school; she’s an outsider, mixed race, and not rich...Prasad explores power dynamics among teen girls through an interplay of various influences such as wealth, appearance, and race.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This well-researched speculative narrative centering history, romance, and toxic friendships will appeal.”
—Publisher's Weekly
“A secret society shifts from exciting to toxic in this dark tale with hints of magic . . . This story is layered and unique; the surface-level concepts of time travel and secret societies will draw readers in, but the jealousy and desire for revenge that fuel the secret society add depth and unexpected elements to the plot.”
—School Library Journal
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-A secret society shifts from exciting to toxic in this dark tale with hints of magic. Saskia Brown has recently moved and is trying to figure out her place at her new school. When visiting her only friend Lila at her job in an archive, Saskia gets to see and touch some old items related to photography, including a daguerreotype and some liquid mercury. This has surprising consequences: Saskia can now visit and interact with the person from the daguerreotype, an inventor from the 1800s. But this only happens in her dreams. Saskia shares this strange experience with some potential new friends, and soon a small group of girls has formed a secret society with strict rules regarding their "forever boyfriends," the people from the daguerreotypes they've selected. As the teens become more invested in their visits and the society, rules that seemed innocuous become catalysts for dangerous punishments, and an idea that seemed magical and exciting will have lasting consequences. This story is layered and unique; the surface-level concepts of time travel and secret societies will draw readers in, but the jealousy and desire for revenge that fuel the secret society add depth and unexpected elements to the plot. Saskia is biracial (half white, half Black, of Ghanaian descent). The realities of racism are woven effortlessly into Saskia's present-day experiences and visits to the past. Although the ending feels a bit anticlimactic, the novel blends history, romance, friendship, and a touch of magic into a compelling story. VERDICT Recommended for collections serving teens.-Alison Glass, Dwight Sch. Lib., New York, NYα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. --This text refers to the hardcoveredition.
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FTC Guidelines: In accordance with FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials for bloggers, I would like my readers to know that many of the books I review are provided to me for free by the publisher or author of the book in exchange for an honest review. If am compensated for any reviews on this site I will state that post has been sponsored.
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