Scan barcode
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
I have read 2 of her previous books, and yes those were dark, but this one was more dark depressing.
Gaia is a mermaid. They are meant to be pretty and sweet and without a thought in their head. But she wants to see the surface and what lies there. Her sisters are all nice and follow their father's lead (oh I can never watch the Little Mermaid again, her dad is an ahole!)
There are also Rusalkas in the seas and they live with the Sea Witch. These Kingdoms have a truce at the moment. Oh and if you do not know your lore Rusalkas are women who have died in water and come back as Rusalkas.
As you know the story Gaia will eventually go up to the surface for the love of a human boy. And omg this girl was a brainless idiot. She was in love with someone she saw once and she thinks that he will love her back just like that ?! She gambles everything on it. Oh this story is crazy. So yes I was not the biggest Gaia fan cos she was so silly.
Oh and ALL MEN are rapists. Or at least give of a rapey vibe. Not the man she meets, but he is a narcissist. I was not a fan of this, not all men are rapey creeps. I wish there had been some normalcy.
I liked the book, and it felt depressing. I know the real story of course, not the silly DIsney version so I knew what to expect. But throw in all rapey men with incest and pedo vibes. Ugh, what a depressing world.
Still, an interesting re-telling.
Gaia is a mermaid. They are meant to be pretty and sweet and without a thought in their head. But she wants to see the surface and what lies there. Her sisters are all nice and follow their father's lead (oh I can never watch the Little Mermaid again, her dad is an ahole!)
There are also Rusalkas in the seas and they live with the Sea Witch. These Kingdoms have a truce at the moment. Oh and if you do not know your lore Rusalkas are women who have died in water and come back as Rusalkas.
As you know the story Gaia will eventually go up to the surface for the love of a human boy. And omg this girl was a brainless idiot. She was in love with someone she saw once and she thinks that he will love her back just like that ?! She gambles everything on it. Oh this story is crazy. So yes I was not the biggest Gaia fan cos she was so silly.
Oh and ALL MEN are rapists. Or at least give of a rapey vibe. Not the man she meets, but he is a narcissist. I was not a fan of this, not all men are rapey creeps. I wish there had been some normalcy.
I liked the book, and it felt depressing. I know the real story of course, not the silly DIsney version so I knew what to expect. But throw in all rapey men with incest and pedo vibes. Ugh, what a depressing world.
Still, an interesting re-telling.
ladypalma's review against another edition
5.0
Louise O'Neill è per me sempre una certezza. Distopia, romanzi realistici, adesso retelling: il messaggio principale - quello di un femminismo incisivo, reale, che non sia soltanto di facciata - riesce ad arrivare sempre come una coltellata. La storia della Sirenetta viene qui rivista passo dopo passo in chiave femminista, tirando fuori elementi presenti nella storia originale e rivedendoli sotto una nuova luce, con nuove potenzialità. L'opposizione tra due mondi, il sistema patriarcale, le convenzioni culturali: tutto è presente per un percorso formativo che il lettore vive insieme a Gaia, la Sirenetta della storia. Cinque stelle piene per quello che, per ora, è il miglior retelling che abbia avuto modo di leggere. Consigliato a tutti gli amanti del genere!
ladykadyb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jopcy's review against another edition
3.0
Jamás había leído un libro feminista, de hecho no sé si pude apreciar lo suficiente el mensaje que quiere dejar este libro.
No sé cómo sentirme con este libro, fue muy diferente a lo que esperaba leer, es más oscuro de lo que creí, más crudo. Toca varios temas que detesto, me hacen sentir impotente al momento de leerlos porque sé que son temas que se viven en la vida diaria, que no se pueden erradicar con facilidad y persistirán por mucho tiempo más.
Algunos personajes son de valorar y otros son de detestar. No logro comprender lo ciega que puede ser una persona por “amor”.
Llegué a pensar que George sería el verdadero príncipe de la historia, por desgracia eso jamás sucedió.
¿Qué otra cosa puedo decir sobre este libro? Creo que ya no tengo ningún comentario que hacer, es un buen libro, The little Mermaid es una de mis historias favoritas y este libro se apega mucho a la historia, cambia algunas cosas pero son muy mínimas.
No sé cómo sentirme con este libro, fue muy diferente a lo que esperaba leer, es más oscuro de lo que creí, más crudo. Toca varios temas que detesto, me hacen sentir impotente al momento de leerlos porque sé que son temas que se viven en la vida diaria, que no se pueden erradicar con facilidad y persistirán por mucho tiempo más.
Algunos personajes son de valorar y otros son de detestar. No logro comprender lo ciega que puede ser una persona por “amor”.
Llegué a pensar que George sería el verdadero príncipe de la historia, por desgracia eso jamás sucedió.
¿Qué otra cosa puedo decir sobre este libro? Creo que ya no tengo ningún comentario que hacer, es un buen libro, The little Mermaid es una de mis historias favoritas y este libro se apega mucho a la historia, cambia algunas cosas pero son muy mínimas.
owls_rainbow's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Reread 2024: Hated the instalove. Thought there was very little character development, very little world-building.
The men were all awful and on this reading I didn't enjoy the human world. I still want a full book on Ceto and more explanation on the Rusalka.
Again the whole book felt quite rushed but there wasn't really enough plot as is to fill the book more.
Original review: This advertises itself as a feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid and to that I would say yes but at the same time no. The first half was less clear cut. We had few characters, less information about the mer-world than I’d have liked and overall, seemingly vapid thoughts about their appearance and men. Things did not seem happy per say but there was nothing that was a major red flag initially. While I loathe the concept of instalove the story took on a much more interesting turn in the second half once Gaia took on her human guise. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but Gaia only seemed to reveal her full life and understand how bad it was once she was among the humans. The second half of the book definitely took a U-turn with its criticisms of the expectation of women and the trouble with many men. I feel that the ending was a little rushed, despite my small criticism of the pacing I wanted more! Also, my copy had a bonus “chapter” on the Sea Witch and oh goodness I want a whole book on her!
The men were all awful and on this reading I didn't enjoy the human world. I still want a full book on Ceto and more explanation on the Rusalka.
Again the whole book felt quite rushed but there wasn't really enough plot as is to fill the book more.
Original review: This advertises itself as a feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid and to that I would say yes but at the same time no. The first half was less clear cut. We had few characters, less information about the mer-world than I’d have liked and overall, seemingly vapid thoughts about their appearance and men. Things did not seem happy per say but there was nothing that was a major red flag initially. While I loathe the concept of instalove the story took on a much more interesting turn in the second half once Gaia took on her human guise. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but Gaia only seemed to reveal her full life and understand how bad it was once she was among the humans. The second half of the book definitely took a U-turn with its criticisms of the expectation of women and the trouble with many men. I feel that the ending was a little rushed, despite my small criticism of the pacing I wanted more! Also, my copy had a bonus “chapter” on the Sea Witch and oh goodness I want a whole book on her!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Lesbophobia
tiashe's review against another edition
3.0
Questo libro non mi ha convinta al 100%.
È scorrevole e affronta tematiche importanti, ma ci sono alcuni elementi che non mi sono piaciuti, rendendo più pesante e difficile la lettura.
La prima parte (diciamo le prime cento pagine) l’ho trovata lenta e un po’ ripetitiva. Inoltre avrei apprezzato una maggiore cura dei dettagli: c’è l’alternarsi di luce e buio (com’è possibile in fondo al mare?); usano i letti, quando sono creazioni degli esseri umani (che loro odiano); contano i minuti e ci sono i giorni della settimana; ecc... tante piccole cose che, se modificate, potevano rendere quel mondo marino più magico e interessante.
Per quanto riguarda la storia in generale, sono soprattutto due le cose che non mi sono piaciute: gli uomini e la crescita repentina della protagonista.
Per quanto riguarda il primo punto, gli uomini, che fossero del mare o della terra, li ho trovati tutti fatti con lo stampino: cattivi, possessivi, egoisti, interessati solo ad una cosa. Apprezzo il messaggio femminista che il libro racchiude, ma avrei apprezzato anche qualche figura maschile differente. (Non entro nel dettaglio per non fare spoiler).
Per quanto riguarda il secondo punto, ovvero la crescita della protagonista, credo che sia stata troppo repentina e concentrata nelle ultime pagine. Avrei apprezzato di più uno sviluppo lungo tutto il romanzo. Qualche piccolo elemento qua e là lo troviamo, ma il vero cambiamento avviene in una manciata di pagine e l’ho trovato leggermente forzato.
È scorrevole e affronta tematiche importanti, ma ci sono alcuni elementi che non mi sono piaciuti, rendendo più pesante e difficile la lettura.
La prima parte (diciamo le prime cento pagine) l’ho trovata lenta e un po’ ripetitiva. Inoltre avrei apprezzato una maggiore cura dei dettagli: c’è l’alternarsi di luce e buio (com’è possibile in fondo al mare?); usano i letti, quando sono creazioni degli esseri umani (che loro odiano); contano i minuti e ci sono i giorni della settimana; ecc... tante piccole cose che, se modificate, potevano rendere quel mondo marino più magico e interessante.
Per quanto riguarda la storia in generale, sono soprattutto due le cose che non mi sono piaciute: gli uomini e la crescita repentina della protagonista.
Per quanto riguarda il primo punto, gli uomini, che fossero del mare o della terra, li ho trovati tutti fatti con lo stampino: cattivi, possessivi, egoisti, interessati solo ad una cosa. Apprezzo il messaggio femminista che il libro racchiude, ma avrei apprezzato anche qualche figura maschile differente. (Non entro nel dettaglio per non fare spoiler).
Per quanto riguarda il secondo punto, ovvero la crescita della protagonista, credo che sia stata troppo repentina e concentrata nelle ultime pagine. Avrei apprezzato di più uno sviluppo lungo tutto il romanzo. Qualche piccolo elemento qua e là lo troviamo, ma il vero cambiamento avviene in una manciata di pagine e l’ho trovato leggermente forzato.