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boygirlparty's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
An educator-turned-novelist works on a film adaptation of her work; a fish out of water in the entertainment industry. Entertaining and darkly funny at times. The scariest person in this book is a teenager.
jojodoug55's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5 stars
Absolutely gorgeous writing! I could not put it down. I can't wait to read another novel from this author!
Absolutely gorgeous writing! I could not put it down. I can't wait to read another novel from this author!
_darbi_'s review against another edition
was excited to start this after hearing rave reviews from the dogeared books podcast.
however, 56 pages in, the slow plot is not quite delivering on my own anticipation. the main character feels aimless in her development and the plot itself is split between chapters directly from the mermaid novel that she has authored and her experience in la and book to movie adaption. not a fan of this format!
however, 56 pages in, the slow plot is not quite delivering on my own anticipation. the main character feels aimless in her development and the plot itself is split between chapters directly from the mermaid novel that she has authored and her experience in la and book to movie adaption. not a fan of this format!
miisjess's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
chemistrypug's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ibbeldibbelleest's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
vanlaw's review against another edition
3.0
2.5*
The premise was a lot better than the book itself. The majority this book was ingrained in Penelope’s LA world, which was vapid and uninteresting, with a character I didn’t find all that compelling and who constantly made what I found to be the wrong choices. Many characters made choices that were not thought out, or the characters just disappeared like the author forgot about them.
The description of this book is what made me interested, but it’s really not representative of the three acts we actually get. The ‘Sylvia comes to life’ is really only in the final act and it’s not actually explored well at all. By the end, the pacing did pick up which was good… but that was because we no longer had chapters about Penelope.
If we only had the ‘American Mermaid’ within the book, rather than the page-to-screen development process, we wouldn’t have seen a lot of the symbolism and meaning the author intended. But manufacturing that understanding by spelling it out to other characters on page feels cheap and unrewarding. It felt like there wasn’t enough to this story for a full length book. It certainly won’t be made into a movie.
The premise was a lot better than the book itself. The majority this book was ingrained in Penelope’s LA world, which was vapid and uninteresting, with a character I didn’t find all that compelling and who constantly made what I found to be the wrong choices. Many characters made choices that were not thought out, or the characters just disappeared like the author forgot about them.
The description of this book is what made me interested, but it’s really not representative of the three acts we actually get. The ‘Sylvia comes to life’ is really only in the final act and it’s not actually explored well at all. By the end, the pacing did pick up which was good… but that was because we no longer had chapters about Penelope.
If we only had the ‘American Mermaid’ within the book, rather than the page-to-screen development process, we wouldn’t have seen a lot of the symbolism and meaning the author intended. But manufacturing that understanding by spelling it out to other characters on page feels cheap and unrewarding. It felt like there wasn’t enough to this story for a full length book. It certainly won’t be made into a movie.
elreagan's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
oldsilverarrow's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0