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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Mermaid is an adult, fantasy novel about a mermaid who exchanges her life of widowed peace to become the main attraction at PT Barnum's museum
Things You'll Find:
*A story VERY loosely based on "The Little Mermaid"*
*Insta-Love*
*Themes surrounding women's rights, animal cruelty, and religious extremism*
Accidentally catching a mermaid in his net leads to several years of wedded bliss for Jack, a fisherman, and Amelia, the mermaid. Amelia is able to split her time as a human and mermaid and retain the best of both worlds, until one day Jack disappears, sending her spiraling into sorrow she's unsure she'll ever overcome. However, when legends of Amelia's past travel to New York, master con artist PT Barnum is determined to hire her for his latest exhibit and sends his lawyer and friend, Levi, to offer her the opportunity. Amelia ends up in New York in the early 1800s after years of living a quiet, small-town existence and must adjust not only to the customs of society but to the judgment of others for who, and what, she is.
This book is based on Barnum's "Fiji Mermaid", a strange exhibit he promoted and sold tickets for that ended up being the top half of a monkey sewn to the bottom half of a fish. The author decided to write a book that was basically "well what if the mermaid was real?" It's a super specific thing that I would argue most people have never heard of outside of those that are just interested in the history of Barnum and Bailey. That's one of the drawbacks of this story.
Unfortunately, the writing here just isn't that great either. Henry does quite a bit of overexplaining Amelia's every thought and action. A lot of the book is just watching her go back and forth between her thoughts and fears, so unfortunately it gets a little boring. PT Barnum makes a pretty solid villain, but other than him, no one else in the story has much personality. Amelia seems to have zero flaws and is the "go girlies" icon, delivering all of the lines about female empowerment and women's rights in a not-so-subtle way. Nothing against the themes, but I wish Henry had been a bit more tactful instead of in your face. Levi's only purpose is to be the "good guy"; he has no discernable qualities outside of being a lawyer and falling in love with Amelia a millisecond after laying eyes on her. And I mean, though Barnum is the bad guy he made a good point about Levi.
"Always taking her side, always playing the knight-errant. If you want to get into the girl's skirts then do it, but stop getting in the way of my business" (PT Barnum)
It very much DOES feel like he wants to get in her skirts from day one and the vibe never goes away! Our only other prominent character, Charity, is pretty prudish until closer to the end of the novel, and really by that point, I didn't believe her and Amelia's relationship could be salvaged. Other themes in the story include activism against animal cruelty and how religious extremism can become dangerous. Again, great themes, really heavy-handed execution.
Overall, I'm still sitting here wondering what the point of this novel was? It floated a few ideas, but never really settled into one, solid purpose or even an interesting plot point. Sadly, this was a dull read for me. I wish the story about Jack and Amelia was the one we would've stuck to
Things You'll Find:
*A story VERY loosely based on "The Little Mermaid"*
*Insta-Love*
*Themes surrounding women's rights, animal cruelty, and religious extremism*
Accidentally catching a mermaid in his net leads to several years of wedded bliss for Jack, a fisherman, and Amelia, the mermaid. Amelia is able to split her time as a human and mermaid and retain the best of both worlds, until one day Jack disappears, sending her spiraling into sorrow she's unsure she'll ever overcome. However, when legends of Amelia's past travel to New York, master con artist PT Barnum is determined to hire her for his latest exhibit and sends his lawyer and friend, Levi, to offer her the opportunity. Amelia ends up in New York in the early 1800s after years of living a quiet, small-town existence and must adjust not only to the customs of society but to the judgment of others for who, and what, she is.
This book is based on Barnum's "Fiji Mermaid", a strange exhibit he promoted and sold tickets for that ended up being the top half of a monkey sewn to the bottom half of a fish. The author decided to write a book that was basically "well what if the mermaid was real?" It's a super specific thing that I would argue most people have never heard of outside of those that are just interested in the history of Barnum and Bailey. That's one of the drawbacks of this story.
Unfortunately, the writing here just isn't that great either. Henry does quite a bit of overexplaining Amelia's every thought and action. A lot of the book is just watching her go back and forth between her thoughts and fears, so unfortunately it gets a little boring. PT Barnum makes a pretty solid villain, but other than him, no one else in the story has much personality. Amelia seems to have zero flaws and is the "go girlies" icon, delivering all of the lines about female empowerment and women's rights in a not-so-subtle way. Nothing against the themes, but I wish Henry had been a bit more tactful instead of in your face. Levi's only purpose is to be the "good guy"; he has no discernable qualities outside of being a lawyer and falling in love with Amelia a millisecond after laying eyes on her. And I mean, though Barnum is the bad guy he made a good point about Levi.
"Always taking her side, always playing the knight-errant. If you want to get into the girl's skirts then do it, but stop getting in the way of my business" (PT Barnum)
It very much DOES feel like he wants to get in her skirts from day one and the vibe never goes away! Our only other prominent character, Charity, is pretty prudish until closer to the end of the novel, and really by that point, I didn't believe her and Amelia's relationship could be salvaged. Other themes in the story include activism against animal cruelty and how religious extremism can become dangerous. Again, great themes, really heavy-handed execution.
Overall, I'm still sitting here wondering what the point of this novel was? It floated a few ideas, but never really settled into one, solid purpose or even an interesting plot point. Sadly, this was a dull read for me. I wish the story about Jack and Amelia was the one we would've stuck to
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Kinda forgettable to me I’m not gonna lie, but I still enjoyed it! Felt very middle of the road, but I’d definitely recommend it if you like mermaids. I mean, obviously.
The story was good, but I felt I couldn't relateto any characters, which made the book a struggle.
Christina Henry never fails to impress me. This is the only Mermaid centred novel I have ever read and if it is the only one I ever read I will die happy. This is the story of a Mermaid who is no half woman, half fish cross breed as you might expect. On land she takes human form but as a mermaid she is a creature of the sea, to the untrained eye she is a beast but all Barnum sees in her is Dollar signs. When she joins his “Greatest Show” she hopes to earn enough money so that she can travel the world but she soon learns that 19th Century America is a vile place for someone like her. In a time where women are not even respected as equals how can a Mermaid expected to be treated as such? Christina Henry perfectly blends fact with fiction here to create a Mermaid tale in the perfect setting. It is a tale of beauty and love and reminds us that everybody deserves happiness no matter where they come from or what their appearance may be and sadly it also reminds us how despicable humans really can be.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-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:
Complicated
I was a huge fan of Christina Henry’s ‘Alice’ series and so was very excited to try this book. I absolutely loved the premise and was excited to dive into another of her fantasy re-tellings as they always have a dark twist which I really enjoy.
However, this book fell a little flat to me. Despite the massive potential of this story, the plot didn’t seem to really go anywhere. The book felt like it was over before it really started and I was left wanting more (but not in a good way).
Christina Henry is a fantastic storyteller and her characters always feel so original - despite coming from well-known fairytales - so I just wish this book was longer and featured more of the darkness of her other works.
However, this book fell a little flat to me. Despite the massive potential of this story, the plot didn’t seem to really go anywhere. The book felt like it was over before it really started and I was left wanting more (but not in a good way).
Christina Henry is a fantastic storyteller and her characters always feel so original - despite coming from well-known fairytales - so I just wish this book was longer and featured more of the darkness of her other works.
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes