Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this story. It was defiantly slow paced but it was still enjoyable.
I loved the ending and felt it wrapped up nicely.
I felt connections with the characters especially Ameilia Charity and Levi and appreciated how they grew and developed.
I loved the ending and felt it wrapped up nicely.
I felt connections with the characters especially Ameilia Charity and Levi and appreciated how they grew and developed.
After a chance encounter with a fisherman, a mermaid assumes human form and marries him. When her husband dies, Mrs. Amelia Douglas's life stagnates until she is invited to join P.T. Barnum's circus.
My wife got me this book for Christmas. I threw it on my wishlist aeons ago since the other two Christina Henry books I've read, Alice and The Lost Boy, were bad ass dark retellings of classic tales.
"What if P.T. Barnum's Feegee Mermaid was an actual mermaid instead of dead monkey with a fish tail sewn on?" seems to be the core premise of this book.
I must admit I did not finish this book. I got halfway through and discovered I didn't really care to finish. The premise was interesting but I found my attention wandering to the ARCs I had on deck and The Secret of Mana partially finished on my SNES Classic. While I liked Christina Henry's past offerings, this one didn't grab my attention. The pace was slow and I didn't care for the love story. She might have turned things around in the end but I'm fine with not knowing how things turned out.
Two stars. I may come back to it someday when I've read the rest of the unread books in my house.
My wife got me this book for Christmas. I threw it on my wishlist aeons ago since the other two Christina Henry books I've read, Alice and The Lost Boy, were bad ass dark retellings of classic tales.
"What if P.T. Barnum's Feegee Mermaid was an actual mermaid instead of dead monkey with a fish tail sewn on?" seems to be the core premise of this book.
I must admit I did not finish this book. I got halfway through and discovered I didn't really care to finish. The premise was interesting but I found my attention wandering to the ARCs I had on deck and The Secret of Mana partially finished on my SNES Classic. While I liked Christina Henry's past offerings, this one didn't grab my attention. The pace was slow and I didn't care for the love story. She might have turned things around in the end but I'm fine with not knowing how things turned out.
Two stars. I may come back to it someday when I've read the rest of the unread books in my house.
I enjoyed this more than I expected I would! I did expect it to be more dark and to be a retelling of the little mermaid, but it wasn't. Lucky it was still a good read and I enjoyed every page. :)
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A mermaid walks out of the sea to live with a man she's fallen in love with. Years later, the sea takes him away from her. That's the beginning of the story in Christina Henry's newest fairy tale for young adults and grownups, The Mermaid. Living in a small seafaring Maine town, most of her neighbors are respectful of Amelia's - the name her husband gave her - privacy, but rumors have a way of spreading; this time, they spread all the way to New York, and to the ears of none other than The Greatest Showman himself, P.T. Barnum. Barnum dispatches his partner, Levi Lyman, to Maine to talk to the "mermaid" and convince her to become one of Barnum's spectacles. Amelia, a strong, smart woman in a time when women have no voice, no property, and no agency of their own, she decides - after sending Lyman on his way - to make her way to New York and negotiate with Barnum. She wants to travel the world, and she agrees to work with Barnum on her own terms for six months, in order to be able to finance it. The partnership between the two headstrong characters is tenuous, and Lyman finds himself falling in love with Amelia. The Mermaid is amazing storytelling that has a distinctly feminist voice.
The Mermaid gives us a Barnum that isn't quite so friendly and fun as Hugh Jackman's portrayal in The Greatest Showman; this Barnum is concerned with money, who's paying it out, and how much of it he can make off the back of his "spectacles". He's recovering from the backlash of one of his exhibits gone wrong, and trying to recover his reputation; he's known as a liar and a "humbug" (not exactly untrue); he treats his wife and daughters shabbily, and cares little for anyone outside of himself. That's enough about him.
Amelia is the star of this story. She's a real mermaid who touches the lives of those who lay eyes on her. Charity, Barnum's put-upon wife, resists believing in her at first, but later comes to treasure her friendship with Amelia, finding her own voice to stand up against her bulldozing husband. Caroline, Barnum's young daughter, is enchanted with the idea of knowing a mermaid, and discovers her own young voice thanks to Amelia. Levi Lyman finds his scruples and love in her stormy eyes. Amelia refuses to be taken advantage of, and demands to be heard. She empowers those around her. She reminds Barnum that at any moment, she can walk away from him and he'll never find her: she's a mermaid, for crying out loud, and the Earth is 75% water; good luck finding her. We don't learn about her family or her people; she is the focus of the novel and the narrative. She stands alone. An adult novel, this can easily cross over into YA/Teen for fantasy readers. There are discussion questions available at the end of the book.
Want more circus and sideshow books? Booktalk and display with Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants and H.P. Wood's Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet. Want more of Christina Henry's fairy tales? Check out her website and learn about her other books.
The Mermaid gives us a Barnum that isn't quite so friendly and fun as Hugh Jackman's portrayal in The Greatest Showman; this Barnum is concerned with money, who's paying it out, and how much of it he can make off the back of his "spectacles". He's recovering from the backlash of one of his exhibits gone wrong, and trying to recover his reputation; he's known as a liar and a "humbug" (not exactly untrue); he treats his wife and daughters shabbily, and cares little for anyone outside of himself. That's enough about him.
Amelia is the star of this story. She's a real mermaid who touches the lives of those who lay eyes on her. Charity, Barnum's put-upon wife, resists believing in her at first, but later comes to treasure her friendship with Amelia, finding her own voice to stand up against her bulldozing husband. Caroline, Barnum's young daughter, is enchanted with the idea of knowing a mermaid, and discovers her own young voice thanks to Amelia. Levi Lyman finds his scruples and love in her stormy eyes. Amelia refuses to be taken advantage of, and demands to be heard. She empowers those around her. She reminds Barnum that at any moment, she can walk away from him and he'll never find her: she's a mermaid, for crying out loud, and the Earth is 75% water; good luck finding her. We don't learn about her family or her people; she is the focus of the novel and the narrative. She stands alone. An adult novel, this can easily cross over into YA/Teen for fantasy readers. There are discussion questions available at the end of the book.
Want more circus and sideshow books? Booktalk and display with Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants and H.P. Wood's Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet. Want more of Christina Henry's fairy tales? Check out her website and learn about her other books.
I do like her books. They are all such great fun!
This one is more Selkie wife than little mermaid. A mermaid grew bored with her world and wanted to see more. She is given the name Amelia by her husband, a lonely fisherman whom she falls in love with. No magic here (well yes and no.) If she touch land she becomes human, when she goes back into the sea she is a mermaid...creature.
I liked Amelia. She really loved her husband and stayed with him until he died. I liked the village, she knew and pretended not to.
Then comes PT Barnum. Ugh, what an asshat! Oh Amelia, I know that you still want to see the world, but stay away from that asshat! He wants a circus freak. An animal.
The book is light, and heavy. Fun, and dark. And in that aspect it did remind me of Lost boy. The darkness she got in there. Yes, I do like these magical books of hers. And I have Alice on its way so I will read more by her, wohoo!
This one is more Selkie wife than little mermaid. A mermaid grew bored with her world and wanted to see more. She is given the name Amelia by her husband, a lonely fisherman whom she falls in love with. No magic here (well yes and no.) If she touch land she becomes human, when she goes back into the sea she is a mermaid...creature.
I liked Amelia. She really loved her husband and stayed with him until he died. I liked the village, she knew and pretended not to.
Then comes PT Barnum. Ugh, what an asshat! Oh Amelia, I know that you still want to see the world, but stay away from that asshat! He wants a circus freak. An animal.
The book is light, and heavy. Fun, and dark. And in that aspect it did remind me of Lost boy. The darkness she got in there. Yes, I do like these magical books of hers. And I have Alice on its way so I will read more by her, wohoo!
adventurous
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very interesting fiction about a mermaid, named Amelia, who longed to know about all of the world and its wonders, so she became human and lived on the land.
P.T. Barnum heard the rumors about this mermaid and desperately seeks her to add to his museum.
It’s the story of his determination and her experiences living among men.
I thought it was entertaining, thought provoking, and felt like it was a mix of the movie, The Showman, and the book/movie Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro.
P.T. Barnum heard the rumors about this mermaid and desperately seeks her to add to his museum.
It’s the story of his determination and her experiences living among men.
I thought it was entertaining, thought provoking, and felt like it was a mix of the movie, The Showman, and the book/movie Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro.
I just couldn't get into this like I had hoped. The story was just too slow for me.