Reviews

I really enjoyed this book, until the end. I was anticipating giving it a 5 star rating the whole time. I don’t know where I wanted it to go, but i was looking forward to how it would end. Unfortunately it got a little convoluted and fell flat.

mgleeson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

American Mermaid is a book within a book of sorts. Penelope, a broke teacher, publishes a novel that gets chosen to be written into a screenplay that she is asked to help write. The novel she wrote is about wheelchair bound Sylvie, who discovers she is actually a mermaid (just add water)! When the others writers want to change Sylvie to the Americanized version of a mermaid, strange things start happening to the screenplay - threatening things - that Penelope is blamed for. But she has no recollection of making those changes and begins to believe Sylvie is among them in real life.
I found myself more interested in Sylvie's story that Penelope's, which is, honestly, the only thing that kept me turning the pages. I appreciate the story within story concept, and I like how they are woven together, but this is not a book I would recommend to others.

lynzywhimsy's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

1moodreader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Don't be fooled by the beachy cover, this book is more than a summer read.

🏆What I liked:

It was a really interesting story and the pacing was good. It almost feels like this story could happen somewhere in California.
I loved that the MC, Penelope, was a teacher.
Langbein does get into Hollywood greed/influence and the impacts it has on stories for/by women.
Some people may not like the ending and in way I don't either- but I totally understand it.

🚩What I didn't like:

This story isn't really about the mermaid, but more so about the author who created her- reverse Frankenstein.

spellcheckbagel's review against another edition

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fast-paced

1.0

For book club. Unfunny and try hard

rtbrck's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I'll be honest, I hated this book until the last 1/4th of it, and then I decided it was mid. There were clearly no sensitivity readers in regards to explaining and handling asexuality. As a member of the ace community, I was appalled at how it was described, especially with her sister calling asexuality a "condition" that made Penelope "broken" and Penelope just accepting that and it never being revisited again. Instead of being a humorous jaunt through Penelope's trials and tribulations in Hollywood, it was just cringey and uncomfortable. The writing itself is hazy and muddled. The only reason this isn't getting a lower amount of stars is because I enjoyed Sylvia's story. But even on that note, I couldn't find the author's voice. Penelope's chapters felt sloppily and lazily written, while Sylvia's chapters felt more digestible. Overall a confusing and cringey book that came dangerous close to being a DNF.

sarahna's review

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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