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froggoz13's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Vomit, and Infidelity
Minor: Abortion and Stalking
cass_masters's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Abortion
pabi's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Drug use, and Animal death
Minor: Stalking and Abortion
cheye13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Unlike many earlier readers, I didn't pick this up for hot mermaid sex; I picked this up because those earlier readers said it was a wild ride. It disappoints on both fronts: first of all, the merman sex, while indeed hot, doesn't happen until a full halfway through the book, and is preceeded by quite a bit of terrible human sex. Second, it was more realism than it was ridiculous.
This novel did help me narrow down my ennui of millennial literary fiction. So much of that niche relies on "shock" fiction, but the "shock" is through explicit realism, which isn't shocking at all when you've lived it. Tragic public bathroom hookups, terrible first-anal-attempt stories, graphic discussion of suicide – I can accidentally overhear all that in a nightclub line on a weeknight.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Addiction, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abortion, Medical content, Self harm, and Vomit
missbreathing's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
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“The Pisces” follows Lucy, who spends the summer in Venice Beach to recover from her recent breakup and work on her doctoral thesis. In the process, she falls in love with a merman.
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The blend of realism and fantasy was so well done that it almost hurt my head to follow. Honestly, the merman stuff is done really really well.
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I was definitely warned about the merman + human sex, but, oddly enough, that wasn’t what disturbed me? The sex was definitely explicit and at times uncomfortable, so do keep that in mind! But it was actually being inside the MC’s head that weirded me out. It could be very triggering, sometimes cringey, but mostly just dark and oppressive.
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In the beginning, I thought this would be one of my favorite reads of the year. The prose is smart and funny and peppered with subtle hints of feminism. The writing is stunning! I also really liked the ending. But there was a point about halfway through where I just wanted it to end. It’s slow paced, and while I understand the stylistic choice, I think the story would have benefitted from less meandering.
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I’m glad I read this, but I wish I had known how sad it was going to be. Please check the trigger warnings for this one, as there are a LOT of potentially triggering things in it.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Alcohol, Self harm, and Drug use
Minor: Abortion and Car accident