livykp's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
3.0
This book has an audience that will enjoy it immensely; I'm just not in that audience
This didn't sound anything like the kind of book I'd normally pick up, but the publisher offered me a free advanced copy because Maria Semple blurbed it and my review of Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette somehow earned more than 200 likes.
Jenny is a run-down mom in Brooklyn whose gambling-addicted husband doesn't come home one night. Pushed to her breaking point, Jenny decides to end her life but, in a magical realism twist of fate, becomes physical host to a mermaid instead.
The thing is, I just didn't like Jenny. I know that being a stay-at-home mom can be an exhausting and unfulfilling experience for some women, especially when your marriage isn't exactly sound. But it felt to me like Jenny wasn't really trying to do anything to improve her life other than whine. I didn't find her interesting and I didn't feel any sympathy or empathy for her, and so I ultimately caved and decided that this book is just not for me.
This didn't sound anything like the kind of book I'd normally pick up, but the publisher offered me a free advanced copy because Maria Semple blurbed it and my review of Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette somehow earned more than 200 likes.
Jenny is a run-down mom in Brooklyn whose gambling-addicted husband doesn't come home one night. Pushed to her breaking point, Jenny decides to end her life but, in a magical realism twist of fate, becomes physical host to a mermaid instead.
The thing is, I just didn't like Jenny. I know that being a stay-at-home mom can be an exhausting and unfulfilling experience for some women, especially when your marriage isn't exactly sound. But it felt to me like Jenny wasn't really trying to do anything to improve her life other than whine. I didn't find her interesting and I didn't feel any sympathy or empathy for her, and so I ultimately caved and decided that this book is just not for me.
ptaradactyl's review against another edition
1.0
Like many others, I just didn't like Jenny. I started with a great deal of sympathy for her, but she kept wasting time and whining and making choices I couldn't stand until I Just. Didn't. Care.
thefictionaddictionblog's review against another edition
5.0
The advert on this book — “sometimes all you need in life is a fabulous pair of shoes” – signaled sassy airport chick lit to me, and so I put off reading the book until I was in the right kind of mood. (That’s not meant as snark. I do love frothy chick lit, when I’m in the mood for a spirited heroine, her quirky best friend, a handsome man, and hilarious antics on the seventy-thousand word path to true love. Sometimes you want that, just like sometimes you want to reread Harry Potter for the millionth time.) But The Mermaid of Brooklyn is not a series of comical misunderstandings and glossy retail therapy on the path to romance.
The Mermaid of Brooklyn is set in a very real Brooklyn. Park Slope moms whisk their babies from baby language classes to expressive fingerpainting. Changing times are bringing her in-laws’ candy gift-basket company to a slow, painful bankruptcy. The city manages to be both glowing with possibility, and summer-sticky.
Full review on my blog
The Mermaid of Brooklyn is set in a very real Brooklyn. Park Slope moms whisk their babies from baby language classes to expressive fingerpainting. Changing times are bringing her in-laws’ candy gift-basket company to a slow, painful bankruptcy. The city manages to be both glowing with possibility, and summer-sticky.
Full review on my blog
beckylej's review against another edition
4.0
Jenny Lipkin is worn out... and stressed out. No one in the house is sleeping thanks to Rose, the new baby, and husband Harry has been working super late hours thanks to slow business. One night, Harry calls to say he's stopping for cigarettes on his way home and disappears. Harry's mother is ready to call the police (who inform her that there's nothing they can do unless foul play is suspected) but Jenny suspects her hubs could be on a gambling bender - something he's been known to do. In a desperate moment, Jenny plans to launch herself off the Brooklyn Bridge. Fortunately, she changes her mind. Unfortunately, it's too late. But Jenny is saved by a rusalka - a mermaid - who helps her to find her way.
I knew I was going to love this book from the very first page. Amy Shearn has a great style and voice! (I'd include a passage but I think I'd be attempting to include the whole book!) On the very first page Jenny talks about her husband leaving and wonders why he didn't take the dog with him while also berating him mentally for not changing the hall lightbulb before he left.
In addition to the snarky components (that I'm always a sucker for - definitely says something about me), Shearn has a magical way of turning a phrase. Her writing is quite pretty (not purple!) and wonderfully illustrates Jenny's life and surroundings.
A lot of THE MERMAID OF BROOKLYN is about family and motherhood. I don't have kids, but Jenny's narration as a whole is something I can personally sympathize with even when she talks babies. I laughed out loud more than once at her very real portrayal of mommyhood (all the dirty and stinky parts that folks sometimes gloss over). And I truly felt for her when she was at her worst.
Shearn combines great humor and emotion in her latest, making THE MERMAID OF BROOKLYN a hilarious and heartfelt read - definitely recommended for both moms and non-moms (or not-yet-moms).
I knew I was going to love this book from the very first page. Amy Shearn has a great style and voice! (I'd include a passage but I think I'd be attempting to include the whole book!) On the very first page Jenny talks about her husband leaving and wonders why he didn't take the dog with him while also berating him mentally for not changing the hall lightbulb before he left.
In addition to the snarky components (that I'm always a sucker for - definitely says something about me), Shearn has a magical way of turning a phrase. Her writing is quite pretty (not purple!) and wonderfully illustrates Jenny's life and surroundings.
A lot of THE MERMAID OF BROOKLYN is about family and motherhood. I don't have kids, but Jenny's narration as a whole is something I can personally sympathize with even when she talks babies. I laughed out loud more than once at her very real portrayal of mommyhood (all the dirty and stinky parts that folks sometimes gloss over). And I truly felt for her when she was at her worst.
Shearn combines great humor and emotion in her latest, making THE MERMAID OF BROOKLYN a hilarious and heartfelt read - definitely recommended for both moms and non-moms (or not-yet-moms).
dlperin's review against another edition
5.0
This is the best book I've read in a long time. It is an amazing, humorous, poignant, magical and yet totally realistic depiction of a young mom struggling with 2 small children after her husband runs out on an errand one night and doesn't return. The descriptions of her thoughts on mothering, marriage, hating the perfection of those pulled-together, happily married moms at school, the utter exhaustion and simultaneous delight of keeping little kids occupied and entertained, the constant belief that you're doing it all wrong, the need to find oneself and yet be totally there for one's kids... It's all here. Even her struggle with depression is funny while totally realistic and believable. I loved this and immediately want to start reading it over again.
jessiereads's review against another edition
2.0
Halfway through and not sure I'll finish it. This reads like a sad, navel-gazers blog that shouldn't have been published. Tedious and slow. Maybe I should have put more distance between The Goldfinch (*****) and this?
abookishaffair's review against another edition
4.0
"The Mermaid of Brooklyn" was the perfect day for me to while away the afternoon with. I definitely got sucked into this book. It's good fiction with a heavy dose of magical realism, an element that I absolutely love. It takes the ordinary and makes it fantastic. The main character, Jenny, is possessed by a rusalka (slavic for mermaid) when Jenny jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge. It has been awhile since I have read a book full of magical realism.
The whole story is narrated from the point of view from Jenny, a harried stay-at-home mom who is abandoned by her husband who goes on a crazy adventure to gamble. Jenny is one of those characters that I really didn't care for at first but she grew on me once the magic started happening. Jenny freaks out when her husband leaves (rightfully so). She is already overwhelmed by her motherly duties and is suffering from post-partum depression. She is sent over the edge when her husband leaves even if she didn't think that he was particularly helpful in the first place. Throughout the book, Jenny ruminates a lot on things like what it means to be a wife, a mother, and whether or not she is happy in her own life and what she can do to be happier. She doesn't always make the best choices throughout the book (as an animal lover, I absolutely hated when she got rid of the dog; it made me so sad!), but Jenny is definitely a character that you will be rooting for.
I really liked Shearn's writing style in this book. This is the first book that I have read by her and I know that I definitely want to read more by her in the future. Having Jenny narrate the book really pulls you into the story. You get a first row seat to Jenny's failures and triumphs. I really think that it's the writing that helps to turn Jenny into a character that you want to read about!
Bottom line: This is a good story for when you want an uplifting story about coping with a magical twist!
The whole story is narrated from the point of view from Jenny, a harried stay-at-home mom who is abandoned by her husband who goes on a crazy adventure to gamble. Jenny is one of those characters that I really didn't care for at first but she grew on me once the magic started happening. Jenny freaks out when her husband leaves (rightfully so). She is already overwhelmed by her motherly duties and is suffering from post-partum depression. She is sent over the edge when her husband leaves even if she didn't think that he was particularly helpful in the first place. Throughout the book, Jenny ruminates a lot on things like what it means to be a wife, a mother, and whether or not she is happy in her own life and what she can do to be happier. She doesn't always make the best choices throughout the book (as an animal lover, I absolutely hated when she got rid of the dog; it made me so sad!), but Jenny is definitely a character that you will be rooting for.
I really liked Shearn's writing style in this book. This is the first book that I have read by her and I know that I definitely want to read more by her in the future. Having Jenny narrate the book really pulls you into the story. You get a first row seat to Jenny's failures and triumphs. I really think that it's the writing that helps to turn Jenny into a character that you want to read about!
Bottom line: This is a good story for when you want an uplifting story about coping with a magical twist!
pgchuis's review against another edition
3.0
This was an odd sort of book really - very light in many ways, but with an underlying theme of mental illness. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to suspend disbelief about the whole mermaid thing or see it as a coping mechanism. If the former, I don't really like that kind of book, and if the latter, she was a mother of two small children who couldn't remember doing various things or what happened during hours at a time. It was funny in places and very accurate about how toddlers "play" with each other. The ending seemed realistic.
thefictionaddictionblog's review against another edition
5.0
The advert on this book — “sometimes all you need in life is a fabulous pair of shoes” – signaled sassy airport chick lit to me, and so I put off reading the book until I was in the right kind of mood. (That’s not meant as snark. I do love frothy chick lit, when I’m in the mood for a spirited heroine, her quirky best friend, a handsome man, and hilarious antics on the seventy-thousand word path to true love. Sometimes you want that, just like sometimes you want to reread Harry Potter for the millionth time.) But The Mermaid of Brooklyn is not a series of comical misunderstandings and glossy retail therapy on the path to romance.
The Mermaid of Brooklyn is set in a very real Brooklyn. Park Slope moms whisk their babies from baby language classes to expressive fingerpainting. Changing times are bringing her in-laws’ candy gift-basket company to a slow, painful bankruptcy. The city manages to be both glowing with possibility, and summer-sticky.
Full review on my blog
The Mermaid of Brooklyn is set in a very real Brooklyn. Park Slope moms whisk their babies from baby language classes to expressive fingerpainting. Changing times are bringing her in-laws’ candy gift-basket company to a slow, painful bankruptcy. The city manages to be both glowing with possibility, and summer-sticky.
Full review on my blog
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