American Mermaid

by Julia Langbein

Publisher: Doubleday New York / Penguin Random House

Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Genre: Fantasy

Read This If You Love: A WILD ride of a book

Decisions happen sometimes without being made precisely.

This book is wiiiiillllldddd. One minute it is a humor novel, the next it’s a feminist story, then a statement on the environment. The characters are colorful…some you love and some you love to hate. I feel certain that American Mermaid will be memorable for many years to come. Definitely a unique novel. I literally had moments where I said out loud, “What am I reading!?!” Then, I was like…but I REALLY like it? It was so out there and I can’t wait to see what a wider audience thinks. (Side note: I was drawn to American Mermaid based on an endorsement quote from Madeline Miller. Miller authored two of my all-time favorite books, Circe and The Song of Achilles. If you haven’t read those, add them to your tbrpile.)

Penelope is a teacher in Connecticut when she writes a feminist/environmentalist mermaid novel. (Yeah, I told you it was out there.) The book gets optioned for a movie and Penny takes the plunge and heads to Los Angeles. She is assigned to assist Murphy and Randy with writing the script and those two seem determined to turn her book into some type of Michael Bay action film. At least that’s what I took from it…they are so cringe-worthy. You, dear reader, will enjoy hating on them. They say some pretty rage-inducing things. Meanwhile, Penny is also trying to forge her own path as a screenwriter outside of American Mermaid. Her asides about money and lifestyle (and the culture shock of LA) land with plenty of humor, which helps to lighten the mood as there is a lot of exploration of feminist topics and climate change. As she settles, or doesn’t, into her new life and roll, Penny becomes increasingly convinced that her protagonist Mermaid Sylvia is real. Is she right? Wait, what?????? 

I think I cracked the book open and it’s leaking into real life. - Penelope

One of my favorite book tropes is a book-within-a-book and American Mermaid fits that mold and adds on a screenplay, too. The story of Sylvia the mermaid is played out for us via excerpts from Penelope’s book, so you really get two stories in one novel. The book is packed full of quick-paced humor that can be a tad hard to follow, but still highly entertaining. It is also a story with great depth that discusses serious issues, but with a mermaid twist. 🧜‍♀️ 

SPOILER SECTION

If you want to avoid spoilers, don’t read on.

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Enough with the daydreaming already…It was confusing and interrupted the flow of the manuscript. I didn’t really feel like it added to Penelope’s belief or disbelief of whether or not Sylvia was real. Instead, it just made Penny seem flighty or aimless. I didn’t see her that way, but instead as a strong character who wanted to keep the integrity of her writing. 

Other than the daydreaming knit pick, I had one other strong negative reaction. When Penny questions how you could still be a reader and “lover of the impossible and imagined” if you don’t have kids, I about came out of my seat. What? I can’t appreciate literature and creativity if I don’t have my own child? What the hell is that? This sentiment didn’t sit well with me and didn’t feel true to Penny.