The Pisces

I've been wanting to read this one for a while; you know how much I like my mermaids! This one is male, and not as predatory as the rest, but still good. This is one of the books from my summer TBR list, and the second book I've read from that list so far.

I feel like this book is better classified as Contemporary Fiction than fantasy; the existence of the merman is the only magical thing about it. Everything else is an exploration on love, obsession, and the lengths people will go to to meet their needs. Broder manages to wax philosophical but with a frankness that keeps everything relatable; from missing ex-boyfriends to worrying about Tinder dates, to thinking about the empty abyss of the ocean at night, Lucy's inner dialogue speaks to the anxiety within all of us.

I went back and forth as to whether I actually liked Lucy or not. I did like her for most of the book, but then she had to go and be stupid and I'm not sure I can forgive her for that. It does illustrate how far some people will go when they're obsessed with something, so it's realistic, I suppose. But I'd rather the cost had fallen on Lucy instead of the innocent bystander.

The ending of the book wasn't entirely satisfactory. It wrapped up the story, sure, but the next to the last paragraph introduced a question that hadn't otherwise been considered, and leaves it unanswered. Which is a pet peeve of mine. It's not philosophy, it's a question of is she or isn't she, and that's not something the reader can really theorize about.

Overall, I really liked the book. There were a couple of events that annoyed me, but for the most part, this was a good summer read. It largely takes place on the beach, it's at turns funny, sexy, sad, and weird. I think it's mostly deserving of the hype it received.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

im ok with vivid descriptions of vomit, shit (animal and human), piss, and period blood. i'm ok with the words cock and pussy being used 1000 times a page, with cocks being called pussies and pussies being called cocks, with balls being compared to peaches, with mermaid tails being compared to pussies. i'm ok with female characters that are so wholly unlikeable that i'm rooting for them to kill themselves. i'm ok with all of this if the book is good. unfortunately this book fucking sucks. was not expecting to have to sit through clinically written heterosexual sex scene after clinically written heterosexual sex scene after clinically written heterosexual sex scene. i think my balls shrunk three sizes reading this. i wish i were dead

OK. OK. OK. I had gotten the impression that this was like, a funny human woman/merman romance novel, and I was ready for that, but it's like way more fucked up than that?

Like...........IDK I abstractly appreciate Lucy's strong voice as an insecure, horny woman but also.........yikes?? And I get, you know, the metaphor of the merman as the ~ultimate unavailable man~. IDK. IDK. IDK. There are a lot of observations that are funny on a line-by-line basis and the narrative voice is great but overall...this book is something for someone but T B H not me. Reading it made me feel really uncomfortable, which I believe was the authorial intent but uhhH I don't like that.

ALSO THE DOG DIES AND I GET THAT IT'S A CONSEQUENCE FOR LUCY'S SELF-INVOVLED BEHAVIOR BUT ALSO I HATE IT

What to do if you're having a hard time getting over your ex, while also being stuck with your PhD thesis on Sappho? You move to L.A., join a support group for love-obsessed women, try Tinder sex, and eventually fall in love with a merman. This book is a wild mix of fun and weird, mixed with darkness, depression and magical realism. Tonally and arc-wise it reminded me a lot of Ottessa Moshfegh's [b: My Year of Rest and Relaxation 36203391 My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513259517s/36203391.jpg 55508660]. How it perfectly captures an aspect of modern life by taking it to an extreme. And yes, there's lots of merman sex. Not just the erotic kind. Also, everything is very female, and fishy, and wet, and ocean and vagina related. Really, there are UTIs and period sex and yeast infections. Without being too gross. The good kind of gross!

I could have lived without some of the scenes and I hated the main character for some of her choices. I really liked the writing and the strange vibe of this book, but I don't know who I could recommend this to. Not for everyone. Read in one sitting, so I guess that says something.

Edit: I guess it's 5 stars after all.

Vibrant, spirited, glimmering, sardonic, sexy. My love affair with weird women's fiction continues.

Melissa Broder cleverly weaves themes of loneliness, womanhood, connection, and desire throughout a shocking and strange fantasy of a woman-merman relationship. It was funny and intelligent and a perfect summer read.