I expected a different sort of thirsty going in to this graphic novel, but I was happily wrong and still loved these drunk mermaids just as much as I expected to. Kat Leyh is more frequently known for her work on Lumberjanes and more recently for the middle grade graphic novel Snapdragon. Thirsty Mermaids has all the fun of those previous works, but with more leeway due to the adult audience. As with previous works, Leyh makes sure to include people (and mermaids) of all kinds and there is even an excellent conversation between two characters about body dysmorphia. The sheer number of visible boobs puts this cleanly in the adult graphic novel category, but all adult library collections should have a copy of this book!

It took me a minute to get into this book, I wasn't too sure what was going on and I discovered some of the art wasn't safe for work, so I had to find some free time to sit with it. Once I got into the story I loved it and couldn't put it down! This book has some great messages about found family and being yourself. I loved the representation presented throughout and the characters were quirky and hilarious.. Also I loved the art and coloring, it was a unique style that really fit the story.

What a raucous good time!! Laugh-out-loud graphic novel with moments of great tenderness and emotion.

Three mermaid/sea creature friends (Pearl, Tooth and Eez) go on a drunken bender and decide - after they run out of salvaged booze - to use magic to make themselves human for the night in order to keep the party going. The only problem - once human - they realize they don't know how to turn back. They're taken in by the delightful human Vivi, who gives them a place to stay while the three try to find their way back to the ocean.

**I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

This is a story about three mermaids who cast a spell to masquerade as humans in a seaside tourist town because they want to get some wine, but then they don't know how to break the spell. They try to figure out how to live like humans while researching a solution.

The art style was not to my taste, but I stuck with it for the story. This was a tale of acceptance and forming your own tribe outside your family of origin. Each mermaid found a way to use their particular strength to help their triad. I would be tempted to recommend it to some teens I know if their mothers wouldn't be mad at me for giving them a book with drinking in it.

Kat Leyh has done it once again with Thirsty Mermaids! Thirsty Mermaids is about a trio of merfolk who run out of human booze at the bottom of the ocean and decide to go undercover as humans on dry land to obtain more. This plan quickly backfires after a fun night of drinking leaves them waking in the morning to a horrific hangover and no magic to change back into merfolk. The lovely bartender Vivi helps them out, leading to them trying their best to make human life work as they try to figure out how to get back to their lives underwater. The main four characters were so fun, funny, and had a great dynamic that left me wanting even more adventures from them at the end. I'll have my fingers crossed for a sequel but until then this is a wonderful, diverse, fun graphic novel that everyone needs to read. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Starred Booklist review for this title can be seen here - https://www.booklistonline.com/Thirsty-Mermaids-Kat-Leyh/pid=9742295.

What happens when a pod of outcast sea beings (mermaids + a sea witch ) decide to use some magic to hang out with humans for the booze? They learn that being human is very different from being mermaids and there’s definitely a lot more to being human than what you drink.

From clothes to jobs, they all three have quite a lot to learn. Enter Vivi, a bartender who takes the trio in. She teaches the sea gals what it means to be human.

The entire book is spent trying to break the spell, so they can feel at home in their own bodies again. But what if they just can’t go home? Can they adapt and survive as humans?

Such a fun story about loving yourself as you are and about being kind even to people you don’t understand.

Not a book for young kids or other sensitive ears/eyeballs.

If you enjoy great art and humor, Thirsty Mermaids is a must-have! It's definitely more on the adult side with the humor, and if bad language is an issue for you, give this one a pass. Taking a trip with these three as they experienced all they could of the human world was a thrilling ride. Even though the humor was the main draw for me, I enjoyed the friendship these three shared. There were some darker aspects and quite a bit of nudity, but it's definitely a graphic novel I'd add to my collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for permitting me to review Thirsty Mermaids.

I really enjoyed it because it made me think of The Little Mermaid, and I loved that movie. It wasn't the same, this is more of the grown-up version of the little mermaid, and more accepting. The witch/hag isn't just some loner, but part of the group, and struggles just like everyone else. There was no Prince Charming to save the day, they saved themselves.

The art and storyline were great and unique.

"We may be on land but we're STILL US!"

It's a hilarious fish-out-of-water story when three mermaids decide to try living life as landlubbers for a while. They're having the time of their lives until the sea witch realizes she doesn't know how to change their legs back into fins, and they might just have to stay humans . . . permanently.

This was a blast - watching the three gals living it up on the town - "Three alcohols, please!" - before hangovers and reality set in, and the ladies realize the seriousness of their situation. I enjoyed their attempts to fit in, including getting jobs, and I LOVED the fact that they were not drawn as your typical lovely, fin-tailed sirens. And, while I wasn't overly crazy about the artwork, it did fit pretty well with the frenzied, wacky tone of the story.

I can’t put my finger on what I didn’t like about this book I just had a hard time getting through it. It wasn’t as funny as I expected and felt like curse words were just thrown in hoping to make it funny.

I like this quite a bit!! It's an odd graphic novel, definitely written for adults (perhaps younger adults, but not young adults, if that makes sense) about three mermaids who cast a spell and are able to walk on land. There are some funny fish out of water bits, but what really shines is the friendship between the characters. Only one of the mermaids (my beloved Eez) possesses magic, and the other two are kind of bruisin' boozers. Once they're on land, Pearl and Tooth, find their footing (so to speak) relatively quickly; leaving Eez to focus on reversing the spell (aka doing research aka watching mermaid movies and falling into a deep depression). The plot and characters are very wacky but there is a really strong emotional core. There's a lot of cool queer stuff woven effortlessly into the plot and characters, and you see a lot of boobies throughout! I also loved seeing all the beautiful bodies represented throughout. There is so much to love about this comic!!

I support the recommendation of Thirsty Mermaids to adult fans of Lumberjanes. It has a similar style, and it's a fun story with nice art. I liked getting to know the characters and watching them learn about the human world. Definitely a "fish out of water" tail. Heh.

This graphic novel contains some heavy topics, but great body positivity rep and LGBTQIA rep. The humor wasn’t really for me, but overall not a bad graphic novel

If you're like me and read and enjoyed [book:Snapdragon|44280844] last year, then you will be excited to hear that Kat Leyh has a new book out. This book features a pod made up of two mermaids and a sea witch. They realize they are out of wine from shipwrecks and NEED.MORE.BOOZE so the sea witch casts a spell on them to turn them into humans. They make their way to a coastal community in search of booze. They aren't quite familiar with human ways, so show up on the boardwalk naked. They quickly get some clothes by various means and eventually find a bar call The Thirsty Mermaid where they befriend the bartender who tries to help them out. This was a fun romp of a book, with lots of girl power, messages about mental health, LGBTQ representation and body positivity.

This was real cute! A found family of magical semi-nude, not familiar with capitalism, merfolk go on land in search of alcohol. This follows them as they procure the drinks, try to find their way home, and find another member of their pod. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for a quick, woman-centric, queer comic with found family.

I received an advanced copy of Thirsty Mermaids through NetGalley so I could share my review with you!

Content Warning: Thirsty Mermaids contains scenes of nudity, discussion of body dysmorphia, and attempted suicide.

Pearl, Tooth, and Eez might not know everything about the world outside of the ocean, but they certainly know how to have a good time! The three mermaids discovered a collection of intact liquor bottles on a shipwreck, and are delighted by the way it makes them feel. But, there were only so many bottles in the wreck, and soon enough their supply runs dry. They decide that they’ll need to go to the source to quench their thirst for more booze, using a spell to transform into humans. The spell works perfectly, and before long Eez, Tooth, and Pearl are drinking their way through the best drinks a beach-themed dive-bar can offer. After a night of heavy drinking, the mermaids realise that they made one huge oversight in this plan: they have no idea how to transform back into their normal forms so that they can return home.

You can get your copy of Thirsty Mermaids on February 9th from Gallery 13!

I am, frankly, a sucker for any project involving Kat Leyh. Her various graphic novels are always extremely enjoyable reads and are chock-full of queer characters living their best (sometimes magical) lives. My favorite part of Thirsty Mermaids was the relationship between the Tooth, Pearl, Eez, and their new-found land companion, Vivi. I thought the way characters interacted was both hilarious and realistic to the complexities of real-world friendships. This book presented a comical alternative take on what might happen to a trio of mermaids stranded on land!

My Recommendation-
If you love quirky graphic novels with LGBTQ+ rep, you should check out Thirsty Mermaids! This story would be a great choice for someone who loved The Little Mermaid as a child, but who prefers their stories now with some bawdy humor!

Pearl, Tooth and Eez are best friends. They are merfolk. They live in the ocean. They are drinking when Pearl and Eez think they go on the land and get the booze they want. They like drinking it so when Eez says he can change them into humans, they say yes with enthusiasm! When they find clothes to wear, they get dressed and go to a bar where they order drinks. When the bartender asks for cash or a card to pay for the drinks, they decide to run a tab to keep getting more drinks. The next day, they wake in an alley with “bad” hangovers. Vivi the bartender offers them a room they can stay at until they “get back on their feet.” Vivi says they can stay if they get jobs. Tooth and Pearl don’t find it easy getting jobs but eventually do. What jobs will they get? Eez is trying to figure out how to break the spell so they can go back home. Eez is not having much luck finding a way to make them back into merfolk. Will Eez find a way for them to lose their human bodies? When Vivi finds out that a tsunami is coming, she tries to get them to leave with her to escape it. Will they go with Vivi?

A delightful and colorful graphic novel that made me smile and gave me soon good chuckles. It’s a book that shows true friendship, acceptance and how they have different experiences. The story has slapstick besides serious conversations. The story shows the kindness and affection for each other.

I had high hopes for this, because I loved her earlier book Snapdragon, but this just didn't capture my interest in the same way. It's clear from the beginning this is a graphic novel for adults, with plentiful toplessness and cursing. It does seem like a fun story about literal fishes-out-of-water (pun intended) having to learn how to be self-sufficient adults in the real world, but I didn't feel compelled to read past page 80 or so.

This graphic novel was kindhearted, cheeky, and a lot of raucous fun! I wasn't sure what to expect after reading another Kat Leyh book, Snapdragon, which was geared toward a younger crowd. It was clear this book was instead meant for adults, but despite frequent toplessness and cursing, it retained all of the sweetness, fun, and fantasy mayhem I'd come to expect based on that other graphic novel.