I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“Do not go to war with women in a state of becoming. Their dark arts are deep and indomitable.”


American Mermaid exceeded my expectations. When I first got this, I was very excited because the synopsis sounded way too good to pass up. Then when I finally dove into it, I was completely hooked on the characters and the storyline. There was so much happening throughout this that I had no idea how it was going to end.

In this, you will meet Penelope. Her life was pretty peaceful until it was turned upside down. Just like her mother, she is now facing cancer head-on. The only problem is that she doesn't have the money to support herself throughout it all. Her current job, she's a teacher, doesn't bring in enough money, so she has to set out on a new adventure.

Entering into the world of writing, she tries to find a way to heal and deal with everything going on. Her mermaid book, revolving around Sylvia, was pretty interesting. She is half human and half mermaid and was created by scientists. Sylvia is the tougher version of herself and is fighting her own battles.

Turns out she is a pretty good writer because now they want to adapt it to a movie. Unfortunately, she just has to deal with more battles due to the changes the screenwriters want to do. Drama unfolds, characters are lost, and somehow these two need to come out victorious.

In the end, this was so good. I enjoyed every chapter and now need Sylvia's book to become a thing. Also, I recommend the audiobook!

American Mermaid follows a young woman braving the casual slights and cruel calculations of a winner-take-all society and discovering a beating heart in her own fiction: a new kind of hero who fights to keep her voice and choose her place. A hilarious story about deep things, American Mermaid asks how far we’ll go to protect the parts of ourselves that are not for sale.

I enjoyed American Mermaid by Julia Langbein. It wasn't my top read but it was entertaining.

Ultimately, this wasn’t for me; to be fair, I may have just read it at the wrong time. While well written, with certainly some interesting characters, a lot of the content was just darker than I needed, as the story took a bit of a bizarre twist. I ended up not finishing but can appreciate the story within a story aspect, as well as the social commentary. I would still read from this author in the future.

Penny occasionally gets nostalgic for her old profession since her book had been optioned for a movie. The narrator fumbles around trying to keep the integrity of the book. It certainly attempts to respond to all those who say, “That didn’t happen in the book!” There are specific quirk changes, random love interest, and plans to completely change the ending. As the script and the book diverge, Penelope is having trouble keeping it together. The Hollywood parties, the book promotion, and the butchering of her book have taken a toll on her and seem to have driven her to madness. The ending came fast for me. In a way, it makes me feel like I missed something.

'American Mermaid' by Julia Langbein is a story within a story novel marketed as humorous fiction but executes as drudgery. It has a strong start then falls off quickly.

What a weird little book. I did not know what to expect going in and it was the most pleasant and odd surprise.

First, I think the book-within-a-book is so, so well done. I was almost more intrigued by the book within the story than the overall plot - but they were still so well intertwined and played off each other that I was captivated. Our main character publishes a book, and the story surrounds her life and the journey of that book being optioned for a movie.

There is also just something for everyone in this debut novel - you get scifi and fantasy, a family drama, general fiction, some coming of age, etc. It was just so, so unique and I'm glad I went in mostly blind - otherwise I'm not sure I would have picked it up based on just the synopsis. But it is just so smart and offbeat - it's humorous and dark - and I loved it.

I appreciated this book more than I enjoyed it. I would still recommend it to readers looking for an inventive satire enlivened with wit and absurdism.

I ended up DNFing this one pretty close to the beginning still, because I guess I just didn’t vibe with the narrative style and wasn’t happy with the way some things happened in the story. Putting 3 stars as my rating only because I didn’t get far enough in to actually give it a rating.

This was such an original story with a fresh perspective. I love books within books and this book had a lot of really clever humor. I think the first half was stronger, but overall this was a delightful read.

This was a really interesting debut! I had a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the premise - quirky, unique, and different than what I expected! i also love the cover

Oohhhh this book is just ok. I don't always love books within books, but I did like this concept. We have the book "American Mermaid" and then we have the author of the book, moving to LA to help write and shape the script of the book which is about to become a movie.

You know I love my LA/Hollywood plots so the book started strong for me, but faltered about halfway through. It just couldn't keep my attention and I often didn't know what was going on! I did enjoy the actual book within a book though, about a mermaid who was made to be human as a baby and recently, in her 20s, discovers she is actually a mermaid and her adopted father has some evil plans for her.

I almost wish we could have just had one story or another at the end of the day. Like I said, I liked it at first but then it got muddled and I didn't love all the switching back and forth. I also felt like it was trying to be funny but that just didn't work for me either! Bummed as I was really excited about this one last year.

Julia Langbein’s American Mermaid is the story of English teacher Penelope Schleeman and the novel she’s written. I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of thought-provoking book.

This is a well written book. It has some fine lines, a few well-conceived set pieces, a fair share of perceptive and insightful observations, and occasionally a lean and edgy narrative drive. The premise is enticing, and I can see the book's appeal, regarding both style and content. That said, try as I might I found neither the characters, nor their situations, nor the overall narrative and its execution engaging enough to arouse or hold my curiosity and attention. As a consequence, it doesn't seem fair to write much more of a review, apart from encouraging inquisitive readers to give the book a try.

This book attempted to cross genres and ended up a bizarre mess! I listened to it and maybe it would’ve felt more connected if I had read it, but this one was a huge letdown for me.

I enjoyed parts of this novel. I really enjoyed the concept and the metaness of the novel and certain scenes do stick with me. I also love a protagonist who loses their way and spirals out. I do think this novel lost some in the execution. The parts of the made up novel were often times more interesting and thought out in comparison to the story framing the novel. I did expect the novel to be funnier than it was. Some jokes felt tired and like material that has been well tread.

Book to film- could never be easy for an author. I did enjoy this book. It felt like a behind the scenes look of getting a movie made with good characters and well interwoven stories.

Unfortunately this one did not work for me and I ended up DNFing about half way through. Initially, I was really interested in the story inside the story (American Mermaid) but I could not really connect with the character that wrote the book or the topics of discussion. I love this cover and really wanted to like this one but it just wasn't in my wheelhouse.

Thank you so much for the review copy1!

I enjoyed this one!
I wasn’t sure what to expect when getting into it, but I found it to be a light and refreshing read.

Thank you Double Day and NetGalley for the ARC of American Mermaid. All opinions in this review are my own.

A burnt out teacher writes the next best-selling book and moves to LA to make it into a movie. The movie executives want to make significant changes to the book which the author doesn't agree with. She also complains a lot about how expensive things are even though she admits to having money now.

I read 50 pages and I am stopping. I just don't think this writing style is for me and reading about how the movie version of the book is going to make drastic changes is painful. I think I would have rather read the book that the main character wrote than the main character's experience.

American Mermaid is a book within a book. There’s the story American Mermaid and then there’s the story about the author of American Mermaid trying to turn her book into a movie without selling it’s soul.
What I liked:
-Ace rep-the mermaid in the story is stated to be asexual and it’s implied that the author in the story is as well without really being ready to label it.
-Penelope’s attempts to stay true to her story
-the ridiculousness she encounters meeting different “Hollywood” types.

What I didn’t love:
-it took me a little while to get into the story with the back and forth between the two stories.