Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.

This book is a tricky one on audio if you tend to zone out like I do. The book flip flops back and forth between Penny's life and the storyline of Sylvia in Penny's book. The first time it did this, I was like WHAT is going on? I was also really not interested in the plot of the book that Penny wrote so I really wanted to fast forward through those chapters. Because the Penny's book is every other chapter, you're basically reading two books at once which is a lot at once.

I think I've determined that I'm not smart enough to enjoy satirical books. All of the reviews I read either loved or hated the satirical parts and I think they just annoy me. Also basically every character is extremely annoying and unlikeable.

The actual premise of this book is a good idea, I just think it wasn't executed very well.

Thank you to Doubleday for sending me an arc in exchange for review.


I didn't enjoy this as much as i thought i would. i struggled with the writing and just the story overall.

This book was wild and weird and incisive and brilliant. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked!

I had a hard time getting into American Mermaid. Likely a case of right book, wrong time! I'll definitely pick it up again as I've heard so many positive reviews!

This book had a lot of laughs to start, and the book within the book really worked for this one. However, some of the Hollywood hot topics didn’t quite work for me and some of the parts were a bit much (like the correspondence between producers….iykyk), but all in all, it is an entertaining summer read!

Penelope is a hot mess and I love it! This was such a fun book to read. The excerpts from the novel were clever, and the writers wanting to turn the mermaid into a teen sex icon were so funny.

Started out so intriguingly. An english teacher publishes a novel about a captured mermaid that becomes a surprise bestseller. capturing the teen and feminist audience. Then it's going to be made into a movie and she is hired as one of the screenwriters, quits teaching and moves to LA. The book alternates between chapters of the book and the author's life. I actually enjoyed the novel (within the novel) chapters, but the actual story became confusing and less compelling. A great idea--maybe needed a little more honing in.

Really wanted to enjoy this one.

The concept drew me in initially but it didn’t truly hit the mark for me.

It's hard to describe this debut novel. It's partly the realistic story of a woman learning to stand up for herself. It's part a fantasy novel about a mermaid. It's full of crass humor and satire. I'm not sure what I felt about it but I'm glad I read it and look forward to more by the author.

Look what America’s treatment of its teachers force them to do: write books about asexual mermaids adopted by crazy scientists and try to get those adopted into Hollywood blockbusters! I can take this whole book as a satire. Because this teacher loved her students and her students loved her too. She wanted to get her double mastectomy because she was in risky group, but she couldn’t afford it herself or through her insurance. Look what you made her do?!

That satire aside, it was bit of an interesting story of a person not want to let go of the character she created because she could make money for herself and for other that way. But my dear, what did you expect? Of course, your mermaid was not going the live the life you created for her. Have you ever watched a movie based on a book after reading that same book? Are they ever the same?

I like it as a palate cleanser between thrillers, murder mysteries, and horror books I read (It could be considered kind of a horror story of what happens to people in Hollywood). Pack it in your carry on for your next CA or beach vacay

I was very intrigued by the book title and its concept/premise and, as a result, was curious to check this one out.

Ultimately, I felt conflicted while reading, with chapters that alternate between Penelope Schleeman's novel (which is the subject of the movie deal), and Penelope's experiences in Hollywood of said movie deal. I enjoy the “book within a book” genre, but I felt for this novel:

(1) Could have been fleshed out a bit more in two separate books (or in one bigger novel).
(2) There was more development in all, if not, most of the characters.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

SO weird and SO wonderful!

'American Mermaid' is very funny, but there are deeper themes at play in this very unique book-within-a-book about making the original book into a movie. The author skewers Hollywood in the best possible way, and how clever is she to have basically written two books here? So much to unpack!

Penelope is a former underpaid high school teacher who has written a blockbuster sci-fi bestseller about a mermaid named Sylvia. ("All those early mornings and then finishing grading and class prep pretty late and feeling a bit resentful for doing lawyer hours for babysitter money.")
Her book went viral when an influencer named Stem Hollander Instagrammed a photo of the book on his "reclaimed marble nightstand". Penelope soon quickly relocates to Hollywood where she is teamed with two screenwriters who remind her at every turn that even though she was the author, she sold her rights away and doesn't have much say in the final script.

Sylvia, the mermaid of Penelope’s novel, was found and adopted as an infant by two wealthy scientists who were unable to have children. Sadly they order a frightening medical procedure for baby Sylvia to try and make her more human, but which results in Sylvia being in constant pain and confined to a wheelchair. This will lead to catastrophic consequences later in the story.

The book alternates between Sylvia's story and Penelope's very weird experiences in Hollywood.
Penelope's exchanges with the two screenwriters are hilarious yet sad and it is obvious that the movie version of her book is going to lose any resemblance to the novel, and to Penelope's intentions. Her Sylvia is strong, beautiful and ultimately very powerful, not some teen action hero.

"‘Fresh eyes’ are actually shriveled Craisins in the skull of a mummy in a wide Brioni tie in Burbank or Culver City, and they will turn to dust before reaching consensus with ten other Craisin-eyes about the story that once was yours.”

Mysterious events begin to occur - is it Sylvia's influence reaching into real life or merely coincidence? No matter, Penelope is unexpectedly driven to protect her mermaid at all costs. By the end, the reader is left to wonder whether Penelope has "gone Hollywood" or actually molded into some version of the fictional mermaid. The Epilogue in this book is absolutely hilarious and I can't wait to see what Julia Langbein creates next.

"But I told myself this: I freed a mermaid in a book, and now she’s freeing me."

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Doubleday Books through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.)

Money is a key theme in Julia Langbein's novel within a novel about Penelope, a young, well-educated woman from a wealthy family who is getting by as an English teacher at Holy Cross a secular public school in Connecticut. Penelope writes and publishes a novel about at mermaid that is optioned to be a movie. Penelope moves to LA to participate in writing the screenplay. American Mermaid contains multiple subplots from the cost of preventative healthcare to power and abuses money brings. American Mermaid is original, quirky, and funny with serious undertones for discussion

DNF at 10%. I wasn't understanding the premise- the narrator kept jumping back and forth between the story and what was happening in real life, and I just couldn't follow

I loved the book within a book structure of this story. Penelope Schleeman is a high school English teacher who writes a book, American Mermaid. It is hyped by an Instagram influencer and becomes a best seller and Penelope gets a movie deal. Penelope leaves her teaching job to move to LA to work on the screenplay.

The chapters of this book alternate between Penelope's escapades in Los Angeles and with chapters of the fictional book. I enjoyed reading the chapters that followed the fictional story. The characters were interesting, and I loved the Sci-Fi/Feminist slant to the story. I struggled with the chapters that followed Penelope in present day. None of the characters were compelling and I did not connect with them as much as I did with the in the fictional story sections.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

3.5 stars

The format of a book within a book seems clever and may have worked, but not in this case. I DNF'd this 70% of the way through but I was not entertained and trying to be nice.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If one were to judge a book by its cover, this would be the book, very pretty cover!

The story itself just didn’t work get me unfortunately. The book alternates back and forth between Penelope the author’s life, and then excerpts from her book.

The excerpts from the book worked much better in my opinion. Cohesive story, easier to follow, interesting in its own right. The half of the book in present day Penny’s life was kind of a mess; it never really came together for me.

Each chapter felt forced and I couldn’t get invested in any of the characters. More disjointed than I had anticipated.

Maybe this one just wasn’t for me, but I could not get into it and struggled to finish.

I started this novel deeply confused. The cover and description made me think I was a starting a playful and funny romp, and that left me confused for at least the first 1/3. It never turned into what I was expecting, but reeled me in for the middle section, then lost me again at the end. Too modernist for my taste.

Julia Langbein's American Mermaid just might be the most unique book I've had the pleasure of reading so far this year. The story-in-a-story(-in-a-story) structure is incredibly inventive, and though I didn't necessarily find the pace to be all that quick (the beginning was a slow start for me), by the time things with fictional author Penelope and her own fictional creation, uncontrollable mermaid Sylvia, really took off, I found myself swept away in the riptide of something as weird as it was memorable.

And I do mean weird — I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover and all that, but this one is somewhat deceptive. I took one look at the pastel, beachy sunset, doodled mermaid tail, and whimsical font and thought this might have an undercurrent of romance or end up feeling YA adjacent. But that couldn’t be further from the world that Langbein’s melancholy, disconnected, unaffected main character inhabits as she evolves from listless Connecticut high school teacher, to bestselling author, to Hollywood screenwriter as her book blows up and catches the eye of a movie studio.

Penelope’s novel, also called American Mermaid, is billed as a feminist, sci-fi, superhero story about a baby mermaid, Sylvia, who washes up on shore and is taken in by two married billionaire scientists who can’t have children of their own. Through sketchy medical procedures they split her tail and make her “human,” though it leaves her in near-constant pain and confined to a wheelchair. This decision comes back to haunt them when Sylvia grows up and discovers the painful truth about her origin story, and dedicates herself to taking down her father’s company.

We get excerpts of Penelope’s book throughout this book, which are a blast to read. Penelope’s actual life is less exciting — she’s not a mermaid holding the fate of the earth’s oceans in her hands, after all — but her trip though some of the shallowest corners of Los Angeles’s vanity, power, and money-obsessed culture is full of gems (including shooting rats in the middle of a fancy party in the Hollywood Hills, as you do). Some of the best moments come from her interactions with Murphy and Randy, the two misogynistic dolts the studio saddles her with while adapting American Mermaid into a movie.

They desperately want to turn into a sexy teen romp complete with low-cut bikini tops and a waterlogged prom. Penelope’s attempts to fight back are usually fruitless, leading to the table read to end all table reads. But you know who else isn’t on board with Randy and Murphy’s writing plans? Sylvia. Or someone who seems to be Sylvia — mysterious events involving changes to the movie script, Penelope getting dragged underwater in a Malibu riptide, and luring another character into an accident with her siren song start happening. Is she real, somehow? Or are the drastic changes Penelope is going through — including coming to terms with a devastating medical diagnosis — blurring the lines of fact and fiction in ways she never expected?

Penelope reminds me a lot of the main characters in Other People’s Clothes and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, in the sense that it feels like there’s a barrier between her and the world that she just can’t seem to scale. She’s trying to figure out who she really is and what her purpose in life is. She’s [thisclose] to making it, but can’t quite seem to figure out how to go all the way. Until, of course, she does.

By the end of the novel, Penelope — motivated deeply by money and gaining some sense of approval, and also unraveling — starts to resemble the people in LA she’s gotten used to mocking. Has Hollywood officially rubbed off on her? Or has a part of her dissolved into the character she created, whether she wanted to or not? I’ll leave it up to you to answer those questions when you read American Mermaid for yourself, because for me to say anymore would spoil everything in this bizarre, but brilliant, adventure.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for sharing a digital e-ARC with me in exchange for my honest thoughts!

This is a really fun read and it is very impressive that it is her debut novel! It is about a high school teacher who writes a book that gets bought by Hollywood -- the chapters alternate between sections from her novel and her life and there are amazing parallels between her fantasy fiction story of a mermaid adopted by a evil scientist father and her real life issues with her own father as well as other themes about women and agency and relationship to our bodies. There were many hilarious scenes - including her trying to find a bathroom at a party at an arrogant male producer's mansion - as well as trying to stay true to her work when the screenwriters (two guys) want to add their own imprint on what they think will make the film a commercial success. This was an enjoyable read and I recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for an ARC and I left this honest review voluntarily.