3.5 stars

With Disney's latest <u>Little Mermaid </u>film just coming out, I guess I was in the mood for a non-Disney mermaid story and so selected this from my NetGalley shelf.

A story within a story, I enjoyed escaping into the two worlds offered:
One of a teacher, Penelope, who wrote a book called <u> American Mermaid</u> and was offered the Hollywood experience of making it into a movie and assisting in the writing of the screenplay.
And the other that of the mermaid, Sylvia, found alone as a baby and brought to America to live as the daughter of a (secretly mad) scientist and his wife.

While I'm not normally drawn to fantasies or magical realism, or mad scientists, this worked for me I think because of Langbein's original characters and her explanations of how both worlds worked. They didn't always work well, mind you, but they worked for me. Her imaginings of an illusive mermaid world, of which Sylvia was denied most of her young life, simply fascinated me, as did the whole making-of-a-screenplay storyline.

As the story neared completion, it grew more and more bizarre and I struggled with it a bit. But overall I was pretty impressed with it all.

Two stories in one, this debut novel tells the story of Penny Schleeman, a Connecticut high school teacher whose breakout novel about a mermaid leads her to Hollywood to adapt with two screenwriter bro-dudes the screenplay for her novel. Alternating with Penny's antics in Hollywood are excerpts from her feminist thriller novel about a wheelchair-bound woman who in the process of drowning herself learns she has mermaid powers. I much preferred the Hollywood chapters, which hilariously skewer the tactfree screenwriter bros and the biz in general. It's an interesting effect to intertwine the two stories so that we're that much more aware of how huge the gap between Penny's novel and what's supposed to make a box-office success. But it gets way more interesting when the two stories start to meld and Sylvia the mermaid helps Penny resist selling out.

[Thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

The synopsis of this incredibly bizarre novel does not do it justice. It was much more clever than I was expecting, and had me in an absolute chokehold for the first half. I love both a satire and a unique format, both of which I was pleasantly surprised to find in this book. The satirical aspects and Penny’s internal dialogue had me laughing out loud, though Penny (and the novel, as a result) did get exhausting over even the short span of 300ish pages.

The book and screenplay within a book was very well done here- especially for a debut, I enjoyed the screenplay, although I did lose interest in the actual Sylvia/mermaid story pretty quickly. It didn’t necessarily bother me though because it felt somewhat purposeful: to highlight just how surprising it was when Penny’s book—overwritten, tackling a million themes, and ultimately going big into an evil scientist global world domination plot— became an overnight sensation. I did start to find the novel as a whole a bit tedious after the 50% mark, when the Penny story started to blur the lines of reality and the plot veered straight into the outlandish. It felt like a much longer book than it actually is.

Ultimately, I think I kind of loved this one. But idk yet, it’s complicated. It is definitely a very specific type of read though, and I would not recommend it to everyone, or without qualification.

Thanks to Knopf Doubleday and Langbein for providing me with a gifted ARC of this very unique novel. I look forward to reading more from this author!

AMERICAN MERMAID is the story of Penny, an English teacher turned writer whose feminist mermaid novel is picked up for a big-budget film. Penny is co-writing the screenplay for the novel with two screenwriters who are trying to warp her fierce heroine, Sylvia, into a dull sex object. Chapters from Penny’s tale alternate with her experience as she struggles to find her footing in the industry and their lives begin to mirror one another. This fresh and witty story within a story offers a satirical look at the film industry while exploring themes of feminism, self-discovery, capitalism, and climate change. This wildly original and highly entertaining story is out today!

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.