I had beautiful, enchantingly high hopes for Mermaid. I wanted it to be what I think the author originally envisioned it to be – an amazing retelling of the classic tale that added some depth, intrigue, and a few more character flaws, into the original plot. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I still award three stars, simply for the fact that it held my attention. I read through it quite quickly as I kept waiting for it to turn into something amazing, but then encountered a lackluster ending, put it down and just said, “Huh.” On to the next book I guess.

Like most fairy tales, our female protagonists profess great love for the prince despite hardly knowing him, and Lenia, the mermaid, gives up everything for a handsome, unconscious human, and then unrealistically expects him to fall in love with her. The prince, being a philandering human with fully functioning anatomy, takes advantage of this gorgeous woman throwing herself at him, and she mistakes this act for deep and enduring love. Boring and predictable and this does not elevate the retelling or rectify the issues I had with the Disney movie. Hopefully must adult women reading this book are intelligent enough to realize that they do not want to be like the mermaid – they should aim to be more like Margrethe, Lenia’s rival for Prince Christopher’s affection.
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Well, not really, but if you’re going to pick one of the two women to focus on as a better role model, Margrethe is a clear winner. Brought up in a convent for her own protection, she encounters the prince first when she discovers him on the beach where Lenia saved him. She nurses him back to health, and then later realizes that if she marries him, she might save her country from the ceaseless wars they’ve been fighting with Christopher’s kingdom. Additionally, she realizes that she doesn’t actually love Christopher, but realizes she will be serving the greater good, not her own selfish desires. Does this actually make her a better human? I don’t know. But she does agree to raise Lenia and Christopher’s daughter which is at least a little admirable. Either way, I’ve already ordered Carolyn’s next book and hope that it will be more satisfying than this one!
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This was described to me as a retelling of the original Hans Christian Anderson story--excruciating pain while walking, turning into an air being at the end because she couldn't kill the prince--from the princess' perspective, and her having to watch her husband, who she cared about, fall in love with a mermaid. A love triangle story I actually wanted to read! Momentous. This instead was Christian fiction on every page. I have no interest in the genre in the slightest. I was not warned that this was such and feel misled. It was especially during the mermaid's POV. That doesn't make any sense narratively. The author just wanted to proselytize. How would the mermaid even know of human religion? Why is the princess a nun in this book? Why is this a dual POV? Did the person who told me about this book in fact read another one? The author seriously wanted readers to come to Jesus. Not happening. A book that is supposed to be about mermaids is not the place to try to get people to do that. ( )

This is a richly imaginiative, dark twist on the tale of "The Little Mermaid". The story is told in alternating chapters narrations told by a princess and a mermaid. The two cross paths and create a love triangle when they together save a man.

The alternating chapters narrations gave the story some balance between the two girls, so neither clearly were "the other woman". Though I apperciate the attempt to create balance, it never made me care deeply about either of them, and the story suffered from that.

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This is an absolutely gorgeous retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale. I couldn't put it down. "The Little Mermaid" is one of those fairy tales that I've always thought could never be retold in a satisfying way because the original is so perfect the way it is. But Carolyn Turgeon has done it and succeeded. The main thrust of her novel is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the original story, the main twist being her exploration of the character of the rival princess who eventually marries the prince instead of the little mermaid. This added viewpoint accentuates the tragedy and sadness of the mermaid's plight and adds even more depth to this timeless story. I vividly remember reading Andersen's fairy tale as an eleven-year-old and being in tears by the time I was finished, I was so moved by it. I reacted the same way to Turgeon's novel at twenty-nine. That's pretty high praise indeed. ( )

Carolyn Turgeon is a great re-teller of Fairy Tales! This is the 3rd book I have read of hers. Although I never read the original Little Mermaid, nor for that matter saw the remake movie, I must say that I have enjoyed this book. It was a delightful easy read. ( )