TLC Book Tours Review and Giveaway: The Mermaid of Brooklyn by Amy Shearn

Title: The Mermaid of Brooklyn
Author: Amy Shearn
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Touchstone
Publish Date: April 2, 2013
Source: TLC Book Tours

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Formerly an up-and-coming magazine editor, Jenny Lipkin is now your average, stretched-too-thin Brooklyn mom, tackling the challenges of raising two children in a cramped Park Slope walk-up. All she really wants is to survive the sweltering New York summer with a shred of sanity intact. But when her husband, Harry, vanishes one evening, Jenny reaches her breaking point. And in a moment of despair, a split-second decision changes her life forever.

Pulled from the brink by an unexpected ally, Jenny is forced to rethink her ideas about success, motherhood, romance, and relationships. But confronting her inner demons is no easy task. . ."


My Two Cents:

"The Mermaid of Brooklyn" was the perfect day for me to while away the afternoon with. I definitely got sucked into this book. It's good fiction with a heavy dose of magical realism, an element that I absolutely love. It takes the ordinary and makes it fantastic. The main character, Jenny, is possessed by a rusalka (slavic for mermaid) when Jenny jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge. It has been awhile since I have read a book full of magical realism.

The whole story is narrated from the point of view from Jenny, a harried stay-at-home mom who is abandoned by her husband who goes on a crazy adventure to gamble. Jenny is one of those characters that I really didn't care for at first but she grew on me once the magic started happening. Jenny freaks out when her husband leaves (rightfully so). She is already overwhelmed by her motherly duties and is suffering from post-partum depression. She is sent over the edge when her husband leaves even if she didn't think that he was particularly helpful in the first place. Throughout the book, Jenny ruminates a lot on things like what it means to be a wife, a mother, and whether or not she is happy in her own life and what she can do to be happier. She doesn't always make the best choices throughout the book (as an animal lover, I absolutely hated when she got rid of the dog; it made me so sad!), but Jenny is definitely a character that you will be rooting for.

I really liked Shearn's writing style in this book. This is the first book that I have read by her and I know that I definitely want to read more by her in the future. Having Jenny narrate the book really pulls you into the story. You get a first row seat to Jenny's failures and triumphs. I really think that it's the writing that helps to turn Jenny into a character that you want to read about!

Bottom line: This is a good story for when you want an uplifting story about coping with a magical twist!

Follow the Rest of the Tour:
Monday, April 8th:  Bookchickdi
Wednesday, April 10th:  A Bookish Affair
Thursday, April 11th:  Literate Housewife
Friday, April 12th:  Books on the Brain – Friday First Lines guest post
Tuesday, April 16th:  5 Minutes for Books
Wednesday, April 17th:  BookNAround
Thursday, April 18th:  The Five Borough Book Review
Monday, April 22nd:  No More Grumpy Bookseller
Tuesday, April 23rd:  Good Girl Gone Redneck
Wednesday, April 24th:  A Chick Who Reads
Thursday, April 25th:  Sara’s Organized Chaos
Monday, April 29th:  the smitten word
Tuesday, April 30th:  girlichef
Wednesday, May 1st:  Books a la Mode - guest post/giveaway
Friday, May 3rd:  Starting Fresh

Giveaway:


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