Title: Mermaid: A twist on the classic taleAuthor: Carolyn Turgeon
Genre: Fairy Tale
Publisher: Crown Publishing (March, 2011)
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN: 9780307589972
Source: Borrowed from Library
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble
My Rating: 3/5
Description from GoodReads:
The story of two very different women, one mortal, one mermaid, and the clash between worlds best kept apart... It is a cold day at the end of the world when a young woman, a princess in hiding, looks out across a Northern sea and sees something she could not have seen. It looks...it can't be. It looks like a mermaid's tail. And, as she looks more closely, she sees that the mermaid is dragging a drowning sailor in her arms. Because, only hours before, another princess, the daughter of the sea queen, has decided to risk everything and take a look at the world above the sea: the world of mortals. And there she finds a storm, a shipwreck, a sailor, and sets in train events which will change both women's worlds forever.My Review:
I grew up loving the Disney version of the Little Mermaid. I remember when I was young I came across a different version where the little mermaid suffered and disliked it because the prince ended up marrying the princess not the mermaid. Well this story is more like the one I came across in my childhood than the Disney version.
Carolyn Turgeon's version of The Little Mermaid is full of pain, suffering and sacrifice. What I enjoyed the most is that we get to see the princess's point of view in this version. The princess believes that the mermaid brought her the prince so she can marry him and ensure peace in their kingdoms. As we all know, that is not the case. The mermaid goes to the sea witch and trades her voice for legs so she can be with the prince. Then the trouble begins as both girls try to win the prince and live their happily ever after.
I like the story but I didn't like the main characters. The mermaid just lets the prince do as he pleased with her and sacrificed everything for him. I never understood why the princess liked him, I think for her it was more duty than love. The Prince, (uhg!) he was my least favorite character. He was more like a typical medieval womanizer than Prince Charming.
Overall, I enjoyed this story because I love Fairy Tales but I would be a little hesitant to recommend it. Read this book if you love Fairy Tales or if you want a different take on Hans Christian Anderson's version of The Little Mermaid.
Great review. I was thinking about buying it. Now I will just check it out from the library.
ReplyDeleteI will pretty much read anything with mermaids in it being a child of the 1990's and being a huge mermaid fan. Great review, and very honest. I will check this one out.
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