I tried so hard getting into this book because I really wanted to enjoy it. However something just seemed to be missing and the story just fell flat

Don't let the title deceive you, this isn't about mermaids at all. The story follows Summer, a young woman in her 30s, who loves dancing. Summer's issue is that she started too late to become a professional dancer, but enjoys dancing too much for it to be a casual hobby, which leaves her in limbo, trying to decide where to go with her passion, and searching for the perfect partner.

The book has a melancholic feel to it, which becomes even more prominent when you consider that this was the author's last novel before she died of cancer. Lee seems to ask us if there's any point in practicing a hobby or passion so diligently if the end result isn't becoming a professional/expert at it? To me, the answer is always yes (because hobbies enrich our lives in so many ways), but I can see how the main character struggles with feelings of emptiness and inadequacy because of her hobby. Would she, then, be happier if she just stopped altogether? This is one of the main questions of the novel, and it's especially poignant when we consider the people around her who (the men in particular) are often pretty horrible and thoughtless.

Overall, this is a thoughtful character study and a book that asks: what do we do when faced with mediocrity, after being socialised into thinking that we have to achieve the highest standards?

The Mermaid’s Tale is like a 90s film you watch on a lazy Sunday, with its politically incorrect sentiments. Is it a cinematic masterpiece? Definitely not. But it is alright and you pass the time.

A interesting read about the main characters determination to find a ballroom dance partner (also a metaphor for her place in the world)

I enjoyed reading this but felt there wasn’t really a beginning, middle or end. I found the link to mermaids tenuous (but was also one of the reasons I requested this book as the title seemed so intriguing!)

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, this book did nothing for me. I don't think I fully understood it. The whole book just seemed to be about a woman in her 30s who was searching for a dance partner, and failing.

Despite the title, there was only one reference to escaping the sea and becoming a human, and I couldn't figure out whether the author meant this to be literal or not.

I found it very dull, and skimmed read most of it. Had it not been so short, I probably would have DNF. A miss from me, sorry.

Unique read, really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

💃🏻 ballroom dance
💃🏻 patriarchal control of the body
💃🏻 gender norms & couple dynamics

*Thank you for the ARC Scribner UK and Simon&Schuster UK*

This quiet slow-burn of a novel follows the story of Summer, a Taiwanese woman who throws herself into learning Latin dance in her late thirties. As she learns, she observes the subtle dynamics between each couple, and befriends her instructor Donny, an ambitious gay dancer who often acts according to a gender-binary ‘code of gallantry’ that he has internalised.

The world of ballroom dance is a microcosm of heteropatriarchal society, full of gendered interactions and compelling everyone to look for a partner of the opposite sex. Male and female dancers perform clearcut gender roles both on and off the dance floor. The male partner is expected to lead, pay, protect, pamper; the female partner is treated like a prized possession. Not having a partner is the biggest fear, but the reality is that it is almost impossible to find someone suitable and keep them. Sometimes couples would get married to secure a dance partner for life. Love and attraction don’t always enter into the equation.

As Summer stumbles along in her search for a partner, she dives into stories of relationships sullied by patriarchal mentalities: a misogynist mother, a selfish ex, a cheating man who slut-shames his lover. In this context, Summer’s friendship with Donny is unique, as she tries to break through norms that govern male-female interactions and strive for equality and genuine connection. Learning to dance is also a journey to break free from female body shame that she has internalised since childhood, reconnect with her femininity and find her own centre of gravity.

I love how the translated prose is clean and precise like well-practised dance steps. The narrative is laced with fascinating details on dance technique, analyses of various dance champions’ style, and comments on costume design and hairstyle. I also love the passages that touch on recent Taiwanese history, such as the dance ban under martial law (1940s-1980s) and the Keelung Massacre in 1947.

📖 Quotes

‘Men lead, women follow? Sounds like a chauvinist dance to me,’ I complained.
‘Yea, but those are the rules,’ Donny said. ‘I have to follow them, too.’

Donny was like a model boyfriend… When I went to pick [a shrimp] up with my chopsticks, he told me to wait a bit, he was going to warm them in the pot before he’d let me eat. And he’d only let me eat if I’d let him feed me. When he did that he seemed less like a model boyfriend and more like a parody of machismo.

I got the sense that my mother despised my body, and that she wanted to control it, too. And what did my body mean to her? To her, my body meant my gender, and my gender signified sex.

Where do mermaids go if they don’t feel like rolling back into the water after a sunbathe on the beach […] I grew legs and proceeded with the resolute, plodding steps of someone who had to consciously learn to walk. […] I didn’t just grow legs, but the place in between them, too. There was a pond there, and a tunnel that nobody ever read about in that fairy tale.

With thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to rate this story higher but something held me back… it might be the narration itself. The narrator (Summer) shares enough and yet it turns out the distance from which she is talking about the time she danced almost all the time is further than it appears. Summer is not particularly sexual, this is part of the mermaid reference. Another is the beautiful costumes the ballroom dancers wear. The feeling out of place in society is another.

The brevity is a definite strength of the style and the focus on Latin ballroom dancing is both rare and well thought through with fun parallels to jianghu (wuxia). I was definitely more like her friend Princess in that I didn’t mind so much - I was improving at one stage, honest! - but you get away with it in social swing dancing. The choreography of ballroom terrified me but I can understand Summer’s desire to be good, and to find a partner.

The novel starts with a demand for rent and then blends into dancing, family moments, the anecdotal histories of people Summer becomes close to (or remains distant from) in dancing, alighting on what happens in the end without being climatic or an epilogue, yet it works. Parts of Taiwanese history appear. Comments on society or presentations of behaviour within society are more common - two cross-dressers, abusive relationships and observations on partnerships (romantic and dance) are well painted.

The novel is low-key and the thing I’ll probably remember most is the dependence or independence of people simultaneous to their desire for partnership or connection of some kind. There is misery mixed up with the everyday as in life, without over-focusing on any one character appearing - even Donny, her teacher who she understands most perhaps. I probably understand Summer after having read this but I don’t think I know her. The trick is to walk beautifully and not overthink it. Of course there’s always more to it than that and the rigidity of gender roles comes through too and how fake they can be.

I am struggling to know how to review this book. On the one hand it is a poignant read, using the patriarchal world of ballroom dancing to explore the world in which our narrator lives. However, I found some of the themes, particularly the sections on the female body, jarred and felt as if they belonged to another novel. The translation is incredibly readable. Overall I am glad I read it.

WHY DO I KEEP DOING THIS TO MYSELF.

T/W: Abusive parents, domestic violence, abusive partners, sexual harassment, misogyny

Look at that cover. Look at it! You would think this was an upbeat, optimistic tale about ballroom dancing and a mermaids. Nope. Nopeity nope nope nope. Not only did I cringe through most of this book, I could not get on with the needlessly violent and abusive way every woman was treated in this book. It all felt so unnecessarily violent and gross (I can't think of a better word) in a way it just didn't have to be. The marketing for this book seriously mis-sells it, so fair warning to anyone who goes in. Whilst I found the ballroom dancing moments interesting, the book felt so confused that I was barely able to keep up with what was going on. Nothing really happens, it's a lot of internal monologues and tangents and stories that don't add anything to the plot. Ultimately, it kept trying to be 'gritty' and 'edgy' in a way I didn't expect and it did not work for me.

I think what we've learned is I need to stop trying to read literary fiction.

A beautiful and poignant read that covers on topics such as self image and discovery, loneliness and the pressures on women. A quick read but it lacks a lot in.

'It's a poignant metaphor, but birds in cages had always looked bored to me. Why would girls do unto the birds as society has done unto them?'

Once in a while, I step out from reading my usual genres and chance something new, and the gem that is 'The Mermaid's Tale' reminds of me of why I love to do this. I'm in awe of how much this tale was able to encompass in such a short period of time (clocking in at less than 200 pages, a fairly quick read) and how deeply some of the passages/Summer's thoughts resonated with me.
A distinctively magical tale that touches upon loneliness, women's agency of self and their bodies, and the journey towards self-discovery through the lens of the dance world.

Eagerly anticipating publication so I can get my hands on a physical copy and annotate it properly, such a beautifully written (and translated!) story that I'm sure I will return to time and time again.

This was a book I struggled to finish. Though beautifully written and an interesting premise, the story did not hold my attention.

Interesting and I enjoyed this book.
I was waiting for a slightly more mad take on the dance world with the Black Swan reference, as it's one of my favourite films, but still fun and insightful.

An interesting read that looks with honesty how women can feel so much more vulnerable, especially when following their passions.

This was unique! I didn’t think it would be my thing but I liked it a lot, and the story was really unique in my opinion. It was a charming book and thank you for the chance to read it early!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, wasn't my thing once I got into the book. I was excited to read it though

Wow what a lovely read. It’s a beautiful solo dance of a novel. It brings to mind the exploration of the female body in The Vegetarian and the madness of the dance world of Black Swan, but is told in a lighter voice at once dreamy, whimsical, and scintillating. Written in the author's darkest days, it is nevertheless a book about life and freedom. This book was wonderfully intriguing; but it was the emotion in the story and the quality of the writing that sang out to me.

This was such a thought provoking read, it was beautifully written - like stunning, with an almost lyrical storyline. vivid descriptions with a dark and sad undercurrent. nothing I say about this book will even come close to saying how good it is. Please read it.