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A review by genrejourneys
The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects by Carolyn Turgeon
4.0
Rating: 3.5/5
A magical book that manages to escape the trap of a simple coffee table book, “The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects” pleasantly surprised me. It presents a collection of ways to approach the infamous tailed creature that has long enchanted humanity.
The book is a mesh of the history of mermaids in popular culture, various mermaid themed DIYs, and real life “mermaids”. I adored the Sailors’ Valentine in particular, a wonderful blend of history and a just complicated enough craft. With a gorgeous collection of art and a well spaced format, the book is very readable and lovely, inside and out. The colors are so vivid and the type of content was varied throughout. There were also plenty of resources for further trips down the mermaid rabbit hole after reading. Interviews from those who spent or currently spend some of their lives as the mythical creatures were moving. Readers will definitely be tempted to head to the ocean, or at least the nearest body of water, after reading. In terms of the content, I would give this to any mermaid lover in their teens or older. Some subjects and the style of writing might exclude younger mermaids.
Why not a four? Some of the organization of topics seemed strange (“A Young Man’s Guide to Picking Up Mermaids” was a particularly odd chapter in terms of content and placement). I also found some phrasing confusing. This is a book that works with the visuals. Some images were not included when they would have clarified quite a bit and some images seemed more generic than others. There were also a few moments where the word choice stood out to me.
I would recommend this to any mermaid or general fantasy lover. It was a pretty read with some engaging, if occasionally odd, content.
A magical book that manages to escape the trap of a simple coffee table book, “The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects” pleasantly surprised me. It presents a collection of ways to approach the infamous tailed creature that has long enchanted humanity.
The book is a mesh of the history of mermaids in popular culture, various mermaid themed DIYs, and real life “mermaids”. I adored the Sailors’ Valentine in particular, a wonderful blend of history and a just complicated enough craft. With a gorgeous collection of art and a well spaced format, the book is very readable and lovely, inside and out. The colors are so vivid and the type of content was varied throughout. There were also plenty of resources for further trips down the mermaid rabbit hole after reading. Interviews from those who spent or currently spend some of their lives as the mythical creatures were moving. Readers will definitely be tempted to head to the ocean, or at least the nearest body of water, after reading. In terms of the content, I would give this to any mermaid lover in their teens or older. Some subjects and the style of writing might exclude younger mermaids.
Why not a four? Some of the organization of topics seemed strange (“A Young Man’s Guide to Picking Up Mermaids” was a particularly odd chapter in terms of content and placement). I also found some phrasing confusing. This is a book that works with the visuals. Some images were not included when they would have clarified quite a bit and some images seemed more generic than others. There were also a few moments where the word choice stood out to me.
I would recommend this to any mermaid or general fantasy lover. It was a pretty read with some engaging, if occasionally odd, content.