Justine's Thoughts: The Girl with the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron

The Girl with the Mermaid Hair
By Delia Ephron

Pages:

312

Book Description:

Sukie Jamieson is obsessed with her appearance. She checks her reflection in windows, spoons, car chrome—anything available. So when her mother gives her a full-length mirror that once belonged to her grandmother, Sukie is thrilled. So thrilled that she doesn’t listen to her mother’s warning: "This mirror will be your best friend and worst enemy.” Because mirrors, as Sukie discovers, show not only the faraway truth but the truth close up. And finding out that close-up truth changes people. Often forever.

A quote:

This mirror will be your best friend and worst enemy.

Any thoughts:

I’m not certain how to begin this review, mostly because I didn’t like it at all. I wanted to stop but I had this tiny hope that it would eventually get better. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

Sukie is introduced as an obsessed perfectionist, always making sure that she looks the way she wants to look (she even presses on tape on her nose so she can lose the ‘bump’). Her mother is the same, always conscious of her appearance. With Sukie as the MC, I found her to be extremely annoying. I disliked her and as a result, I disliked the book.

I had no idea about the plot. In the beginning, I was clueless about where it was going. It is later on in the story that it takes a turn and suddenly, something comes up and changes everything. Also, the way the story is told has no effect. To me it sounds monotone, as if everything is stiff and uncomfortable.

The ‘appearances are deceiving’ theme is present, however, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who expects something significant to happen.