Planet Mermaid is short and fast-paced. It was over before I could blink and never boring. The book uses a basic fairytale formula similar to Disney films as an initial basis for something much darker and more unique. It begins with Lilia the mermaid who is dissatisfied with her mundane life in an underwater paradise. Lilia's sisters are content with their lives that pretty much consist of socializing, mating, and pawning their babies off on her. Lilia, however, dreams of traveling to the mysterious surface above, meeting the land walkers, maybe even hooking up with one. A cliche setup for sure, but thats the point. The familiarity works as an instantly accessible introduction and as a perfect dichotomy to what follows, drawing out the following events, giving them more oomph than if the story had come out guns blazing. I’m not just talking about the violent and sexual content. This isn’t an adult fairytale. Whether or not that's what it's trying to be, I’m not sure, but I feel calling it that would be doing it a disservice.
After its brief intro segment that lasts only a few pages, the story itself transitions along with the protagonist. Lilia makes her way to the surface and emerges from her fairytale cliche. She enters a new world that is much harder to define, it's a little sci-fi, a little horror, and extremely unpredictable. At this point, in complete contrast to what it initially had you believe was in store, the element of surprise becomes it’s greatest asset, and talking about any specific moment, even the smaller ones, would be a massive spoiler. It hits you with a barrage of super cool imagery, grotesque cruelty, and thought provoking plot. The final scene in particular is a complete surprise, almost seeming out of left field, but is actually a perfect way to wrap things up, bringing the ideas from the beginning back around with a twist and giving meaning to everything that happened in between.
Planet Mermaid can be effortlessly read in one sitting and will stick with you long after its short runtime. It establishes a surprising amount about its characters and world, and while closing the loop on everything major pertaining to the specific story it’s telling, it leaves you (Much like Lilia) wanting to know more about it’s universe.
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