Little Women Mermaid Edition by Megan Lois Whitehall

I have been looking into more book review sites where I get to read a book for free in exchange for an honest review. On the Lola book tours site I saw this book and thought it would be a wonderful book for me to get back into the book review exchange. That week I received the ebook in my email and began reading this version of the classic.

I figured it would be a great time to reread Alcott’s masterpiece transposed into the underwater setting bringing the story into the low fantasy arena. Unfortunately, that’s where the story fell short. Whitehill often switched the land animals with the fish of the closest name, which doesn’t translate to make sense in the story. Take horses for example, the underwater equivalent is NOT seahorses though they share a name. First and most obvious is size. Seahorses range from one inch to one foot in size. If you have the largest seahorse at one foot long it is still not a powerful animal in comparison to a mermaid. No one is going to ride a seahorse. Now, I think they would be cute pets, and definitely interact with mermaids, but certainly not be work animals carrying any kind of load. And that was the same case of cats becoming catfish and parrots becoming parrotfish, neither of which makes sense for the land pets to be transformed underwater by picking real fish who don’t resemble them, only share a name.

Similarly the idea of mermaids experiencing all four seasons isn’t realistic for living in the ocean. Mermaids don’t wear winter coats, so let’s find a better way to explain a change in the season and landscape that is believable. Those are the bigger aspects which disrupt the story at large, while there are plenty of smaller moments that don’t seem thought through to develop the underwater aspects and inconsistencies. Some scenes simply won’t work underwater; specifically anything to do with hair. Hair plays an important role in the original story so it certainly needs to remain in the mermaid version, but you cannot keep the scenes the same. Most obviously is the curling iron burning hair off scene which is nothing but ludacris in the ocean. Every bit of that scene is nonsense underwater so why leave it in tact? Also the idea of Amy still having golden curls underwater is silly and inconsistent with the cover art of all the girls having the same salmon colored hair and same shaded tails when the book mentions differences in the tails and hair.

With all of these underwater inconsistencies I am sad to say I cannot recommend reading this version when you would be better served sticking to the original version. I did appreciate the opportunity to read and review this piece through Lola’s Blog Tours.

Bearly Reading 2022- final list

A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid…….. 136 pages…. fiction, Christmas, book featuring a character with a disability……….. finished reading 1 January

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella…….. 435…… fiction, favorite author……. 13 January….. recommend

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke…………. 663…. fiction, fantasy series, book about books……. 3 February…….. highly recommend

Holier Than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry……….168…. non-fiction, Christian living, book by a person I admire…….. 28 February…… recommend

Story of With by Allen Arnold………. 268……. non-fiction, Flourish book club, book about writing…… 6 March….. recommend

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand……… 466……. fiction, mystery, random book from the library…… 12 March

The Enchanted Castle by E Nesbit………. 291………. fiction, book I never finished previously……. 21 March

Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller………. 195……… non-fiction, memoir, book chosen by cover……. 3 May

Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud………. 230……. non-fiction, recommended by a friend, lifestyle, career………. 21 May……. recommend

The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith……… 132……. non-fiction, Flourish book club, writing instructional……. 28 June

The Brontes: Eccentric Lives by Robert Johanson…… 62……. play, book bought in another country…… 29 July

Influence by Shannon Popkin and Kate Motaung………… 138…….. non-fiction, Flourish book club, book by an author I follow, writing related, Christian, book with two authors…….. 26 September

Marriage Be Hard by Kevin and Melissa Fredericks……….. 228……. non-fiction, memoir-ish, book by a couple, marriage, book recommended by YouTubers I follow………5 November

Little Women: Mermaid Edition by Megan Lois Whitehall……… 360….. fiction, retelling of a classic, book for review……. 26 November

Take a Breath With Him by Karen Brough……… 145…… non-fiction, book by a friend, Christian, book for review…….. 23 December……. recommend

In It Together by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes……….. 205…….. non-fiction, philosophy, book for review……. 31 December

16 books completed, 4,122 pages, 6 fiction, 10 nonfiction, 1 play, 3 writing related, 4 Christian living, 4 did not finish (not listed, 3 will finish in 2023), additional book reviews from end of 2022 coming soon

What books should I read in 2023?

Marriage Be Hard by Kevin and Melissa Fredericks

I would best describe this book as a memoir, because it really is a retelling of the Fredericks’ marriage and not a prescriptive piece. The subtitle, “12 conversations to keep you laughing, loving, and learning with your partner,” sets the reader up for 12 chapters of advice from a couple married 18 years. Naturally, I was disappointed with the results falling short of that expectation. It is simply a retelling of the different areas of their marriage in different seasons and how they would handle things differently with the knowledge and experience they have now.

One of the main shortcomings for me is demonstrated in the subtitle and continues throughout the novel. “Your partner” is the phrase most often used in this book when referring to the reader and counterpart. Now, I am told all I need to know about the authors through the phrase alone. It demonstrates the overly inclusive audience they are trying to reach which turns me off because the couple claims to be believers, but I do not see that evidenced in their book through this phrase and others.

They both have plenty of hurt and negative experiences growing up in the church which has deeply affected their views of marriage and how they function within their private family. This strain from the church also sets the primary audience as nonbelievers because the Fredericks don’t weave Scripture into their reasoning or solutions to problems. They are very hesitant to preach the gospel or saying anything too “churchy” which would limit their audience and hold to some standard.

I don’t see the gospel as the foundation of their book or marriage. The Christian influence is hardly noticeable when you are expecting Christ to permeate every aspect of a believer’s life. This book has God on the side, not all baked in. I cannot say this book glorifies God or is an appropriate reference for believers.

Unfortunately that is not the only area the novel fell short. The book wasn’t necessarily cohesive transitioning through 12 chapters each depicting a different aspect of marriage. There was constant mention of something with the parenthetical note, (You’ll learn more about that in chapter X), and that did not make me want to continue reading. Rather, it was disruptive of the current chapter instead of building anticipation and then bringing everything together in the end. Each reference to learning more about an idea in another chapter fell short when at that next chapter. I wasn’t brought back to the first mention and excited about the thread weaving through each chapter because there wasn’t one.

Each chapter seemed very individual with the only constant connection being that I was surprised how much sex was mentioned outside of the chapter on sex and how many crude jokes I found in my reading. It almost worries me with the crude jokes left in the book if the editing process removed so many more, which leads me to think poorly of Kev’s comedy act without ever having experienced it.

Now, I can imagine some of you who know me well are surprised that I even picked up a book with a grammar error in the title so let’s talk about that. Not only is the title incorrect, but every chapter title follows that schematic of “topic” Be Hard which I can appreciate the dedication to the theme. If you are going to use improper grammar, then own it. Make it your style, and they did that in this book. Particularly the husband in his sections writes as he speaks which is very weird and annoying, but again they decided to utilize that as their style for this book, and I respect that. It is very clever and allows their book to stand out among others because “Marriage Is Hard” is a totally different book than “Marriage Be Hard”.

There is one redeeming quality of the book which is the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Now, I’ll admit many of the questions are asking the same thing in a different way, but overall it is good to have some practical ways to think about the situations the Fredericks experienced and what questions to ask in your own relationship. As that being the most redeeming quality of this novel, I would recommend getting the questions and skipping the rest of the book as you won’t be missing anything vital to your marriage.

Normally I try to find someone I can recommend the book to even if I did not enjoy it, but I don’t think I can recommend this to anyone because there are better books about marriage, sex, parenting, etc.

DNF: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

As an S on the DISC personality scale I am consistently determined to finish whatever I start. It is rare for me not to finish reading a book even if it takes me a while so this is the first ‘did not finish’ blog for me.

Influence: Building a platform that elevates Jesus (not me) by Kate Motaung and Shannon Popkin

If you have read my blog for several years you should recognize the name Kate Motaung as the host of Five Minute Friday, a writing community that gathers together each week with a one word prompt and the limit of five minutes to write on that topic and link up with the rest participating for the week. I have followed Kate for years and was privileged to be on the launch team of her first book, A Place to Land. When Influence came out I did not join her launch team again because I wasn’t really ready for this book and thought it wasn’t really for me, at least not at that time. Now this book came up as the last book for Flourish Writers book club this year and I decided at the start of the year to get involved in all the book clubs and bought all three books. This really is the right time because I am actually planning how to develop my audience and create an email list and maybe use social media to promote my work. So I am not excited by it, but I know it is necessary and now is the time.

In this book Motaung and Popkin work together to answer the many questions Christian writers ask while developing our art. The overarching theme is the struggle between building and growing an audience while trying to steer clear of building and growing your pride simultaneously. Creatives all know that our talents are from Jehovah God and we do what we do because He is guiding us there. Motaung and Popkin work through the different aspects we deal with in this dichotomy, chapter by chapter sharing their own publishing experiences as a guide for us to learn some of navigating the battles in our own publishing journeys. Without sharing all the spoilers and secrets two main takeaways are to pick one main social media platform in which to engage, learn it, and focus on that specific area instead of partially being involved in many platforms not fully engaged on any; and use your influence and platform of choice to serve others- post about other creative’s projects, provide tips for your audience, pray for others. I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it for all believers using social media.

Moms in Children’s Literature

My dad forwarded me this article about the best and worst moms in children’s literature asking my opinion and input. Feel free to read the article first or just keep reading as I mention the mothers listed for context.

The 5 worst moms are listed as the Evil Queen from Snow White, Petunia Dursley from Harry Potter Series, Lady Tremaine from Cinderella, The Other Mother from Coraline, and Mrs. Wormwood from Matilda. My first point would be to make a distinction on having actual mothers versus stepmothers and adoptive mothers. The literary trope is an evil stepmother with Snow White and Cinderella as primary examples and it remains popular today in reality and fiction.

Some examples include Meredith Blake in The Parent Trap, the witch in Rapunzel (I think she’s called Gothel), and the countless variations of Cinderella over the years which are flooding my mind keeping other examples at bay. A Cinderella Story- Just Ella- Ever After- Ella Enchanted- Cinderella the Brandy version- and the Cinderella Story remakes 2 through eternity. I don’t know the story of Coraline so I cannot speak to the validity of that pick, even though that mother exists in an alternate reality… Not sure.

If you want to find bad biological mothers in stories you can include Mrs. Wormwood for utter neglect and the best thing she ever does for Matilda is sign the papers for Ms. Honey to adopt her instead. I would also include the mother from Hansel and Gretel in this place because she is the one convincing the father to send the children off to get lost and die of starvation in the woods.

Now I will make an argument to keep Mrs. Dursley out of good and bad categories. She belongs more in the neutral category swaying between the extremes because we do see her love for Harry come through the different books whereas there is no argument for those mentioned previously in this bad category to have any affection toward the (step)child of the story.

On to the wonderful! The five mothers mentioned in the article are Ma from Little House on the Prairie, Molly Weasley from Harry Potter, Marmee from Little Women, Dr. Kate from A Wrinkle in Time, and Mrs. Quimby from the Ramona series. Before checking back with the article for the list of good mothers I wrote down Little House on the Prairie because that was a good example of a present mother who came to mind while thinking on the bad mums, and I am not the only one who thinks so! Perfect.

I would easily agree that Ma and Marmee are great examples of good mothers who are involved in the story enough to be mentioned and biological mothers in that category. Mrs. Weasley easily falls into good adoptive mother category as she is a mother figure to everyone who meets her and has that natural nurturing capacity displayed in the series. I do like Dr. Kate and Mrs. Quimby very much, but would defer them to other mothers who play a more direct role in the stories. Certainly not bad mothers, but I would like more involved mothers to receive the good mother spotlight.

I would propose Helen in the Spiderwick Chronicles, Nia in The Wingfeather Saga, and Mama Bear in the Berenstain Bears to join the good mother category for birth mothers involved in the storyline. As an adoptive mother I would suggest Marilla in Anne of Green Gables.

It was a fun article to analyze and report back my thoughts. What about you? Who is your favorite and least favorite mother that I missed? Do you think there should be a list for birth mothers separate from adoptive and step mothers? Let me know in the comments!

The Brontes: Eccentric Lives by Robert Johanson

This is a wonderful one act play depicting the true story of the Bronte family. I really don’t know much about the family in general and picked up this play years ago- not even sure where, but 50-50 at the Bronte Parsonage Museum. I have read Wuthering Heights more than once, and not any of the other sister’s books. Now this play sparked my interest in Jane Eyre which I just reserved at my local library so let’s see how it goes! For anyone who enjoys the Bronte works this play is a quick read that will connect you to the family in a brief retelling.

The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith

This is the second book pairing with Flourish Writers Book Club. Though I am not currently writing a memoir, it has been wonderful to partake in this book club reading along and learning with others. Next month is the final book club with Smith herself attending to answer any questions.

This piece is what it sounds like, but is also unexpected in the delivery. Smith begins by telling the readers to rid themselves of all preconceived ideas of what the book will be like and especially to get rid of all the silly writing prompts we have been given over the years. In each chapter she brings out specifics to help the reader focus the writing brain to produce the meat for a memoir while exampling that ‘tip’ directly in the current chapter. It is a very well written piece that causes readers who are writers to refocus and develop practical writing skills to aid in bringing a memoir to life.

Smith’s book is both a practical and enjoyable piece that is applicable to all writers and I would easily recommend. I know this is a short review, but I think it is only fitting not to bog down the review for the sake of word count.

Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud

I was recommended this book by a friend to help me process my work experience and ultimately decide whether to stay or go.

Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller

What a fascinating semi-autobiographical piece! This non-fiction story follows the author along her journey following the progress of another’s life and her constant parallels.