The Pisces
by Melissa Broder
Published on : May 1, 2018 (Hogarth Press)
Genre : Women’s Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism

*Huge thanks to PRHInternational/PRHGlobal for sending me an e-galley. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.

Lucy has been writing her dissertation on Sappho for nine years when she and her boyfriend break up in a dramatic flameout. After she bottoms out in Phoenix, her sister in Los Angeles insists Lucy dog-sit for the summer. Annika’s home is a gorgeous glass cube on Venice Beach, but Lucy can find little relief from her anxiety — not in the Greek chorus of women in her love addiction therapy group, not in her frequent Tinder excursions, not even in Dominic the foxhound’s easy affection. 
 
Everything changes when Lucy becomes entranced by an eerily attractive swimmer while sitting alone on the beach rocks one night. But when Lucy learns the truth about his identity, their relationship, and Lucy’s understanding of what love should look like, take a very unexpected turn.

A masterful blend of vivid realism and giddy fantasy, pairing hilarious frankness with pulse-racing eroticism, The Pisces is a story about falling in obsessive love with a merman: a figure of Sirenic fantasy whose very existence pushes Lucy to question everything she thought she knew about love, lust, and meaning in the one life we have. (from PRH)

I have never read any from Melissa Broder’s works and had no clue what I was diving into with this one. I didn’t read the synopsis and had no idea what’s the genre of this book, and I am so happy that I did it that way. This book is marketed as romance but I thought it fits more under women’s fiction and magical realism.

Written in Lucy’s perspective, we get to see her innermost thoughts which was pretty interesting and infuriating at the same time because of her character. She’s not very likable. She is self-centered, mean, and terrible. There were times when I hated her and her stupid decisions but I still couldn’t help not rooting for her. Lucy is very relatable and real. I think the author didn’t write Lucy for us to like or symphatize with her. She probably wants us to remember that this kind of person exists. That these things in Lucy’s mind are often in ours but we just don’t want to acknowledge or admit it.

I liked the brutal honesty. The author’s writing style is brilliant. It’s straightforward and hilarious at times. Some of the scenes are too awful and painful to read but I couldn’t stop reading. This book tackles on some important social issues such as mental illness, addiction, self-harm and suicide. Also, there are multiple of sex scenes (all kinds of them including merman sex) and they are way too graphic and lengthy which I wasn’t expecting (and didn’t mind) at all. I also want to mention that there’s an animal abuse/neglect in this book.

I had mixed feelings about how this book ends. It’s quite vague, in my opinion. There’s a progress with Lucy’s character which was really great but we never know if she truly changed or at least developed. Also, is the merman real? or is he just a part of Lucy’s delusion?

The Pisces is a bizarre, dark and unique read. It made me laugh, mad, angry, and cry (eventhough I knew it will happen, it’s still very sad) but I think this is not really a book for everyone. If you’re curious and you don’t have problems with the stuff I’ve mentioned above then you should give it a try.