Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow wow wow. I love poetry, fantasy, and some realistic fiction, and this book combined all those genres in such beautiful and wonderful ways. The writing was is so lyrically beautiful, and I fell in love with Mackerel Sky and its flawed inhabitants. I am also a big sucker for stories that intertwine separate story threads in unexpected ways, and this book succeeded in doing this so well.

I have admittedly not read much of the magic realism genre, but from what I have read, this fits snugly into that genre, with an honest blend of everyday life in a small Maine town with supernatural elements like curses and mermaids.

I am typically not one for comparisons between authors, but much of this book and its descriptions of everyday life struck me as similar to Fredrick Backman's narrative style. It struck the same emotions that Backman's work has struck in me, and I mean that as truly high praise!

I will eagerly await more releases from this author. Congrats on such an incredible debut!

Publication date: 27 February 2024