THE PISCES by Melissa Broder

The Pisces by Melissa Broder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been curious about this book for a while and finally decided to check it out.

When Lucy's relationship ends, she ends up in a very dark place. So when her sister offers to pay her to housesit and watch her dog during the summer, Lucy agrees. She also has to go to group therapy and plans to work on her book-length project about Sappho...

Yikes! Lucy is one messy woman. She's selfish, and indecisive. She's judgy, and nicknames/puts down every woman she meets. She can't be trusted, and is obsessed with making men want to be with her. She's also obviously suffering from depression, and her mental health is in a really bad place.

Basically, she's not fit to look after a house, let alone a gorgeous dog. 😫

In spite of the fact that I didn't like Lucy because she's so awful, I still enjoyed this book. It's raw and gross, a little too honest in its depiction of bad dates and unsatisfying sexual interactions with strangers. Even the raunchier 'love' scenes are full of descriptions that might make some readers pause. But I'm sure that was the intention.

Lucy is DEFINITELY NOT a nice person. In fact, I found her to be terrible. She wants everyone to be there for her, but refuses to help others. She craves male attention but when she gets it, tires of the guys too quickly. She's too self-involved and often drowns in her own pompous thoughts. Like I said, not nice. But that's who she is. A terrible person who doesn't give a fuck about anyone or anything not serving her purpose.

This leads me to Dominic and Theo. The two males she appears to actually care about at some stage during her summer visit.

Dominic is her sister's beautiful foxhound and he's adorable. She truly doesn't deserve him and what she does to this poor dog is atrocious. Disgusting. I hated every interaction she had with him during the second half of the book because she's such a cruel bitch.

Theo is a merman she meets on the rocks. A seemingly young and attractive mythological creature enamoured with her. In him, Lucy sees herself differently. It's like he's a mirror reflecting adoration and love that consumes her. But is any of it real? Or is she once again projecting her shit on someone else? The way things turn out sure answers at least one of those questions. Yet, makes you wonder about the reality of the situation.

Either way, the writing style and Lucy's voice drew me in and kept me glued to the pages.

Yeah, while I personally enjoyed it, this book is not flowery or pretty. It's not romantic and definitely needs several trigger warnings: mention of suicide, dealing with suicidal thoughts and actions, animal cruelty, animal death, lying, mention of self-harm, mental illness, adultery.


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