When We Believed in Mermaids: A Novel

I loved this. It was such a good book for summer. The dual POV is was done so well. The Easter eggs and near misses between the sisters added the perfect layer of intrigue. Slowly finding out all the details of the sisters’ lives was a phenomenal reveal. It helped allow me to get to know and understand Kit and Mari. I loved all the characters. I loved the setting. I could picture it clearly. This book made me grateful for my sister. Believing in mermaids is the perfect analogy to demonstrate reflecting on childhood and who it makes you.

This was an engrossing read! I was sucked into the lives of Kit & Mari, their past & their present, and I just could not stop turning the pages.Their pasts are not told in a linear fashion; while this would normally annoy me, it worked for this book. They have so much hurt to work through on both their parts & I think the slow reveal of their past, both together & apart, worked well.I found this to be both heart wrenching & heartwarming. Seeing what they had lived through & seeing what they had become - one girl emulates her parents & the other strives to be nothing like them - I was cheering them on in the present day. I loved seeing them work through the secrets, loss & betrayal, and seeing them learning to forgive & know each other as the adult versions of the children they were.

Well, I didn’t find out until the bio at the end that Barbara O’Neal writes “women’s fiction”. If I had, I might not have read this. If the description had referred to it as a “romance”, I would have thought of those awful paperbacks that many women devour like chocolate candies, but which I can’t get past one paragraph of. I’m a man, and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel from start to finish. I’m always interested in learning about the mysterious operations of the female mind, and this book, thoroughly feminine in approach and style, contributed to my learning.Its greatest strengths are the explorations of life as never being black and white as much as our minds want to put everything into one or the other category, its use of switching POV back and forth between the two very different – and so much alike – sisters, its beautifully poetic and sense-involving descriptions. The sense of smell, so underused in fiction, is evoked and given the importance it deserves. The physical expression of emotions in the body is also well done. The surfing descriptions are , however, of the “you had to be there and have done this” nature. The story creates suspense and eagerness to go forward to find out how things are going to turn out.The weaknesses are only two, and I have encountered both before in fiction by women: 1) Descriptions of events from long ago - an adult narrator recalling their childhood and early teen years - described in intimate, specific detail as if they had just occurred moments ago. Describing an event from 20 years ago and referring to the slight movement of a shadow on someone’s face, or a drop of dew on a grass blade, or the movement of the sun behind a wispy cloud, and the exact clothes the people were wearing... I suppose some of that would be recallable if it were directly related to the event being described, like how many buttons it took to get off their shirt, but most is just tiny physical, environmental details that would not likely be remembered after so long. While they are nice to read, it is a flaw in believability.Slight SPOILER, you may want to skip this paragraph: The second weakness is a certain predictability about the main character and in this type of novel. She is so strongly bent in one direction that there’s no surprise in where she’s going to go. None at all. Along with that, while, thank God, not all women’s fiction involves romance, the ones that do can only have one ending.I haven’t written a book review in a long time, though I have been reading voraciously. This was excellent enough to talk about, and to let men know it isn’t only just for women. That said, if you’re looking for espionage thrillers, you wouldn’t be reading a review of a book called “When We Believed In Mermaids” anyway. Original, beautifully written and highly recommended.

Thank you Barbara O’Neal for another amazing book. What a wonderful story. My emotions were all over the place while I was reading, but the ending …. Perfection. This book drew me in right away. I was fitting in another chapter every time I had a spare moment! I highly recommend this book about a family with many issues who found ways to cope with the trama, and overcome the issues of their upbringing, but not always in the wisest ways. But like many of our attempts to make our lives “normal,” there are still consequences that may arise and make us rethink the things we thought were the best course for our life.

This story of two sisters, their childhood, and finding their way as adults is so beautifully written.This is a story of childlike wonderment, neglectful childhood, abuse, and healing from trauma. The prose in this novel was genuinely so beautiful that I found myself nearly in tears on several occasions.While this is a story about Kit finding out her sister who she believed to be dead alive and seeking her out, a large part of the plot is reminiscing on their childhood… which is why I love the title so much!There is a small romance subplot but don’t expect spice.. more fade to black. But their connection was so sweet and genuine.Definitely worth the read!

I really enjoyed this book very much. The characters were very captivating and the story itself kept my interest all throughout the book ~ I had to know how it would turn out. Of course I believe in Mermaids.

This book is character driven. However the descriptions of the locals, New Zealand and California are beautifully done. Two sisters on opposite sides of the world. Will they find each other and mend their fractured relationship? Tragedy and humor liberally dispersed throughout. All in all a great read.

Not my usual genre of book but I’m glad I bought it. Very enjoyable read, the text flows well. Would love a follow up book. Would be a great holiday read.

“When we believed in mermaids” by Barbara O’NealEsta es una novela romántica, típica de una "revista para el corazón".Kit, una doctora, ve en un noticiario de TV el rostro de su hermana Josie, muerta 15 años antes. Viaja de California a Nueva Zealandia para indagar si aún vive, y "milagrosamente" se la encuentra caminando por la calle. Contrario a sus expectativas, Josie vive con su esposo e hijos. El drama estalla entre las hermanas: ¿por qué ocultó Josie su nueva vida a su madre y hermana?En el hotel Kit vive un tórrido romance con Javier, un huésped español, típico héroe de novela romántica: Hermoso, gentil, rico, y el mejor de los amantes. Demasiado cierto para ser verdad, pero así resulta.Josie termina confesando que su vida era tal desastre que tuvo que matar a Josie para renacer en la nueva Mari, borrando su vida pasada.Como es usual en las novelas románticas, hay un final feliz, con Josie reconciliada con su hermana y su madre, con su esposo por el engaño de su previa vida, y con un gran amor entre Javier y Kit.Son abundantes los relatos de los personajes durante su infancia.

It was the second book I read by Barbara and I liked it even better. Loved it really, just amazing.

Barbara in her unique poetic style reaches into our heart and soul with this extraordinary story of hurt, loss, love and redemption. Great !