This book is a blend of magical realism and family drama. I really liked the concept and the writing style. I really liked the story, the relationships and the writing style.

This book is very different than what I typically read. I would classify it as a mix of fantasy,new age,magical and a bit strange.
Set in Coastal Maine a middle aged woman and her daughter are estranged with her daughter being in jail on drug charges feeling her mother doesn't care but that's far from the truth.
The woman finds in a giveaway pile a fish dress with such shimmering,iridescent material with fish designs and Pagan and Christian symbols on it. She is immediately drawn to the dress and immediately upon slipping it on mystical energy surges through her.
The dress makes her act in ways that are not her normal behavior giving her a mystical confidence boost. She realizes she must find out the back story of the dress.
"Weaving illusion with truth, The Fish Dress spins a tale of restoration,hope and letting go of the past."

Pub date Oct 27,2020.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

The Fish Dress by Carol Parker is a good example of magical realism. Nora is estranged from her daughter and her life is a bit of a mess until she stumbles upon a fish dress that makes her feel all kinds of things. She learns that she has taken a past life vow that's messing up her current life, and needs to fix it. It's essentially a book about a woman finding herself, believing in herself, and trying to atone for mistakes she has made.

I love a good redemption story with a touch of magic thrown in! In The Fish Dress, Nora uncovers a dress that opens the door to a journey of healing she didn’t know she needed. She thought she was saving her daughter but it turned out to be much more than that. This books has a touch of magical realism, a second chance romance and a mother-daughter reconciliation. A great book to curl up with.

I desperately wanted to like this. It started off strong, but as time went on, the writing was abrupt and the characters became annoying.

I felt for Nora and her struggles, but her daughter was really childish and I just couldn’t care less about her. Her friend Katrina was just always taking about sex when it didn’t have any relevance. I don’t mind a women to be comfortable with sex, but there is a time and place. It was just too much. I liked Grace but the whole Thomas situation got tiresome. Kirk didn’t deserve his happy ending.

I rated it 2/5 because there was potential and I didn’t DNF.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really enjoyed getting to know them. I look forward to more from the author.

I wasn't quite sure what to think of this story when I first started reading it. Nora seemed more like a young woman, with her insistence to try on the dress and refusal to ship it immediately that I found myself not liking her. However, as the story progressed, I found myself both sorry for Nora's trials and hope that she overcame them. My favorite part of this story was the relationship that evolved between Nora and her daughter Angelica. Overall an enjoyable read.

"Welcome to the realm of all possibilities." You know a book contains magic when you start a review by quoting a dress. And not just a dress, but a fish dress inhabited by spirits of generations past just like Maine's wooded paths. The dress has a magical effect on the main character Nora and makes her more confident and daring.

Nora is a middle-aged woman with a grown daughter, yet she sometimes feels more like an excited high school girl. She is a bit whiny which made it hard for me to connect to her. I’m not saying she is not a realistic character, but rather that I didn’t like following her around. Perhaps if Nora and I had experienced the same things in life I would better understand her actions. Still, a good book would be able to bridge the gap.

The other characters are shallow, somewhat nosy characters, performing their stereotype roles while comparing their fortunes to those of others. The writing style is nondescript and the editing of the ARC still contains many sudden scene changes without starting a new paragraph (hopefully something that will be fixed before the final release). I felt like Nora and her daughter were repeatedly saying the same things, for example when Nora expresses she is glad she and her daughter are finally opening up and speaking to each other. Please show it to me by describing their smiling eyes and tone of voice instead.

Unfortunately, other than the dress, the story isn’t very magical. It is rather ordinary actually and I am not sure whether I should take it as a feelgood story or a psychological roman. It is not really a romance or a melodrama either. I feel like The Fish Dress tries to be too many things at once including magical realism (or gypsy magic) on top of things. Unfortunately, the fish dress gets buried beneath the other topics, deserting the potential magical story like it's an afterthought. Nothing exciting or surprising happens. I expected something else from the synopsis.

A delicious tale full of mystery and twists and turn. A dress acquired through strange measures, seems to have powers to give confidence and through this a mother explores her life, meets new friends and finds a road back to her estranged daughter. If you love a little past-life regression and magic connotations you will love this book.

“With this dress, I see shadow and light. Yin and Yang. Positive and negative energy. It will help balance you, so don’t fear where it wants to take you.”

Having supposed to to posted a parcel to a church in Spain, wrapped by Mrs Carver, Nora decides to open the parcel and check out the contents to make sure it was safe. Inside she finds a dress, made of black linen, the dress was imprinted with a collage of white fish skeletons and sea creatures with dorsal and tail fins, gills and eye sockets. She tries the dress on and it sends her messages if guidance. She named it The Fish Dress.

This book is amazing! Well written and grabbed my attention from the start. Lots of twists and kept me guessing until the end

Highly recommended
#TheFishDress #NetGalley