Reviews tagging 'War'

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

19 reviews

brielle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Rape and Slavery

bbpettry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

 Flora/ian is my favorite kind of adventure protagonist: scrappy, conflicted, wise, and confused about their gender. Their counter is Evelyn, a noble girl embarking on what is supposedly her life’s purpose. Her things packed into her future casket, she is to sail to the Floating Islands to marry a conveniently wealthy man she’s never met. She boards a ship called The Dove. Despite her dread at the uprooting of her life, she expects this passenger vessel to safely get her where she’s going. Florian and the crew know that at some point The Nameless Captain, his memories rotted from mermaid’s blood, will round up the aristocratic passengers, plunder their possessions, and sell them into slavery. This has been their con for a few voyages now and Florian, growing up cold and hungry meters away from a palace full of food and finery, has found it very possible to push away any sympathy for these privileged marks thus far. When they’re ordered to guard Evelyn, Florian is taken aback by her humor and openness. Tokuda-Hall switches perspective by chapter, mostly between Florian and Evelyn but we also hear from the first mate of The Dove, Rake, and even The Sea herself. While that can be a treacherous route, the author has maintained a depth of voice and character with each of them so that the narrative is deeper for it, not spread thin and shallow as some sprawling fantasy can get. This book is definitely for older teens, but any fantasy/adventure fan would certainly get a lot from this book - it has moral quandaries weaved in, intrigue, lore, and romance to die for! The sequel comes out fall ‘23 and I’ve been blessed to read it, the follow-up is just as strong and lovable.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Rape, War, and Slavery

dokushoka's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcoholism, Death, Physical abuse, Colonisation, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Addiction, Trafficking, War, Misogyny, and Torture

Minor: Child death and Murder

lord_lut's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, and War

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Classism, Body horror, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Blood, and Addiction

arxchiell's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

rennhint's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

It was a beautiful story. Flawlessly queer, beautiful diverse. Wonderful poetic story. What a book

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Genocide, Colonisation, Slavery, Trafficking, War, Alcohol, Murder, and Sexual assault

naiu_cs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and Alcohol

Minor: Lesbophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Homophobia, War, Colonisation, and Death

its2early4this's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was a wonderful, fast read. The world was rich and lovely. The characters felt incredibly real, and I absolutely adored the diverse representation. I would love to read more set in this universe. Unfortunately, the ending was a major disappointment for me. I couldn't see how the author was going to make a happy ending work, but was okay with that because I love a well-written tragic or bittersweet ending. However, the author forced a happy ending that, in my opinion, made no sense and came out of nowhere. Not to mention (spoiler ahead)

Spoiler

I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Flora and Evelyn are swimming around living "happily ever after" while the original Evelyn's corpse rots at the bottom of the sea. Will they encounter it at some point? Just. What the heck? Kind of spoils what was supposed to be a happy ending, anyway.

I was left with the sense that the author was either told that they shouldn't, or didn't want to write a sad ending, but - like me - couldn't find a logical conclusion, so they just stamped something at the end and called it good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, War, Addiction, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

This book is VERY HEAVY with a lot of its content. But if the potential misgendering/deadnaming is worrying you: it did make me a bit uncomfy at first, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that

Spoiler

Flora/Florian's relationship with their gender isn't clear-cut. Both names apply as do all pronouns, and a major part of the story is them coming to terms with that and growing comfortable being who they are unapologetically.

bookhoarderbea's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Blood, Dysphoria, Slavery, Trafficking, Alcoholism, and Kidnapping

Minor: Racism, War, and Rape