Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

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

46 reviews

greywolfheir's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.25

I really wanted to like this book but it fell a little flat for me. That isn’t to say there weren’t parts that I liked, but it wasn’t enough for me to ignore everything else. I thought the premise was interesting and I was kind of invested in some of the characters but everything else seemed kind of disjointed. It took a really long time for the endgame of the story to become clear (and even then it seemed kind of anticlimactic). I felt that while individual plotlines were interesting on their own they were sometimes incongruous with the rest of the story. The beginning and the end were solid but I was kind of lost in the middle. 

I really liked Rake’s chapters and I thought his voice was strongest throughout the book. His character had a clear motivation and goal and it was something that I could hold on to. While I did like Flora and Evelyn, I’m hardly ever interested in quick/instant romances so I didn’t really care about that part 😂. I was more invested in Flora’s arc than Evelyn’s, although I was a little lost in the Witch section. I wish there was more explanation on why Flora was a witch and the purpose of it other than a plot device lmao. I wanted to like Evelyn but she just seemed so superficial, an imitation of other YA heroines but nothing really unique about her. I think some of the problems I had with the character voices can be attributed to the writing style. In the beginning it reminded me of reading a fairytale or old legend, and I think that style is good for setting and atmosphere but it has to be done a certain way for the characters to still pop and it didn’t really do it for me. It certainly didn’t help that povs kept getting added. The sea interludes were interesting and I liked Rake but Genevieve’s pov felt unnecessary 😂. And I think it took away from Flora and Evelyn’s development. 

The worldbuilding also suffered for it too. We got just enough details to have a setting and a vague plot and that was it. I found myself with so many questions about the history of the Empire and all the different cultures in it. I’m totally down for commentary on colonialism and imperialism but again it was really surface level. The countries that were named were vaguely inspired by real places but the dynamics of everything was confusing to me. 
and I also want to know what the fuck was up with the witches. like you can’t just say there’s witches and not explain them or where the magic comes from. I didn’t mind the magic of the sea being kind of mysterious because no one truly understands it anyways but I wish there was some foundational explanation of the world history and magic system bc the information we got was kind of vague. 

I know it sounds like I hated this but there were some fun elements to this story but I was ultimately a little disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Grief and Abandonment

ettegoom's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

4.0

I liked the concept of how magic worked in this world, but ultimately felt that the section with witch and learning magic were a bit pointless. 

The witch was all about how  Flora had to unlock her power... like Flora had this huge important destiny, and then the only time she used it was to travel to the ship...

. It was interesting at the time, but really didn't need to be there? 
The author laid the whole: colonialism is bad, and gender diversity should be normal on pretty thickly. I still enjoyed it though, and found myself rooting for several of the characters. 
A nice book for teens.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Rape

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this! 

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to YA fantasy in particular, is when I can tell that an author is patronizing or talking down to their reader. I think sometimes the distinction between “accessible” and “clumsily over-simplified” can get muddy. 

I notice it in particular when I read an author who’s known for their adult books, but who writes YA every now and then. The writing in the YA book will be so obviously adjusted to what, presumably, the author believes will be more “palatable” to a younger audience. I don’t think that’s always being fair to young readers. There’s obviously nuance here, but I think it can seem to communicate a lack of faith in their ability to understand complexity, dark themes, or challenging language.

This book was a pleasant surprise in that regard. I didn’t feel condescended to as I read, but it was still distinctly easy to read. The narrative flowed smoothly and kept my attention. The characters were easy to care about (I appreciated the expanded points of view as the story went on), and the plot didn’t shy away from dark or heavy material (like the impacts of colonialism, the ethics of survival at all costs, etc).

I also loved that the magic system in this book takes the shape of stories and storytelling; I thought that was really beautiful and unique.

There’s quite a few loose threads left dangling at the end of this book, which I hope get picked up in the forthcoming sequel! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence and Murder

Minor: Gore, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, and Death of parent

audreyreadz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

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

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

Minor: Child death and Murder

sea_sea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

I love this book! It is incredibly diverse and has really good sapphic, gender-fluid and non-binary rep. It is written absolutely beautifully! Reading it was such an amazing experience. The characters, the world building, the words, everything just fit and was so beautiful. It was so mythical and magical, the author just transports you straight into this amazing and beautiful world. I was invested the whole time, the story never felt dragged out or disconnected. The ending was so sljdlslskslsj T^T. I would 100% recommend this book. Already in the first chapter I knew it would become one of my favorites! 💕🌊🪼

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Emotional pirates and mermaids and about the tradeoffs that happen with poverty, fear, solitude, and addiction. Quite a book, with multiple nonbinary characters, queer love, and lovely lady operatives, along side cruel and vicious men. A lot of the latter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

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

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

Blurb: "In a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic, a desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial lady find a connection on the high seas."  Very mixed feelings about this one.  There is great LGBTQ rep, and the two leads are POC characters, and I appreciated the discussions and seeing the effects of colonization by the Empire.  The Witch had some great stories.  The world building left a lot to be desired, but there were some cool elements and ideas.  
Other than that, I didn't like most of the characters, and didn't even care about the two leads especially.  They fall in love very quickly.  This book is dark, please check the CW.  CW:

even off-page, I don't want to read about child rape.

There are a few plot holes.  There are two endings and I didn't appreciate either of them.  I get what the author is going for

with Evelyn and Florian, it's their reward and they get to be together, but it didn't feel like Florian really has atoned enough to earn that, and "they both turn into mermaids' fits with the magic of the book, but also feels like a story a five year old would tell.

.  The second ending is about a character that I didn't like, so I didn't care about what happens to them, even though, again, I feel like I understand what the author is going for.  
If you like fantasy, especially with good LGBTQ rep, and like stories on the darker side, I would give this one a try.  In spite of the mixed bag of reactions, I would read another from this author.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape