Reviews tagging 'Racism'

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

19 reviews

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful slow-paced

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

4.0

 This was a story that had some very original and interesting takes on the pirate sub-genre as well as gender and mermaids but it was also a little odd. Given the premise of pirates and romance with added cross-dressing I was expecting something a little fun, possibly light-hearted or goofy. Let my tell you now that actually this story is about guilt - everyone is drowning in regrets or has abandoned their morals entirely. Piracy is shown as a harsh, unforgiving lifestyle that brings out the very worst in people and while this is more realistic it was also rather gloomy.

I found the magic system in this book very odd and difficult to get my head around and it ultimately didn't have much of an effect on the story for the amount of emphasis it got in the middle sections? The romance had a similar problem - there is a lot of long distance pining with very little foundation before it and then when they are back together its treated like its the romance of the century. It all feels a little fast to me.

Despite my complaints I think this book was good, it just didn't really align with my tastes. I think there were some really good ideas and some people would absolutely love it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

The rape is only implied but features pretty heavily.

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

Minor: Racism, Rape, and War

caitlyn_maesa_wandless's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Outing, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Self-injury for magical purposes. Misgendering of a side character.

foreverinastory's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

Oh my god, this was soooo fun! So glad I finally read it.

Rep: Japanese inspired cast. Dark skinned genderfluid queer MC, sapphic cis female MC, dark skinned male side character, nonbinary side character, indigenous cishet male side character.

CWs: Torture (water boarding), violence, blood, death, murder, slavery, alcoholism, alcohol consumption, trafficking (slaves), colonisation, gun violence, physical abuse, grief, addiction, gore, rape, injury/injury detail, misogyny, sexism, sexual assault, child death, confinement, xenophobia, general queerphobia/queermisia, drug use, emotional abuse, sexual harassment, animal cruelty (mermaids), drug abuse, child abuse, racism. Moderate: vomit, genocide recounted, pedophilia, kidnapping, death of parent, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, classism, gaslighting, war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Pedophilia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, War, and Classism

luna_is_superior's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

This book provides a great take on colonialism and its effect and has abundance of representation - especially in terms of gender identity. Overall a great book with excellent world building and memorable characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Trafficking, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Vomit, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

sssssoup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Minor: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and War

falchionm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Torture

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea conveys the capriciousness and brutality embedded in colonialism and imperialism via a story of self-discovery, terror, and survival. 

The characterization is layered and subtle; the author used multiple POV characters to their best advantage, using their different perspectives on the same events to keep the reader in the loop even when not everyone had the full picture. I loved the pacing, both how its broken up across the main sections and how the story is handled within those sections. 

This is the kind of book where no one is safe but it's mostly going to be okay in the end. It takes the time needed to get there so that when things get resolved it feels like everyone earned their endings, for better or worse. There's a lot of traumatic backstory but it's revealed a little at a time, giving the reader time to acclimate before more details (or more traumas) are revealed. That's so important here because it's ultimately a book about extricating from bad situations and coming to terms with the past in a way that lets them be whole and wholly themselves. Not everyone chooses to work through things and get better, because it's also about choices and complicity under a colonialist and brutal system writ large as well as the smaller setting on the ship. It doesn't shy away from trauma, because to show any less than it does would be to rob it of impact and importance with regards to its broader themes. A few scenes were definitely written with a particular focus to be shocking, but in a way that sharply focuses the characters and makes the stakes clear. It didn't treat trauma as a plot twist, but it understood that inflicting trauma is a form of escalation. While they might be the most traumatic or shocking to happen by that time in the narrative, they weren't necessarily the worst things that had happened to the characters at that point. 

While this is marketed as YA, I would hesitate before recommending it to anyone under 16, and at any age I would definitely recommend reading the CWs first. Having said that, there's a lot of really good catharsis in this book because it is fundamentally a book about processing trauma and being whole even when you've felt broken, and that's such an important thing to show younger readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse and Racism

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Slavery

CW for homophobia, colonialism, racism, sexual assault (not depicted), mutilation, child abuse, vomit, blood, slavery, torture, major character death, death.