Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

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

39 reviews

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

I enjoyed this book, but it had potential for so much more. 

I liked the setting and the atmosphere a lot. The world was very intriguing and magical. The book read like a fairy tale... although a gruesome one. I was really shocked by how gruesome this story actually was. There was violence and death and blood and torture on page, and implied rape and assault. Also, topics like colonialism, imperialism, and sexism were present. 
What I absolutely loved was the queer representation and diversity. One main character is gender-fluid, the other a lesbian, there is a non-binary side character. And I liked how these were portrayed.

But the pacing and plot was kind of off. I wish we had more times to get to know the characters, and especially more time with the characters interacting with each other. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other, but because most of it happens off page, the romance feels very instant and over the top dramatic towards the end. 

The middle part was also weird. I loved the witchcraft element that is introduced, but the magic system is not really explained well. It's interesting, but very confusing. And it's not used enough afterwards to justify how much time we spend learning about it. 

I liked the ending and how all the characters and plots came together. It just would have been more impactful if we had more time before to develop more feelings for everyone and everything that was happening. 

I didn't mind all those things that much because of the fairy tale character of the book. It just could have easily been a 5 star for me with a bit more substance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit

archcon's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

It was awesome to see all the queer representation in this book, and some of the worldbuilding ideas were cool. Overall though I found it to be not very well written and at times felt almost forced. Character and plot development didn't feel consistently natural.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Lesbophobia

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.

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death

dariusmortee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

A true rollercoaster of a book. Amazing and praise all over. 

I must say Evelyn annoyed me a bit, but that may have been intentional and she was a nice contrast to Flora/Florian as a great way to reflect for all of us white girls who grew up loving stories. Especially the ones who also grew up rich. 

Flora/Florian was a great protagonist and I loved reading from their point of view. She is the right amount of courage, but without being oblivious to the consequences. His journey of self discovery throughout the book is amazing. 

If you like LGBTQAI+ stories, pirates, mermaids and witches this is absolutely a book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death

charley34's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

Really likeable characters and an enjoyable storyline. Felt slightly rushed in some places but the ending was really unexpected and wrapped the story up beautifully. I do wish some of the relationships were explored a little deeper but it was a nice easy read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence

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

katkinslee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.0

This is a really cool about how knowing who you are gives you power!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

miabellawymer'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? It's complicated

4.5

loved it. I cried at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol