Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

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

52 reviews

kananineko's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

There were a lot of things I liked about this book, including the short chapters, focus on pirates and mermaids, the sea as a character, and the way the worldbuilding was developed. Overall, I enjoyed reading it. But ultimately, I don’t think it was super memorable, and I didn’t really care about the characters, unfortunately. For some reason the only character I really cared about was Rake. Honestly, couldn’t really tell you why. The romance was cute, yet a bit rushed. Everything in general felt a bit simplified and not super memorable to me. 

I still think a lot of people will love this book, though. If the description sounds interesting to you, go for it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Gore, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Homophobia, Classism, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Slavery, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Outing, Sexual assault, Child death, and Rape

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. 

Spoiler

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

Minor: Rape

kibberbl's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Torture, Death, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Drug use, Gore, Murder, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

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

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

overtheedgeofthewild's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

Was sadly underwhelmed by this book. I am regretting buying it instead of checking it out from the library. Poor world building; flet the characters could have also used more development. Interesting concepts that could have been fleshed out more and just didn't land for me. 

Spoiler

the romantic relationship could have also developed more. I wished there was more of a slow burn, some more interpersonal conflicts, etc. It felt very on the surface, I just personally could not get invested in the romance. Why did they love each other, what really brings them together, makes them right for each other....I guess all it takes is because Evelyn taught Florian to read....

Also not a fan of the second ending. It was about a character I didn't like anyway. If the second book follows this character, I won't  be reading further

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Slavery and Trafficking

Minor: Rape and Pedophilia

btorsi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

the review on the front says it'll make you remember why you love adventure stories and that is spot on accurate. it was adventurous, it was full of heart, it was everything I wanted and more. I loved this read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Slavery, and Trafficking

Minor: Rape

scrambledark's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Murder, Alcoholism, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Misogyny, Slavery, and Sexism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

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

maeverose's review against another edition

2.5

I think this might be one of those books that just didn’t work for me because I’m not within the target age demographic. I did love the casual non binary and queer rep, even if there is still homophobia (and a sh*t ton of misogyny) in this world. But tbh that’s really it.

I didn’t feel connected or invested in the romance between Evelyn and Flora at all personally. It seemed like their only reason for liking each other was they found the other pretty, and I definitely didn’t buy their love for each other by the end.

Spoiler

It also made me uncomfortable with how okay Flora was with the slaving until she found one of their victims pretty…

. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. Evelyn the most maybe, but not until about two thirds in, and even then not much. All the characters felt pretty bland to me, they needed to be fleshed out better.

I found it a bit slow, especially in the middle. Even though there were more povs with different (though still connected) storylines, I found none of them particularly interesting so it felt like it dragged on. Which is weird because it really was trying to do a lot, there were a ton of things happening but it just felt slow to me. Maybe because I didn’t care? I heavily skimmed the last 20%.

This book gets dark at times, almost gratuitously. It’s not extreme I wouldn’t say, it’s still appropriate for upper YA, maybe 14 and up, if they’re okay with reading about death of children, gore and threat of rape (non explicit for that last one but still). To be fair I watched horror movies much more gruesome than this when I was 11, so it really depends on the person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Child death, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Excrement, Lesbophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual content, Cursing, and Eating disorder

Waterboarding, poisoning.

marigold82's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

A love story above all else. However a  story about family, self discovery, and so much more. Quaintly written as folklore.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Homophobia, Confinement, Blood, Violence, Lesbophobia, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail