Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

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

71 reviews

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

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

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: 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

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. 

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: Pedophilia and Rape

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: Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Rape

scrambledark's review

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: Alcoholism, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Slavery

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Waterboarding, poisoning.

marigold82's review

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

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