Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

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

20 reviews

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

Minor: Grief and Abandonment

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

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

sundayfever's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Fantastic read, dark but with a bittersweet ending. Great plot twists along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

anna_stazija's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Amazing in addoram kak je gender predstavljen in pac kak je acepting in sweet in lovable. Tko res je dober edino mau se vece pr carovnici oz. na dele se res lahku vlece.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Torture, Slavery, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment

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:

Spoiler

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

Spoiler

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

Moderate: Rape

ginadapooh's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

fayeferre's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Violence, Abandonment, Slavery, Death, and Kidnapping

its2early4this's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective 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

4.0

This book was a wonderful, fast read. The world was rich and lovely. The characters felt incredibly real, and I absolutely adored the diverse representation. I would love to read more set in this universe. Unfortunately, the ending was a major disappointment for me. I couldn't see how the author was going to make a happy ending work, but was okay with that because I love a well-written tragic or bittersweet ending. However, the author forced a happy ending that, in my opinion, made no sense and came out of nowhere. Not to mention (spoiler ahead)

Spoiler

I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Flora and Evelyn are swimming around living "happily ever after" while the original Evelyn's corpse rots at the bottom of the sea. Will they encounter it at some point? Just. What the heck? Kind of spoils what was supposed to be a happy ending, anyway.

I was left with the sense that the author was either told that they shouldn't, or didn't want to write a sad ending, but - like me - couldn't find a logical conclusion, so they just stamped something at the end and called it good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, War, Addiction, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

This book is VERY HEAVY with a lot of its content. But if the potential misgendering/deadnaming is worrying you: it did make me a bit uncomfy at first, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that

Spoiler

Flora/Florian's relationship with their gender isn't clear-cut. Both names apply as do all pronouns, and a major part of the story is them coming to terms with that and growing comfortable being who they are unapologetically.

dbogen47's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.5

It took me a little to get into this book, but I flew through the second half in almost one sitting. While I think there were a few inconsistencies and some underdeveloped world building (as is the case with a lot of stand alone fantasy) I think this was a pretty solid book. The ending overall definitely moved me. I will say the inclusion of the fourth perspective in the third part confused me. I’m not sure it was truly necessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Colonisation, Body horror, Homophobia, Death, and Abandonment