Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

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

36 reviews

grinnoir's review

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

pineapple_queen's review

adventurous 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Confinement, Misogyny, Murder, Homophobia, Colonisation, Addiction, Kidnapping, Outing, Child abuse, Alcohol, Torture, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Trafficking, Slavery, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, and Death

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

electrumempousa's review

adventurous dark hopeful 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? No

2.0

I was so ready to give this five stars right up until the last 5% when I really feel like it was rushed and silly. So much more to be explored that was missing. I loved the central relationships and it was a quick read, but I really feel like another hundred pages could have done sooo much to pad out the ending and also the world itself. Very disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual violence

Referenced off screen sexual violence against a minor

teslis's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

I don’t know. This book was alright and even good in the beginning but later on

Spoiler

when they leave the Dove

I think it got worse. I think it’s because a lot happens and fast. In the end I also realize that I didn’t like how the book was written. I believe that fantasy is not really my cup of tea at the moment but it will be fun to discuss in my book club! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Torture, Gun violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Injury/injury detail, and Alcoholism

charliethebooklover's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-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

4.25

So. Many. Emotions.
Absolutely no words, this book was amazing! 
Check the content warnings if you choose to read this book. Other than that, read away

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Rape, Gun violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Slavery, Murder, and Death

malva's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Rape, Slavery, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, and Sexual harassment

dtierra's review

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Torture, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, War, Trafficking, and Grief

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Classism, and Drug use

There are parts of this book I loved but overall I was disappointed by how little time the main characters had together. Most of the book is spent with them apart and it is painfully slow moving. The pace of the book feels all over the place, parts of it move quite fast and other parts move painstakingly slowly. There are some really beautiful lines on the central romance but I wish there was more. I am extremely disappointed by

Spoiler

the bury your gays trope present in the book, while there is a somewhat happy ending, it felt unnecessary to the plot. The ending of the book, the very last chapter was also a bit unnecessary and confusing to me. It definitely could have been wrapped up better

. The world building was great, I just think Pt 2 of the book could be drastically shortened and I would have loved for Pt 3 to have been given 50-100 more pages!

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

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

bluejayreads'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

3.75

This book is a story of magic, piracy, the bonds of family, the power inherent in stories, and fighting for something better than fate wants to give you, featuring a black genderqueer pirate and a lesbian noble lady. It had plenty of action, magic, and emotion, quite a few twists (albeit minor ones), some she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not drama, and was overall very entertaining. However, the worldbuilding was confusing - there wasn't a lot, and the parts that were there were a very discordant combination of generic fantasy and Imperial Japan - and the story itself felt disconnected. Part one was the longest and set up a plot and relationships between the protagonists, part two separated the protagonists and taught one a new skill that's never used again, and part three rushes to the conclusion of the setup in part one. The pacing felt weird - a nice slower-but-not-slow at the beginning, rushed at the end - and most of part two could have been cut without affecting much of anything. It was a good read overall, but most definitely not perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Slavery, and Murder

Spoiler

Bury your gays (sorta)

warkshay's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Rape