Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

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

28 reviews

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)

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

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

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

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.

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful slow-paced

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

4.0

 This was a story that had some very original and interesting takes on the pirate sub-genre as well as gender and mermaids but it was also a little odd. Given the premise of pirates and romance with added cross-dressing I was expecting something a little fun, possibly light-hearted or goofy. Let my tell you now that actually this story is about guilt - everyone is drowning in regrets or has abandoned their morals entirely. Piracy is shown as a harsh, unforgiving lifestyle that brings out the very worst in people and while this is more realistic it was also rather gloomy.

I found the magic system in this book very odd and difficult to get my head around and it ultimately didn't have much of an effect on the story for the amount of emphasis it got in the middle sections? The romance had a similar problem - there is a lot of long distance pining with very little foundation before it and then when they are back together its treated like its the romance of the century. It all feels a little fast to me.

Despite my complaints I think this book was good, it just didn't really align with my tastes. I think there were some really good ideas and some people would absolutely love it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

The rape is only implied but features pretty heavily.

noxii's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, and Slavery

cheesecake's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

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

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

raen99's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Slavery, Torture, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, and Blood

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

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Alcohol, War, and Classism

foreverinastory's review

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