Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

56 reviews

embee007's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I picked this up after multiple people recommended it as a cozy fantasy...I would really like to have a word with them. Queer Fantasy =/= Cozy Fantasy. Happy Endings do not mean Cozy Fantasy. This book contains slavery, gore, depictions of torture...It is not a light & fluffy read. It is most similar to a YA version of Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death - dark, but not that dark.

I feel like there was a bit of a lull towards the end? Or the action was weird? Or maybe that was just me. (first full book I read with Covid) But the ending mostly made up for it. I'm definitely interested in reading book 2, at some point this year.

"There’s freedom in stories, you know. We read them and we become something else. We imagine different lives, and while we turn the pages, we get to live them. To escape the lot we’ve been given.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

enbae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

This was the best book I read in a long time! It got me hooked like crazy and I told all my friends to read it. If you enjoyed the "darker shades of magic" trilogy or even the Pirates of the Carribbean movies, this book is a must-read!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, War, and Injury/Injury detail

quiet_reader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

alli_andrews's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

xoemax's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

I have seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book, but regardless I was still eager to read it as a lover of anything queer, fantasy and historical fiction. And I can say for me, this book was just what I needed. 

This book covers some amazing social topics, and in my opinion has some great LGBTQIA+ representation, intersectionality, and an exploration of gender diversity/fluidity. I appreciated the nuances and consideration with how Florian/Flora was written, with varying pronouns depending on context/viewpoint. I think it's important not to get caught up expecting characters to always have everything figured out from the start, especially when they themselves are coming to terms with and discovering their own identity. So for me this felt like a very wholesome, honest and positive exploration of how it feels to explore gender and sexuality as a young person.

The book is relatively fast paced, I will say. And from that I can see where the criticism of the story and characters feeling unresolved by the end comes from. I like to think I have an active imagination, so this I'm lucky wasn't too much of a deterrent for me. Part 2 of the book in particular with

Xenobia

felt underdeveloped, and I wished there was a more complex dive into the society of The Floating Islands, and the themes of practical witchcraft, memories, and storytelling tradition. As mentioned in the acknowledgments, the book was originally scripted during NaNoWriMo, which I feel might be where it inadvertently limited itself. The characters and storyline I feel could've benefited from more in-depth explorations to make the book feel more developed and less jumpy. 

Overall: an enjoyable and fun read, with the beginnings of some great world building, emotional, and featured themes I'd definitely like to read more of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Gore, Homophobia, Slavery, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Abandonment

lilycaitlin's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

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

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. 

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

Minor: 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: 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

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