Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

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

32 reviews

riverstrongblood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

I cannot begin to express how thoroughly I enjoyed this book. Somebody else on this app wrote that they wished there were more witches and mermaids and "less of all the other stuff" but let me just say that this books is PACKED with fantasy and pirates and witches and mermaids. A person who simply can't care for the depth of the diversity and intersectionality in this book doesn't deserve the magnitude and life breathed into its pages. 

I'm not one for spoilers in book reviews but I have never regarded a book more highly than this. And I am so appreciative for authors who are writing queer and ethnically diverse books. It's rare. A breath of fresh air against the bland, white, straight canopy that fantasy has been for so long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Cannibalism

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Vomit, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and War

alexijai98's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

3.75

I enjoyed this read! A fun YA fantasy with interesting and diverse characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

Minor: Homophobia

salted07's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

5.0

If I could rate this higher than five, I would. This book was a beautiful experience and I really recommend it. It explores themes such as gender and class differences. Tokuda wove a stunning story that everyone should read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Torture

e_riahh's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious 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: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Minor: Blood

anjasshelf's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Rape

embee007's review

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

scrubsandbooks'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

3.5

The romance in this one was captivating, and I enjoyed reading it but I think that was mostly what I enjoyed about this book. I mean, you're giving me queer pirates!!

The world-building left me a bit confused especially when it came to the magic system. I feel like a lot of it was just glossed over and there could have been an extra chapter or two invested in explaining or showing more of it. But I believe there's either a sequel or companion novel to this story in the works and I would definitely recommend this book and will give the next one a read for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement and Sexual assault

decembera's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

It is... certainly a choice to make your Black lead an enslaver.

Mind the content warnings. This was significantly more graphic than I expected from a YA book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

crykea's review against another edition

adventurous sad 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

3.0

i enjoyed the book and loved the characters but I was a bit put off by the way what alfie went through and how he coped was tossed aside for the furthering of the other characters' plot? he had, arguably, some of the worst most tragic demeaning things happen and the whole time he was called names and unmotivated just because he was obviously affected by them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Rape, Blood, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail