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

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

This book make me fucking sob from start to finish. Flora is the main character, who is originally a woman disguising on her pirate ship as a man: Florian, before eventually discovering to identify as both man and woman, not just one, because neither told the whole story. Along the way Florian falls in love with a newcomer, Evelyn, who I think tries her best to understand Flora’s gender, but still comes off across a bit dodgy at times, like once when she called Florian out, who was presenting as a man at the time, as not being a guy because he didn’t have an Adam’s apple. This gives off the idea that trans men aren’t real men and vice versa, whereas I believe she shouldn’t have commented on that at all and just accepted how Florian had presented himself and identified at the time. There are also mermaids, which pirates hunt for their value and Flora and Evelyn strive to change. The ending is what made me cry with happiness and sadness most of all. Loved this book very much, Florian’s experiences with gender and dysphoria were so raw and I appreciated her character very much.
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