Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

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

14 reviews

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

Minor: Blood

overtheedgeofthewild's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

Was sadly underwhelmed by this book. I am regretting buying it instead of checking it out from the library. Poor world building; flet the characters could have also used more development. Interesting concepts that could have been fleshed out more and just didn't land for me. 

the romantic relationship could have also developed more. I wished there was more of a slow burn, some more interpersonal conflicts, etc. It felt very on the surface, I just personally could not get invested in the romance. Why did they love each other, what really brings them together, makes them right for each other....I guess all it takes is because Evelyn taught Florian to read....

Also not a fan of the second ending. It was about a character I didn't like anyway. If the second book follows this character, I won't  be reading further

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Slavery and Trafficking

Minor: Rape and Pedophilia

maeverose's review against another edition

2.5

I think this might be one of those books that just didn’t work for me because I’m not within the target age demographic. I did love the casual non binary and queer rep, even if there is still homophobia (and a sh*t ton of misogyny) in this world. But tbh that’s really it.

I didn’t feel connected or invested in the romance between Evelyn and Flora at all personally. It seemed like their only reason for liking each other was they found the other pretty, and I definitely didn’t buy their love for each other by the end.

It also made me uncomfortable with how okay Flora was with the slaving until she found one of their victims pretty…

. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. Evelyn the most maybe, but not until about two thirds in, and even then not much. All the characters felt pretty bland to me, they needed to be fleshed out better.

I found it a bit slow, especially in the middle. Even though there were more povs with different (though still connected) storylines, I found none of them particularly interesting so it felt like it dragged on. Which is weird because it really was trying to do a lot, there were a ton of things happening but it just felt slow to me. Maybe because I didn’t care? I heavily skimmed the last 20%.

This book gets dark at times, almost gratuitously. It’s not extreme I wouldn’t say, it’s still appropriate for upper YA, maybe 14 and up, if they’re okay with reading about death of children, gore and threat of rape (non explicit for that last one but still). To be fair I watched horror movies much more gruesome than this when I was 11, so it really depends on the person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Child death, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Excrement, Lesbophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual content, Cursing, and Eating disorder

Waterboarding, poisoning.

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

Blurb: "In a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic, a desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial lady find a connection on the high seas."  Very mixed feelings about this one.  There is great LGBTQ rep, and the two leads are POC characters, and I appreciated the discussions and seeing the effects of colonization by the Empire.  The Witch had some great stories.  The world building left a lot to be desired, but there were some cool elements and ideas.  
Other than that, I didn't like most of the characters, and didn't even care about the two leads especially.  They fall in love very quickly.  This book is dark, please check the CW.  CW:

even off-page, I don't want to read about child rape.

There are a few plot holes.  There are two endings and I didn't appreciate either of them.  I get what the author is going for

with Evelyn and Florian, it's their reward and they get to be together, but it didn't feel like Florian really has atoned enough to earn that, and "they both turn into mermaids' fits with the magic of the book, but also feels like a story a five year old would tell.

.  The second ending is about a character that I didn't like, so I didn't care about what happens to them, even though, again, I feel like I understand what the author is going for.  
If you like fantasy, especially with good LGBTQ rep, and like stories on the darker side, I would give this one a try.  In spite of the mixed bag of reactions, I would read another from this author.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Cursing, Gore, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

pineapple_queen's review against another edition

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

amaliewebs's review against another edition

4.5

such a good book, i loved the pirate/mermaid/witch vibes it was giving, plus a super cute sapphic romance yes please🥰 really good themes of identity and stuff too i loved it, and the different character povs were really good too. the plot was really well paced and exciting, overall a great book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, and Sexual assault

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Confinement, Grief, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Body horror, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Self-injury for magical purposes. Misgendering of a side character.

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: Blood, Colonisation, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death

foreverinastory's review against another edition

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: Trafficking, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Child death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Addiction, Gore, Death, Slavery, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Genocide, Classism, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, War, and Death of parent

matheo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, and Trafficking

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, and Pedophilia