Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

50 reviews

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

Minor: Torture

semiruralcoma08's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.75

An incredible love story and smashing adventure that is extremely inclusive of many genders and queer relationships. this book moved me to tears on multiple occasions and is written in a way that is enjoyable and accessible for readers of many levels/ages. I look forward to checking out the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, Torture, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, War, Trafficking, Death, and Addiction

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

Moderate: Rape

neglected_space's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.25

A fun, entertaining YA read. Keep in mind it’s a YA novel, so things are kept a bit simple and not complex.

I will say that the witch plot seemed a bit…shoehorned in. I would have liked to see more development with that part of the story line. 

The queerness was such a lovely surprise (I didn’t realise just HOW many queer characters there were going to be) and it was super nice seeing various gender representations. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Violence

Minor: Slavery and Vomit

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

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

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

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

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Sexual violence

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

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: Classism, Violence, Torture, Colonisation, and Murder

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

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

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, Violence, and Sexual violence

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