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bo0ks_are_cool91's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I mean it’s alright like-
There are many things that this book does well. I love seeing mermaid rep in fantasy fiction, and the forbidden love trope is handled with care. At the same time, the book didn’t catch my interest until the halfway point, and the villain was a generic “I want the power to take over the world” villain. I will read the next book though
There are many things that this book does well. I love seeing mermaid rep in fantasy fiction, and the forbidden love trope is handled with care. At the same time, the book didn’t catch my interest until the halfway point, and the villain was a generic “I want the power to take over the world” villain. I will read the next book though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Blood and Death
zombiezami's review against another edition
Loved the premise, but the execution didn't hold my attention
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Confinement, Slavery, Alcohol, and Animal death
Minor: Colonisation
a_random_fangirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Colonisation, Murder, Slavery, Death, and Gore
mj_86's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Kidnapping
photogenicegg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I don't know how to explain it but I wish there was more. More explanation of things, more things happening, a little more high stakes situations. It got very repetitive having Kola being the one in danger or getting injured all the time. I have several questions about things that happened toward the end specifically Yinka's and Bem's fates . The cliffhanger was not my favorite as it didn't really leave me needing to figure out what happens next. It just kinda...ends.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Death
Minor: Slavery
angel_rod's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery and Death
deedeecalamity's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Slavery
bookisshlvr's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
For me the book started off a little slow, although this is my first fantasy outside of Harry Potter. But the story was so beautiful and the ending emotional. I did feel as though it was a lot of buildup in this book but there are some interesting factors and everything ties together in the end. It was very slow paced for me because it was so informative and detailed. The chapters are long, but I can’t say that anything was left out or that I was left with questions or missing anything. Overall this book was good and I would definitely recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Death, Suicide, and Violence
jewels_pg's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Amazing world-building, delightful characters, twists and excitement. I didn't want the story to end and seriously considered starting the book over as soon as I finished it so I could enter the world again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Trafficking
Moderate: Death, Racism, and Child death
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
lilly_reads98's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
3.5
3.5 I can see other people liking this more than me if they like a non stop thrilling and dark adventure story, but it just got too violent for me and there weren’t enough lighthearted moments for me to enjoy it. I enjoyed some parts in the beginning and middle but the majority of the book is just so tense so I was just anxious for the entire second half of the book. I love the concept of the book though and wanted to read about the African mythology and the fantasy world with the main character a mermaid and other fantasy creatures. I think the author did a good job of writing descriptive and atmospheric scenes, I wanted more description at times when it came to the fantasy aspects. I would definitely reccomend this and I wish I could have enjoyed it more. I was intrigued because of the African mythology and I read a review that the writing is lyrical and atmospheric. I prefer atmospheric and descriptive/lyrical writing, and this does have some but not a lot.
The beginning is a little slow to get into. There’s a nice descriptive line; “The sky swirls, whipping to a smear of charcoal gray with slashes of pale blue.” The mythology in this is interesting, I enjoyed that part where we see the two gods together, one wielding lighting.
The little fairies are so sweet, they save Kola and then say, “we are signing and dancing for his health.” I love that there’s little things like this thrown in. “The yumboes who have left their seats and have begun to dance again, most with wooden cups of wine still clutched in their hands. They spin and turn, sunlight skittering from their skin and the precious metal in their hair.” After this the book was just making me anxious because it’s so tense. So I just reading as fast as I could to get to a more enjoyable part but that never came. I also was looking forward to the characters spending so much time together because they’re together throughout most of the book, I love in books when that happens, but that doesn’t lead to them talking a lot or showing us them interacting a lot and I really wanted that. I like the characters but I realized we just don’t get a lot of time developing them. And I like Simi but she’s just always so grumpy and Kola is so sweet. I wish we could have more books where both of the main characters are sweet, so many books I’ve read recently have had one grumpy Mc and one sunshine one.
I didn’t think it’s a bad book at all, I just wish I had known that the tone is mostly dark and tense. The description of the book sounds really good and interesting to me, it does say danger lurks at every turn and that’s accurate. But I feel like it doesn’t convey how most of the book is not happy. The ending is also not a happy ending. I like books with happy endings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence