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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
I think this review by a fellow goodreads user encapsulates my feelings on this one :) https://foreverandeverly.wordpress.com/2020/04/26/review-the-mermaid-the-witch-and-the-sea-maggie-tokuda-hall/
"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’re given."
The Mermaid The Witch And The Sea -
Maggie Tokuda-Hall
I honestly don't have much to say. A sapphic pirate romance? Sure.
It had so much potential but fell so flat. The concept was good, but I honestly hated all the characters and was delighted to be done with it. The only saving grave was the mermaids, because who does like mermaids.
2 stars: ⭐⭐
The Mermaid The Witch And The Sea -
Maggie Tokuda-Hall
I honestly don't have much to say. A sapphic pirate romance? Sure.
It had so much potential but fell so flat. The concept was good, but I honestly hated all the characters and was delighted to be done with it. The only saving grave was the mermaids, because who does like mermaids.
2 stars: ⭐⭐
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
I was into this. The world-building wasn't tedious, the characters were interesting, I liked the witchy mysticism and of course the queerness. I immediately looked for more books by this author, but apparently it's a debut.
Fun, interesting read.
Fun, interesting read.
Lady Evelyn is being sent away to be married off, going aboard the ship The Dove. Little does she know that the ship is a pirate slaver disguised as a passenger ship and she is now the chattel. Flora - or Florian, as the pirates know her - doesn't like her work, but she has to do it to live. When she starts to fall for Evelyn, she starts to change her mind.
I received a finished copy of this from Candlewick Press as I am on their influencer list, so thank you to them.
Let's start with the good notes. First, I liked the writing style and how it felt fairytale-like, but with a mix of a screenplay. I liked the Ocean being a character. I thought that the genderfluid representation was done very well (Flora feels she is somewhere in between Flora and Florian), and the queernorm world was great. Plus instead of a Pirate King, there's a nonbinary Pirate Supreme! I was under the impression that this was Own Voices sapphic going in, so I was disappointed that it wasn't. Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me for a couple of reasons. The main one was that the characters aren't really great people? It really took me aback that one of the characters that we're supposed to root for is a SLAVER. And I'm just supposed to... forgive them? And they just stop because one rich girl is nice to them? Plus the rich girl essentially admits to using her servant for her body but then is supposed to be just this angelic person who makes people change their minds about slavery. I really had to suspend my disbelief at all that. Then their relationship is very instalove: we get a montage of Evelyn forcing Flora to learn to read (not even for any of the reasons that literacy is important for one's autonomy, just because stories are nice), and then suddenly they're in love enough to risk their lives. Then we also had some perspectives that seemed really unnecessary to the plot.
Overall, this one was a miss for me despite having a great writing style. I just couldn't get past the initial setup of the book.
I received a finished copy of this from Candlewick Press as I am on their influencer list, so thank you to them.
Let's start with the good notes. First, I liked the writing style and how it felt fairytale-like, but with a mix of a screenplay. I liked the Ocean being a character. I thought that the genderfluid representation was done very well (Flora feels she is somewhere in between Flora and Florian), and the queernorm world was great. Plus instead of a Pirate King, there's a nonbinary Pirate Supreme! I was under the impression that this was Own Voices sapphic going in, so I was disappointed that it wasn't. Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me for a couple of reasons. The main one was that the characters aren't really great people? It really took me aback that one of the characters that we're supposed to root for is a SLAVER. And I'm just supposed to... forgive them? And they just stop because one rich girl is nice to them? Plus the rich girl essentially admits to using her servant for her body but then is supposed to be just this angelic person who makes people change their minds about slavery. I really had to suspend my disbelief at all that. Then their relationship is very instalove: we get a montage of Evelyn forcing Flora to learn to read (not even for any of the reasons that literacy is important for one's autonomy, just because stories are nice), and then suddenly they're in love enough to risk their lives. Then we also had some perspectives that seemed really unnecessary to the plot.
Overall, this one was a miss for me despite having a great writing style. I just couldn't get past the initial setup of the book.