Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

This was a lovely book.

I did feel like it was trying to be deeper and more lyrical than it was, especially toward the beginning. The concept felt like it could have been written in a similar style to Black Sun, with beautiful worldbuilding and descriptions and breathtaking writing, but it didn't quite get to that point. But that's okay- this author simply has a different style, and I don't mean to complain about her style not being someone else's.

A more fair complaint- the world at the beginning felt a little flat and dry, kind of like a middle grades novel where it doesn't go super in-depth, though maybe it was just me having a hard time getting into it. It did pick up as the book went on.

But okay! The plot of this book! Was so good! Mermaids and witches and pirates and magic and imperialism and love, with twists and turns, always enthralling... it was fantastic.

And the characters and their relationships and the rep in this book <3

Highly recommend if you like pirates, mermaids, and/or queer relationships. If that's not your jam, this probably isn't the book for you.

Content Warnings

panthalassa's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

lolajh's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings