Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

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

36 reviews

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Emotional pirates and mermaids and about the tradeoffs that happen with poverty, fear, solitude, and addiction. Quite a book, with multiple nonbinary characters, queer love, and lovely lady operatives, along side cruel and vicious men. A lot of the latter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Torture, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Racism, Classism, Trafficking, Sexism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Homophobia

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Classism, Body horror, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Blood, and Addiction

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

aexileigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, and Trafficking

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

scottie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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

4.0

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall tells the nautical tale of the pirate Florian and the noble born Evelyn. The story is part romance, part magic, and part adventure. 

The beginning set up was a little slow, but the time spent building the world and the characters pays off. I found myself become very invested in what happened to Florian and Evelyn. Once the story got going there were times that I had to put the book down and scoot back into my seat. 

Maggie Tokuda-Hall tackles some very interesting themes. I love how she is able to tie in little details and make them become so meaningful. 

One of my favorite themes that runs throughout the book is the power of stories. Reading is one of the first things that starts to pull Florian and Evelyn together. 

"We don't read to just imagine better lives. We read to be introduced to all kinds of lives... It's an escape, and it's also a way to become more connected to everyone around you. There's power in that, you know. in understanding. It's like magic" (45).

It's no coincidence that when Florian meets the Witch, Xenobia, that they find magic is created through taking and giving stories. Xenobia instructs Florian "Powerful things, stories. if you care to listen to them" (181).  The stories we tell about ourselves and about others have power and become our truth.

As a side note, I'd love to hear what people think. Does Evelyn's mother, Lady Hasegawa, actually hate her daughter or does that tie into the stories people tell themselves about others? If Lady Hasegawa hated Evelyn so much, how was it that what she taught her daughter was the exact things Evelyn needed to know to survive? Looking at you floor plans of the 900th emperor's palace.

 
 
The more time I've spent reflecting on the book to write my review the more I appreciate my experience reading it.  I'm happy to give it a 4 star reading recommendation.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Death

Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit and Xenophobia

malva's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Rape, Slavery, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, and Sexual harassment

kaytrain's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Physical abuse, Slavery, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

shadeyc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Surprisingly brutal, but thoroughly engrossing. The stories (myths) intermingled were fascinating. I did not think I would grow to like any of the characters, however, I realised towards the end I was reading much faster and thoroughly invested in several people. 
Side note - that cover is gorgeous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Torture, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Blood, Grief, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, and Confinement

archcon's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

It was awesome to see all the queer representation in this book, and some of the worldbuilding ideas were cool. Overall though I found it to be not very well written and at times felt almost forced. Character and plot development didn't feel consistently natural.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Slavery, Violence, Sexism, Classism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Child death