Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

52 reviews

maggie_daydreaming's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Torture, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Alcohol, and Blood

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Death of parent

lolajh's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Colonisation, Outing, Physical abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, Sexism, Transphobia, Gun violence, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

sssssoup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Dysphoria, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Vomit

Minor: Abandonment, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and War

matheo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, and Trafficking

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, and Pedophilia

scarlettskyes's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Torture, Slavery, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexism, Trafficking, Murder, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Gore, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Lesbophobia and Transphobia

dododenise's review against another edition

adventurous 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

This was beautiful! The world felt like out of a fairytale, full of magic and everything enter wined with each other in magical ways. I wish it would’ve been explored more. Exploring the details of the worlds politics and different cultures more would have been awesome. You were given bits and pieces that made me hunger for more. 
I love how the book explored misogyny and homophobia within this world. Nothing ground breaking, but within the realms of this world and characters glorious to explore nonetheless. 
The characters were stunning. I loved them all for different reasons. Some I loved, some I wanted to be friends with and some I just wanted to strangle, but they were so interesting and gave you more perspective on the story and relationships. It took me a while to warm up to Rake and wasn’t so sure about getting into his perspective. But once I did I enjoyed myself reading through his eyes just as much as with Flora and Evelyn. 
Flora and Evelyn were beautiful. Their love for each other made my heart flutter and ache, and I was rooting for them from beginning to end. Their romance was the best part of the book by far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Misogyny, and Torture

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

madamehowland's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Slavery and Sexual violence

bagel_z's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault

fairyollie's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

it was a lovely, lovely read. a bit slow in parts, a bit too fast at the end - but lovely nonetheless. I love Maggie's writing style. the story is of a Black genderfluid pirate and their Asian-coded lesbian love. there is pirates and mermaids, lesbians, witches, the sea as a MILF- what more could you want?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Xenophobia

the sea is a MILF. I have to make that clear. the sea. is. a. milf.

fruitea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

a lot darker/heavier than i expected but overall a pretty good story yes i am biased because i like pirates

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault