Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

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

4 reviews

maeverose's review against another edition

2.5

I think this might be one of those books that just didn’t work for me because I’m not within the target age demographic. I did love the casual non binary and queer rep, even if there is still homophobia (and a sh*t ton of misogyny) in this world. But tbh that’s really it.

I didn’t feel connected or invested in the romance between Evelyn and Flora at all personally. It seemed like their only reason for liking each other was they found the other pretty, and I definitely didn’t buy their love for each other by the end.

It also made me uncomfortable with how okay Flora was with the slaving until she found one of their victims pretty…

. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. Evelyn the most maybe, but not until about two thirds in, and even then not much. All the characters felt pretty bland to me, they needed to be fleshed out better.

I found it a bit slow, especially in the middle. Even though there were more povs with different (though still connected) storylines, I found none of them particularly interesting so it felt like it dragged on. Which is weird because it really was trying to do a lot, there were a ton of things happening but it just felt slow to me. Maybe because I didn’t care? I heavily skimmed the last 20%.

This book gets dark at times, almost gratuitously. It’s not extreme I wouldn’t say, it’s still appropriate for upper YA, maybe 14 and up, if they’re okay with reading about death of children, gore and threat of rape (non explicit for that last one but still). To be fair I watched horror movies much more gruesome than this when I was 11, so it really depends on the person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Child death, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Excrement, Lesbophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual content, Cursing, and Eating disorder

Waterboarding, poisoning.

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

I enjoyed this book, but it had potential for so much more. 

I liked the setting and the atmosphere a lot. The world was very intriguing and magical. The book read like a fairy tale... although a gruesome one. I was really shocked by how gruesome this story actually was. There was violence and death and blood and torture on page, and implied rape and assault. Also, topics like colonialism, imperialism, and sexism were present. 
What I absolutely loved was the queer representation and diversity. One main character is gender-fluid, the other a lesbian, there is a non-binary side character. And I liked how these were portrayed.

But the pacing and plot was kind of off. I wish we had more times to get to know the characters, and especially more time with the characters interacting with each other. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other, but because most of it happens off page, the romance feels very instant and over the top dramatic towards the end. 

The middle part was also weird. I loved the witchcraft element that is introduced, but the magic system is not really explained well. It's interesting, but very confusing. And it's not used enough afterwards to justify how much time we spend learning about it. 

I liked the ending and how all the characters and plots came together. It just would have been more impactful if we had more time before to develop more feelings for everyone and everything that was happening. 

I didn't mind all those things that much because of the fairy tale character of the book. It just could have easily been a 5 star for me with a bit more substance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Sexism, Torture, and Trafficking

Minor: Homophobia, Vomit, Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual assault

panthalassa's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Slavery, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Classism, Grief, and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexual content

claredragonfly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Homophobia

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Xenophobia