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

A fun, entertaining YA read. Keep in mind it’s a YA novel, so things are kept a bit simple and not complex.

I will say that the witch plot seemed a bit…shoehorned in. I would have liked to see more development with that part of the story line.

The queerness was such a lovely surprise (I didn’t realise just HOW many queer characters there were going to be) and it was super nice seeing various gender representations.

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embee007's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I picked this up after multiple people recommended it as a cozy fantasy...I would really like to have a word with them. Queer Fantasy =/= Cozy Fantasy. Happy Endings do not mean Cozy Fantasy. This book contains slavery, gore, depictions of torture...It is not a light & fluffy read. It is most similar to a YA version of Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death - dark, but not that dark.

I feel like there was a bit of a lull towards the end? Or the action was weird? Or maybe that was just me. (first full book I read with Covid) But the ending mostly made up for it. I'm definitely interested in reading book 2, at some point this year.

"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’ve been given.”

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enbae's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

This was the best book I read in a long time! It got me hooked like crazy and I told all my friends to read it. If you enjoyed the "darker shades of magic" trilogy or even the Pirates of the Carribbean movies, this book is a must-read!!!!

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decembera's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

It is... certainly a choice to make your Black lead an enslaver.

Mind the content warnings. This was significantly more graphic than I expected from a YA book.

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lilycaitlin's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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_forestofpages's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.0

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discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-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

3.75

I really enjoyed this!

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to YA fantasy in particular, is when I can tell that an author is patronizing or talking down to their reader. I think sometimes the distinction between “accessible” and “clumsily over-simplified” can get muddy.

I notice it in particular when I read an author who’s known for their adult books, but who writes YA every now and then. The writing in the YA book will be so obviously adjusted to what, presumably, the author believes will be more “palatable” to a younger audience. I don’t think that’s always being fair to young readers. There’s obviously nuance here, but I think it can seem to communicate a lack of faith in their ability to understand complexity, dark themes, or challenging language.

This book was a pleasant surprise in that regard. I didn’t feel condescended to as I read, but it was still distinctly easy to read. The narrative flowed smoothly and kept my attention. The characters were easy to care about (I appreciated the expanded points of view as the story went on), and the plot didn’t shy away from dark or heavy material (like the impacts of colonialism, the ethics of survival at all costs, etc).

I also loved that the magic system in this book takes the shape of stories and storytelling; I thought that was really beautiful and unique.

There’s quite a few loose threads left dangling at the end of this book, which I hope get picked up in the forthcoming sequel!

Content Warnings

audreyreadz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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

5.0

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