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

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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shadeyc's review against another edition

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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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disnelyse's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful 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

4.5

Such a fantastic and adventurous book with so many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting!

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archcon's review against another edition

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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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