Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

88 reviews

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful slow-paced

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

4.0

 This was a story that had some very original and interesting takes on the pirate sub-genre as well as gender and mermaids but it was also a little odd. Given the premise of pirates and romance with added cross-dressing I was expecting something a little fun, possibly light-hearted or goofy. Let my tell you now that actually this story is about guilt - everyone is drowning in regrets or has abandoned their morals entirely. Piracy is shown as a harsh, unforgiving lifestyle that brings out the very worst in people and while this is more realistic it was also rather gloomy.

I found the magic system in this book very odd and difficult to get my head around and it ultimately didn't have much of an effect on the story for the amount of emphasis it got in the middle sections? The romance had a similar problem - there is a lot of long distance pining with very little foundation before it and then when they are back together its treated like its the romance of the century. It all feels a little fast to me.

Despite my complaints I think this book was good, it just didn't really align with my tastes. I think there were some really good ideas and some people would absolutely love it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Rape, Racism, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Minor: Homophobia, Child abuse, Child death, and Religious bigotry

The rape is only implied but features pretty heavily.

charliethebooklover's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

So. Many. Emotions.
Absolutely no words, this book was amazing! 
Check the content warnings if you choose to read this book. Other than that, read away

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Rape, Gun violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Slavery, Murder, and Death

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

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

disnelyse's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Trafficking, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual assault

bluejayreads's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

This book is a story of magic, piracy, the bonds of family, the power inherent in stories, and fighting for something better than fate wants to give you, featuring a black genderqueer pirate and a lesbian noble lady. It had plenty of action, magic, and emotion, quite a few twists (albeit minor ones), some she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not drama, and was overall very entertaining. However, the worldbuilding was confusing - there wasn't a lot, and the parts that were there were a very discordant combination of generic fantasy and Imperial Japan - and the story itself felt disconnected. Part one was the longest and set up a plot and relationships between the protagonists, part two separated the protagonists and taught one a new skill that's never used again, and part three rushes to the conclusion of the setup in part one. The pacing felt weird - a nice slower-but-not-slow at the beginning, rushed at the end - and most of part two could have been cut without affecting much of anything. It was a good read overall, but most definitely not perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Slavery, and Murder

Bury your gays (sorta)

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Confinement, Grief, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Body horror, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Self-injury for magical purposes. Misgendering of a side character.

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death

writingcaia's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

Pirates, Magic, and Mermaids! Also, queer, non-binary and gender fluid characters, it had everything to work but it really didn’t, I didn’t even like the finale, it felt forced and unrealistic even in that fantasy world.
The Mermaids and the Sea and its Pirate Supreme (non-binary) were without a doubt the most interesting part of the story and I just wish the book was more focused on that. 
We do have two interesting morally gray characters, especially our Pirate Flora/Florian. It’s an instalove kind of romance but not badly done.
The Witch, seriously why was she even there? She barely makes a show and the magic system and knowledge that eventually she passes on is so little explored as to be easily removed from the story, which is a shame as it could have been an interesting part if only it hadn’t been so blandly and little exposed.
A lot of non-binary peeps are mentioned, although how just by looking at them the characters knew I don’t get. There’s definitely a lot queer representation but it felt somewhat too much or maybe not well explained enough to feel natural, and I don’t mean the relationships.
It was entertaining and not badly written, I can’t say it was a waste of time, but it did disappoint a little.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Rape

dariusmortee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

A true rollercoaster of a book. Amazing and praise all over. 

I must say Evelyn annoyed me a bit, but that may have been intentional and she was a nice contrast to Flora/Florian as a great way to reflect for all of us white girls who grew up loving stories. Especially the ones who also grew up rich. 

Flora/Florian was a great protagonist and I loved reading from their point of view. She is the right amount of courage, but without being oblivious to the consequences. His journey of self discovery throughout the book is amazing. 

If you like LGBTQAI+ stories, pirates, mermaids and witches this is absolutely a book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Trafficking, and Violence

Minor: Child death