Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Mermaid of Black Conch

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

27 reviews

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I loved the narration! It has two narrators for the two POVs and it was well done, the main narrator does an amazing job of voices! I loved getting the mermaid’s Pov and wish we had more from her. Her narrative was told through a sort of prose while David’s is told through third person and journal entries.

I enjoyed the cast of characters for the most part. They’re all so complex and intriguing but at one point it did get confusing tracking them all, I think mostly because I listened to the audio version.

Not a fan of how sexual the book is. The talk about wanting to do things to the mermaid and sexual organs was a little excessive for me. I hate when authors use “her sex” to describe body parts, it makes me cringe 😭 and the amount of men feeling things “in their balls” or how often the author brought up how innocent and young the mermaid was, in turn making her “better” than the rest of the women was uncomfortable.

I liked the intertwining of mythology and folklore into the story, as well as the discussions of colonialism and wish there was more of that and less sex.

Content Warnings

sillyduckie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

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

Content Warnings

misty_kb's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

haddy's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

2.75

I thought this book was okay, although I listened to it and I think sometimes the multiple POVs were a bit confusing.
I felt really sorry for the mermaid but I didn’t really connect with many of the characters at all.
I thought it was a cool time to set it in (kind of) modern day as well.

thought the end fell a bit flat, don’t think there was enough closure with the curse.. or how the curse fit into modern day?

Content Warnings

meghar's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

Beautiful and evocative language with the theme of the different types of isolation (literal and emotional) - I think this book would have benefitted from being twice the length, allowing the characters to flourish further and the themes to mature; the ending felt a little rushed and abrupt, but all in all a sweet, bittersweet story that doesn’t shy from the realities of colonialism’s lingering effects on community.

Content Warnings

writingcaia's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

A beautiful book that addresses issues of vengeance, jealousy, misogyny, ableism and love.
With a little queer rep and a Caribbean slang and color we are told the story of a mermaid, Aycayia, that has lived under the sea for a thousand years due to a curse put on her by jealous women, her only company an old turtle-woman, cursed alongside her, and the fish and sea creatures, that is until she meets the young Black fisherman, David, and because of him gets caught by American fishermen.
But, David, enthralled by the lure of the mermaid, feeling she’s his destiny saves her and tries to help her, with patience and love, and with the help of the crazy white lady with the deaf son, descendant of the owners of the whole town, because she too knows of broken love, knows what it is to be apart, what it is to have a bright son misunderstood by the town’s people, just like Aycayia.
The story seems hopeful as the mermaid becomes more human and love brews between her and David, but will the curse and the town really let them be?
The story is told with a few POV and in two timelines, present and past when David met Aycayia.
With themes such as the ones I mentioned, the love stories - yes because there’s also the love between the white lady and the Black man who left her pregnant with a deaf son - and a beautiful lyrical writing I really enjoyed this read, even if it was slow going in the beginning and didn’t introduce or develop the turtle-woman Aycayia speaks so much about.

Content Warnings

jahoffie's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

3.75

Content Warnings

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

For the fantastical elements, this still gets right at the heart of greed, power dynamics, sexism, and freedom. So realistic in its depiction of the rotten hearts and minds of some men. But not without its tenderness and care in others. Interesting reading about David and the mermaid finding their footing (pun intended) and figuring out power dynamics between the two of them in his house. I was disappointed how quickly she lost her "mermaidness" but that dissolved as the novel went on. But it did end on an exciting note, all things considered.

Content Warnings

dannilmp's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Not a book I would have normally picked up, but chose for Storygraph's read around the world challenge 2023. A story about a mermaid and her encounter with humans on Black Conch. While there were elements of the story I found difficult to read, such as the mermaid's poetry or the way speech dialogue was written; I found these reflected both the mermaid's lack of understanding of language and the speech helped to immerse me into the setting of the story.

While this was a relatively shorter book compared to those I usually read, I felt the pacing of this book to be quite slow and the pages seemed a lot more than what they were. I found myself only being able to read a chapter at a time before needing to take a break. However, there was a beautiful story to be told throughout these pages and one that certainly got me thinking and reflecting on human behaviour, specifically those negative emotions of jealousy and hatred.

Not a book I would reread but it was certainly worth a read to broaden my horizons to the other types of literature out there.

Content Warnings

lyssylyssy's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

More...