Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

11 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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Homophobia, Slavery, and Blood

sillyduckie's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Blood, Classism, Gun violence, Racism, Body horror, Colonisation, Violence, Xenophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

misty_kb's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Suicide attempt

lyssylyssy's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Classism, Colonisation, and Racial slurs

Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Body horror, and Blood

rosalind's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Colonisation, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Ableism, and Cursing

rebeccajost's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Biphobia, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Confinement and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Infidelity

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Classism, Colonisation, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infidelity, Cursing, Ableism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Slavery

laurataylor's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Death, Kidnapping, Slavery, Blood, and Suicide attempt

laumilne's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This award-winning book is not my cup of tea, but clearly very interesting and literary - the sort of thing I'd expect to study at university, thinking of otherness, relationships, postcoloniality and eco-mythologies. The different "voices" add a great textual detail.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, and Suicide attempt

reader_in_the_meadow's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was well. 

It didn't necessarily strike me as something special. The writing style was good and the storytelling too. I liked the change of narration and type of it. 
It can make for a good fast read if you need too read something, but in my opinion, it is not that special a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Sexism

Minor: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Slavery