Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Mermaid of Black Conch

When American tourists haul in a mermaid off the shore of a small Caribbean Island, a local fisherman does his best to save her, only to find that she reverts to being a woman. She is deeply ancient and cursed, and her presence on the island shakes up tensions between the locals. Thematically this explores gender roles, the Deaf community, and the history of colonisation and slavery in the Caribbean. The author is born in Trinidad.

There are some ominous and creepy bits in this book, which meant it fit in well sandwiched between some of my other October reads. It definitely has some supernatural themes.. (duh, mermaid..?!) I think it's well worth checking out the Audiobook version, if only because it catches the accent of the place. Content is a bit violent and bloody, and occasionally sexual in nature, so probably for older readers.

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tlaynejones's review against another edition

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2.5

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dannilmp's review against another edition

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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.

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lyssylyssy's review against another edition

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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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guzzie's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

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rosalind's review against another edition

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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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corndogqueeen's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

Wish the ending had a little more to it... but I really enjoyed this. Took me a long time to read so I think that made me like it less than I would've if I'd read it in fewer sittings

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cerilouisereads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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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