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sweekune 's review for:
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.25/5
A beautiful fantasy YA with really lovely queer and gender nonconforming representation. Evelyn is an imperial lady, sent by ship to marry a man she's never met. Florian is a pirate on that ship, which plans to enslave and sell its noble cargo. Beyond them is a backdrop of sea magic, witchcraft, a mysterious pirate overlord and beautiful mermaids.
- The world in which this book is set is beautiful and detailed and you can tell the author knows more beyond what they show. Sadly the narrative restricted what we saw of this world and the pace made it difficult at times to soak in the settings and vibes of places.
- As a genderfluid individual, there is a chapter within this book that makes me feel seen in a way I've not felt before. Genderfluid representation is hard to come by, especially well done rep, so to find a book that so wonderfully puts to words what it feels to be genderfluid is utterly amazing. For that chapter alone I would recommend this book to anyone who isn't cisgender. There's also well written sapphic and nonbinary representation.
- The chapters switch between the perspectives of several different characters and I really enjoyed how it was done. Being aware of this twisting situation that each character has different involvement and investment in was fascinating and made the story easy to read and follow.
Beautiful, mystical and queer. Highly recommend for the representation and interesting world.
A beautiful fantasy YA with really lovely queer and gender nonconforming representation. Evelyn is an imperial lady, sent by ship to marry a man she's never met. Florian is a pirate on that ship, which plans to enslave and sell its noble cargo. Beyond them is a backdrop of sea magic, witchcraft, a mysterious pirate overlord and beautiful mermaids.
- The world in which this book is set is beautiful and detailed and you can tell the author knows more beyond what they show. Sadly the narrative restricted what we saw of this world and the pace made it difficult at times to soak in the settings and vibes of places.
- As a genderfluid individual, there is a chapter within this book that makes me feel seen in a way I've not felt before. Genderfluid representation is hard to come by, especially well done rep, so to find a book that so wonderfully puts to words what it feels to be genderfluid is utterly amazing. For that chapter alone I would recommend this book to anyone who isn't cisgender. There's also well written sapphic and nonbinary representation.
- The chapters switch between the perspectives of several different characters and I really enjoyed how it was done. Being aware of this twisting situation that each character has different involvement and investment in was fascinating and made the story easy to read and follow.
Beautiful, mystical and queer. Highly recommend for the representation and interesting world.