Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

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

18 reviews

lolajh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

This book make me fucking sob from start to finish. Flora is the main character, who is originally a woman disguising on her pirate ship as a man: Florian, before eventually discovering to identify as both man and woman, not just one, because neither told the whole story. Along the way Florian falls in love with a newcomer, Evelyn, who I think tries her best to understand Flora’s gender, but still comes off across a bit dodgy at times, like once when she called Florian out, who was presenting as a man at the time, as not being a guy because he didn’t have an Adam’s apple. This gives off the idea that trans men aren’t real men and vice versa, whereas I believe she shouldn’t have commented on that at all and just accepted how Florian had presented himself and identified at the time. There are also mermaids, which pirates hunt for their value and Flora and Evelyn strive to change. The ending is what made me cry with happiness and sadness most of all. Loved this book very much, Florian’s experiences with gender and dysphoria were so raw and I appreciated her character very much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Colonisation, Outing, Physical abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, Sexism, Transphobia, Gun violence, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

pleasantboat's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.5

I really really enjoyed this. What a descriptive and wonderful book. For the last half I felt like my heart was held within the pages of the book and I couldn’t stop reading… hmm…also this might start me reading about pirates again I think.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Transphobia, and Sexual harassment

sssssoup's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Dysphoria, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Vomit

Minor: Abandonment, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and War

scarlettskyes's review

adventurous fast-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Torture, Slavery, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexism, Trafficking, Murder, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Gore, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Lesbophobia and Transphobia

fairyollie's review

adventurous mysterious tense 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

4.25

it was a lovely, lovely read. a bit slow in parts, a bit too fast at the end - but lovely nonetheless. I love Maggie's writing style. the story is of a Black genderfluid pirate and their Asian-coded lesbian love. there is pirates and mermaids, lesbians, witches, the sea as a MILF- what more could you want?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Xenophobia

the sea is a MILF. I have to make that clear. the sea. is. a. milf.

baponthecob's review

adventurous hopeful fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

There were actually a lot of things in this book that I dont usually like, but I let it slide here bc I was just enjoying the story as a whole.
There was instalove, so I didnt really understand the romance. It didnt really click for me, but the way their interactions were written were just really soft and sweet :) but yeah it was very much giving high school puppy love. Imo, at the end,

Flora/Florian should have had to move on from Evelyn's death instead of joining her as a mermaid. Family was supposed to be kinda important, so I just cant see why she has just obtained a father figure and reunited with her brother only to leave them to be with a girl.

The witch arc also felt really rushed despite it being the longest part of the book. Actually all the parts just felt really fast to me? 
I was also confused by the epilogue. But, overall, a fun read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gun violence, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, War, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Vomit, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Child abuse, Medical content, Sexual assault, Confinement, and Cursing

readingpicnic's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read <3 Lots of non-binary and BIPOC representation!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia

zarap's review

adventurous dark hopeful medium-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

3.25

This was a very fun book and I'm glad I read it, but/and I also agree with what other reviewers have said about the book trying to cram too many things into one book and not developing the story elements, characters, or worldbuilding fully. I'm definitely interested in what Maggie Tokuda-Hall writes in the future! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Vomit, Rape, Misogyny, Colonisation, and Xenophobia