File this one under books I wanted to love and just couldn't. I have a hard time with pretty morally gray characters in YA. I love them where they're appropriate, but this book's cover looks like a MG fantasy-adventure and I feel as though it reads very differently.

One of my biggest issues was the characters. Almost everyone in this book is a jerk or worse. Even the mains themselves are not great.

Like many I was intrigued by the cover art and premise, but I ended up DNF about 1/2 of the way in. I just didn’t find the characters all that engaging and the story didn’t hook me like I thought it would. It’s not a bad book, just not for me, I think.

I was intrigued by the premise and the gorgeous cover art, but this just didn't do it for me. DNF at around 30%.

I really enjoyed the premise, and a couple of the characters but unfortunately I ended up dnf’ing this book at the 53% mark. I felt that I wasn’t the intended audience for this story, which left me feeling uninterested and not invested in the plot.

Actual rating - 3.5

I debated rounding it off to 3 rather than 4 but ultimately decided against it because despite the inconsistent pacing and a rushed romance, the ending somehow made me feel emotions and that's reason enough to bump up the rating.

In a world where the Imperial powers have colonized almost every land available, the sea herself resists against the emperor. If you're picking up this book, look forward to a sentient sea, mermaids who are born of memories, and witches who can change the future by truly knowing the past. That said, the book is brutal too for it's very accurate description of what colonialism is and the direct and indirect horrors it forces upon people.

TW: colonialism, depictions of death, torture, mention of sexual assault, homophobia

So, this was absolutely one of my favorite reads of 2020, and it took me far too long to review it... why? Because I don't have the words to describe the magic of this swashbuckling, queer adventure!

It has: swoony sapphic romance; a genderfluid pirate lead coming into themselves; mermaid liberation; powerful witches; anti-imperialist resistance (to be explored more in the sequel out in fall 2023!) and the sea as a character! This book, while containing some of my very favorite things, is like nothing else I have ever read- and that is a truly beautiful and marvelous thing!

I highlighted this book on my Booktube channel. The video can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/07eltMoOJZ0

Pirate books!!!!!!!! Gay books!!!!!! Gay Pirate books!!!!!!!
This was great! I need more pirate books in my life, and this was a fantastic way to sate my desires. Danger, secrets, help in unlikely places and magic are just some of the ways this book keeps up with its lightning quick plot, without becoming confusing or messy. This story fits so much in and was a great read - I need more stories from this world and these characters ASAP please! Not to mention very queer. Gimme more pls.

I received a free ARC through Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

"The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea" by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is a thrilling and imaginative tale set in a fantastical world of pirates, mermaids, and magic.

Pros:

Unique Worldbuilding: The book creates an intricate and fascinating world that blends the real-world aspects of piracy and the magical world of mermaids and witches seamlessly. It is creative and innovative.
Diverse Representation: The book features a diverse cast of characters, including people of color, queer characters, and characters with different gender identities. This representation makes the book more inclusive and relatable to a broader audience.
Well-crafted Characters: The characters are well-written and have distinct personalities that make them feel real. They have individual backstories and motivations, which make them more compelling to follow.

Cons:

Slow Pacing: The book's pacing is slow at times, making it difficult to maintain the interest. Tokuda-Hall focuses too much on world-building at the cost of plot development, resulting in a slow narrative. which I found boring at times.
Confusing Terminology: The book has a lot of specific terminology unique to the world, which can be challenging to understand and keep track of. This can make it difficult to follow the story.
Lack of Closure: The book leaves several plotlines unresolved, which made the ending feel inclómplete to me.

Overall, "The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea" is a unique and creative tale with well-crafted characters and a diverse representation. However, the book's slow pacing and confusing terminology was not really for me.

I loved almost everything about this book - pirates? Yes. Queer girls with magic? Yes. Mermaids? Yes. Yes to all of these. An absolutely gorgeous standalone fantasy. Loved this so much.

An absolutely lush incredible pirate adventure story. I ate this up from start to finish. It's queer and diverse and full of life and it felt like I was on the boat with the characters.

Did not completely finish as this was not one of my favorite books, and I will not be posting the review to Goodreads. I really found the writing to be somewhat off-putting.

Such a great book! I enjoyed reading this one so much! I highly recommend this book. Side note: the cover!!!! Actually bought this book because I loved it so much!

What happens when you combine a world of sapient mermaids, urchins forced into piracy, and an unlikely unrequited love? You get this tale, where mermaids try to avoid getting caught, and often fail at that, and an ambitious Emperor declaring war on his people.

An adventure book is one that I always look forward too! This is one of my top list to read. As soon I get into my read everything started great. It was fun and enjoyable read however the second half it start to swift and I got disinterested witht he plot. Like everything fall onto the ground and I couldn’t catch up.

Nevertheless, I love there’s a twist which instantly help me to focus back with the story. Overall, it is a fun adventure, quirky character, love the adventure.

Thank you Candlewick Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for a review. The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea was a lovely and fun book filled with a lot of adventure and heartfelt friendships. It was also a bonus that the main characters were poc and lgbtq. The story was really interesting as it also tackled questions about gender and identity as Flora and Evelyn set off on adventures together. I love the amount of diverse characters we meet and social issues that it tackles. It's definitely an exciting read; highly recommend to those in middle/high school!

Did not finish.
Confusing.
May need to try to read again in the future.
Not in my wheelhouse nor my library demographic.

The story telling was a little slow but I loved the romance! It just felt so free and this story took me on the most amazing journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.