Flora and her brother are pirates sailing with the Dove, a ship that passes itself off as a passenger vessel but actually sells all its passengers into slavery. Trying to fit in, Flora takes on the persona of Florian, the handsome young pirate lad, who’s able to survive under any sort of conditions. But then he meets Evelyn.

Lady Evelyn Hasegawa is traveling on the Dove to marry a man she’s never seen and never met. Reluctant to accept her fate, she’s bundled up with all her belongings, coffin included, onto the ship and forced to leave the only home she’s ever known.

But when a mermaid is caught in one of the Dove‘s nets, the pirate and the lady will embark on a new destiny, one neither of them expected.

I got an advanced reading copy of The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea in exchange for an honest review.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a young adult fantasy novel by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. It’s Tokuda-Hall’s first young adult novel, but not her first book. In fact, she wrote a very cute-looking picture book called Also an Octopus some time before. Looks like she really likes her ocean themes!

Anyway, I should dive into a review of this book, shouldn’t I?

The book is told mostly through Evelyn and Flora’s POVs. They swap fairly frequently, the chapters being relatively short, and we as an audience spend a good amount of time in both of their heads. Occasionally, we also get some exterior POVs, one of which is the Sea, which I particularly enjoyed, as well as some other more minor characters. And while at first you might not understand why we’re getting seemingly random third-party perspectives, and not just those of our main characters, trust that there’s a reason and it will show up eventually. I know I had my moments of doubt, but eventually it made sense to me.

Since I’ve started with the very basic structure of the book, I might continue on this for a bit. Mainly the chapter structure. I’m not sure if this just felt like a lot to me in my reading, but I thought it was interesting how so many chapters had the characters flashing back to sometime in their past to explain something about their present. I didn’t notice it too much at first, but the more I read, the more flashback sequences popped out at me, and honestly I lost track of how many there were. I understand that these were put into each chapter to explain something about the characters, but after so many, I felt a little taken out of the present narrative, since I was making so many trips to the past, and I would have liked a few more things to be shown and not told to me through memories that explained exactly why the character was doing x.

Continuing on the structure, I’ll say that the book is led by a very loose plot rather than anything else. I felt like the plot for the first part of the book was Flora and Evelyn’s budding romance, as well as the very real danger Evelyn was in, since I as the reader knew that she was going to be forced into slavery. But that plot disappeared about halfway through the book, and suddenly I felt myself floundering and trying to figure out what the new plot was. I was given a few breadcrumbs, which eventually turned into a whole meal at the end, but I wasn’t completely satisfied. (I know, I know: probably not the best metaphor for this but I’m eating cookies and that’s all I could think about.) It felt loosely threaded together, and while the plot turned into something much bigger than expected, I struggled a bit with it all.

I should maybe talk about the characters now. As I previously mentioned, we have our two main characters: Flora and Evelyn. Flora is non-binary and described as having dark skin and hair, while Evelyn Hasegawa’s names and cultural influences seem to be Japanese: she wears a kimono and she and her mother perform the tea ceremony. There is so much diversity in this book and I loved it! Non-binary people seemed to be the norm in some places too, and it was great to see how they could be accepted, and to see Flora come to accept two parts of their identity as being them. (In case you’re curious, Flora does say within the narrative that they’ll accept any pronoun.)

They’re great characters to follow in this story, and I thought their love was very sweet. There was little of the drama that you usually find in some other books, but their relationship grew from something and I thought it was so nice to see them together. And they both made huge strides through the book in terms of development, both of them becoming much more than they’d ever expected.

But then I come to the topic of the other characters involved in this book. Am I the only one who gets frustrated when there are characters who are evil for no reason? This book has so many of them! Evelyn’s parents are cruel and don’t love her, considering her only worth to be the potential to sell away to a husband. And there’s other characters like this peppered throughout the book too: characters who just appear to be evil for the sake of being evil. They felt pretty flat to me, and I found myself annoyed every time one of them came onto the page.

Although I did like the Witch. Maybe I liked her because she wasn’t one-dimensional like the others. She was neither good nor evil, but seemed to want to serve herself over anything. Her chapters were fun and felt almost storybook-like, although they seemed a bit misplaced where they were in the middle of the book. But she was excellent! The way that magic works in the world of this story has a lot to do with storytelling, and I love how Tokuda-Hall wove them together through the pages. It was so well done!

Speaking of something else that was well done, the character of the Sea was inspired. A large part of the story takes part on a ship, after all, so to have the Sea as an actual character in the book, someone who had thoughts and feelings, who could influence the turn of events by either helping the characters or turning against them in all her fury, was brilliant.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea was a fun and easy read, with more than a few surprises hidden in its pages, although I found the plot to be a bit disconnected.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea will be released on May 5 by Candlewick. You can pre-order your copy here.

3.5 stars rounded up

Florian is a pirate on the Dove and a crewmember of the Nameless Captain. While life aboard the Dove is harsh, it's better than life on the street. For Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, her journey on the Dove is most unwanted as she heads to the Forbidden Isles for an arranged marriage. There are larger plots at play, however, and in a colonized world where the Sea has a memory of her own, Florian and Lady Eveyln have secrets to uncover - both about the world they live in and who, in their hearts, they really are.

This story moved right along with me. I liked the Sea as a plot device, how it has a memory and a story. While I wanted more from the "magic" in the book, I did like how one gets the power to do magic. I just wanted more of that and I would've liked a few more of the loose ends tied up when it was over. However, I really liked the exploration of gender, looking at it both as how you feel about your OWN gender as well where the person you love fits on the spectrum of gender and how much relevance gender plays in the love equation. The colonialism theme was interesting as well - the idea that one group of people believes it deserves land that's not actually there, that one culture's superiority gives it the right to eliminate others. It's not a perfect book but I always wanted to read it and if it had been longer, I would've been happy to read more :)

"Perhaps the pirates and the witches were right to worship the sea. The sea did not die. The sea was no man".

*3.5

This book is so beautiful. I think there is no other way to describe it. With an almost lyrical and soft writing, Maggie Tokuda-Hall introduces themes such as colonialism, exploitation, human ambition and even sexual abuse in a careful way. It is a story about deciding your destiny and living your life the way you choose. It is a story of love, respect for nature and survival. A story where the sea is a character, trying to save loved ones from those who want to destroy it and erase their identity.
Another point in favor of this novel is that it features a diverse and queer set of characters. There is POC, lesbian and non-binary representation. Without a doubt it is one of the most diverse books that I have had the pleasure of reading.
Although I think it is a good book, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and which I found very addictive, it is not perfect. The story seemed superficial to me, I think it lacked development in the world and also in the characters, since although we had some information about them, it was not enough to comprehend the plot enterely.
Also, I don't know if there will be a sequel, but the end was very open, after certain situations occurred that seemed even miraculous and convenient. Definitely, I think a more defined closure was missing.
Despite everything, "The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea"" was a book that I liked a lot, with a beautiful romance, with pirates, battles, mermaids, and a lot of magic, with great representation, which is always appreciated. It could have been better executed, but I still recommend it for the nice feeling it leaves after reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ebook to review!
All opinions expressed are my own.

Review was also posted on Goodreads.

The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌠
Pub Date: 5/5/20
I just finished this one today and what a ride it was! When I first heard about it I was told that the only way to describe it was in exclamation points and I don't disagree. It is such a trip and full of diverse characters and adventure. Towards the beginning I was a little confused as to how everything would connect, but the author managed to weave everything together super well.
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Essentially it's a queer love story between an orphan sailor and a girl on her way to meet her soon to be husband. Evelyn is to set sail after being cast out and sold by her parents to go and meet a man on an island. She must travel for multiple months upon a ship to get there, but the ship has its own plan. Flora/Florian is an orphan who managed to gain access to the ship with her brother in exchange for their work. They both are sailors on said ship and when Evelyn arrives, Florian is tasked with watching over her. Neither one of them could have predicted what would've happened next.
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I love the unpredictability of this story. There is magical realism, mermaids, witches, queer POC protagonists, lesbians, non-binary characters, badass warrior women, and a love story. It's a critique of colonialism and a celebration of mother nature and her power. It's a celebration of the power of women honestly.
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If you're a person who demands a label, Flora/Florian is most likely bigender or genderfluid. It's never really specified but Flora is a narrator but she works aboard the ship as Florian. They don't have a preference for pronouns and use both names at different parts of the story.
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There's a nonbinary pirate captain, lesbian mermaids, and a cool af queer witch.
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My one critique of this book is the lack of closure for side characters. The two MCs end up with an ending of sorts, but there is a lot of subplots that go unfinished.
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All in all though I highly recommend if you're in search of a queer fantasy story with pirates and mermaids ✌️
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Thanks again to @candlewickpress and @netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story was so whimsical. The writing style was something I struggled with, particularly the scenes with the witch. However I did enjoy it, read it in 2 settings. Will try other things by this author.

I read the description for this book and went in so excited I was practically turning back into a 14 year old. It took about a quarter of the book to get drawn in fully despite all this excitement and I was. not let down. The characters are stunning and vivid and thoughtful and humorous and important and INCREDIBLE. The world building was incredible, I felt like I was on the ship with these people the entire time.

It has a slow start- in my opinion- but the book was wonderful. This was my first foray into this Author and I am so looking forward to reading more.

Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, as the pirates prepare to sell their unsuspecting passengers into slavery, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian.

Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood, which causes men to have visions and lose memories) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, and the all-encompassing Sea itself.- Goodreads

There is a lot going on in this novel but happily enough the author broke down this book into different POC and sections. I loved that because it shows skills as a writer.

There is a lot of character building in this novel and it stresses the fact that not everyone is who/what they seem. I liked Flora. For everything that she had to do in order to live, to help her brother and Evelyn, she was honest with herself and that is oddly hard to fine in Young Adult books.  Flora was realistic with her environment and what she needed to do but she open minded and I liked that.

Evelyn, however, was alright. She was the typical I am not your average rich person. She played her role really well but there was nothing ground breaking about her. The aspect of this novel that I really enjoyed was the mermaid/the sea. I love magical stories even with realistic situations to them. I would have loved to see more history and details in this particular part of the story but I was entertained.

The pace of the novel was good. There were painstakingly slow moments, where nothing at all was going on but it was worth it. This is my first read by this author and I am looking forward to see what else she has in store. 

Overall, 

3 Pickles

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a hard book to review because I liked it and didn't like it at the same time. I was also confused by the pacing of the story it felt like it jumped around too quickly.

Things I did not like.

Most of the characters.

I don't like insta love. I mean how did they even fall in love? All Evelyn did was teach Florian/Flora to read. Their interactions were not delved deeply enough for me to get a sense of a romantic relationship. I thought both were pretty flat.

Flora/Florian confused me. Flora disguised herself as a boy to fit in on the ship. She did not do so because she was confused about her gender identity. Later she is confused about herself and I suppose from that takes on the non-binary identity. The only thing that helps me make sense of this is she spent so much time pretending to be a boy that she lost herself. I don't know it was confusing. Even at one point Rake refereed to Florian as a she. That could have been an author mistake.

I would have wanted more world building. It is not clear how communications is done. How was the Nameless Captain able to steal whole ship loads of people and sell them off as slaves without anyone of the Empire knowing or stopping them? Maybe I missed something.

We get it Lady Ayer was the Empires most formidable operative even though she was female and never received her due credit. This was repeated very frequently at the end and I found myself rolling my eyes at every mention.

What I liked

The magic but there was not enough of it. I loved the concept that magic is achieved through the telling of stories. However, there was only a tiny snippet of it in the story and only served as a reuniting mechanism. It was not clear on why the witch was waiting for Flora. It is not explained why she was so special.

I loved the sea and her mermaids. I believe they were my favorite of the characters. Mermaids are my jam.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I would recommend this book to readers who love sea adventures and want a different kind of romantic relationship.

This book was absolutely magical. Things I thought would happen at the end, happened near the middle. Leaving much more story to be told than I had anticipated. Flora & Evelyn took my breath away.

I feel like in the past year, I've read a lot of fantasy that really pushes the envelope, and this definitely falls into that category. It's a fascinating mix of Asian culture, pirate stories, and fantasy, sort of like if you combine Naomi Novik with Pirates of the Caribbean. This book has phenomenal world building, perhaps some of the best I've read this year. It's atmospheric and evocative, and the motivations of the characters are well-crafted. It is getting four stars instead of five due to the fact that the front portion of the book drags (seriously: I almost quit a few times) and there are definitely sections that could have used tightening up. But overall, it's a fascinating read full of new ideas.

When I first read the description for this book, I was hoping that it would take me on a high seas adventure and I would feel like I was in Pirate's of the Caribbean. The beginning of the book swept me away, and I found myself submersed in the pirate crew. There was a sense of adventure, it was fun to read. I liked that the early part of the book features mermaids. While it can seem almost cheesy to include mermaids in a story that features pirates, I liked the way the author incorporated them.

Once the main characters escape the ship, taking the mermaid with them, I found myself drifting away. They eventually make it to an island, and one of the characters learns the powers of witchcraft, while the other is kept prisoner by a wealthy Imperialist that was actually supposed to be her future husband. I found that this part of the book did not grab my attention as much. Personally, I found that it wasn't as exciting to me as the previous part on the pirate ship. I understand the importance of it because it gave the story more depth. It also made it more unique than your basic pirates tale. However, it just didn't hold my attention as much and almost felt like a different story at parts. All in all, I would say it was an original story line.

The part that I fond most troubling with this book was the amount of violence it had for a young adult book. I find young adult books to be tricky sometimes, just because the audience is not adults and is meant for a younger crowd. Usually I think some violence is okay, but this one seemed a little heavy for me. I know it is a story about pirates, so there is going to be some violence, but it features at least 3 gruesome scenes where passengers throats are sliced. The main character also is punished by getting her finger chopped off. And there is mention of a character getting raped, though it does not come out and say it. While I can see this being okay with most people, I think it is something people should be aware of before they start reading it.

I picked up The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea as soon as I heard about the diversity it would include. I'm cis, but I have several nonbinary and genderfluid friends, so I was excited to see so much representation. I won't be speaking on how those particular characters are handled in relation to their genders as I do not feel it is my place to do so, but I still have plenty of things to say about the book!

There are two main groups within the novel: Imperialists and pirates. The Imperialists are based in a combination of Japanese and British Imperialist history. There are also several other nationalities mentioned, but they don't play a larger role than being under the rule of the Imperialists.

The novel begins with Lady Evelyn Hasagawa being told by her family that she's being sent off to marry a man she's never met. Evelyn isn't thrilled about this, because 1) she doesn't want to be forced out of her home, and 2) she's a gay. So Evelyn boards a ship to go marry her new husband, with a casket filled with her things (the casket has to be one of my favorite touches to the story). Once there, Evelyn meets Florian, also known as Flora, and the quickly form a bond.

I really enjoyed this book. I was surprised by several of the events in the story, and while I saw part of the ending coming, I was shocked by how the story truly ended. The plot is filled, and I mean FILLED with twists and turns. I loved the ensemble cast of characters, and how everyone seemed to be a bit different than they first appeared to be.

However, the story's pacing is incredibly fast. I felt like this could have been divided into two books, and certain parts would have benefited from the expansion. There is one section of the book involving the witch, which to me felt like an unnecessary detour. Spending more time in those locations would have allowed the character's feelings to be better explored.

The magic system in this book is interesting, though it took a while for me to understand it. Magic is inherently tied to truthful memories and stories, but it comes at a cost. The Sea itself is a sentient being, and the mermaids are her children. There's also a witch and a pirate supreme, but that's all I'll say about them.

The diversity in the novel is amazing. There's a genderfluid character, a nonbinary character, queer characters, and both main characters are people of color.

Overall, I really loved this story. It was unique and intricate and unlike other things I have read. While this is clearly a stand-alone, the author has left the door open to continue telling stories that take place in the same world. I would highly suggest this book to anyone who loves fantasy, but especially to those looking to find a wonderfully diverse read. Definitely pick this one up when it's released in May!

A fun adventure with LGBTQ romance - would recommend to all ages though it's main characters are teens.

I feel like the framework of this book, the stuff that went into the summary, was interesting, but the premise didn't necessarily pay off. I found the writing pretty lackluster, and the world-building confusing and shallow. What's particular about Rake's homeland of Quark? How widespread is the empire and how slowly does news spread if a ship can sell people into slavery for years and literally never change its name or identifying marks such as the masthead figure. And obviously regardless of any real-world influence (in this case mostly Japanese imperial with some African) this is fiction, fantasy, and can therefore include a mixture of invented cultures, but the way they were combined was somewhat baffling. For example, the maid character has her name changed to Keiko to help her fit in with imperial culture...where no one else seems to have traditionally Japanese first names.

The main pairing wasn't really engaging to me: individually, I found Evelyn sort of flat and useless and a little obnoxiously obtuse/privileged, and Flora/Florian a little overstuffed between the childhood on the street, undercover gender-disguised violent piracy, and apparent magic powers, and they seemed to be in extremely deep, death-defying love for two people who basically hung out for a month having reading lessons together.

I did find some of the mythology related to the ocean/mermaids interesting, and some of the side characters (Rake and Lady Ayer in particular) were complex, and the story did have a lot in it, but I found it sort of underdone.

I LOVED this book. And I'm so glad because it was one of my most anticipated titles coming out this spring.

It has a gorgeous cover, and luckily the inside is just as gorgeous.

We have two MCs: Florian/Flora - a black, genderfluid pirate and Evelyn - a fantasy-equivalent-of-Japanese queer (lesbian?) noblewoman. Their relationship is sweet if a little instalove-y at first, and changes both of them. And that ending! I won't spoil it, but it was unexpected and lovely.

The twist on mermaids and witches was fascinating and something I've never seen before, and I adore it.

The plot was seemingly simple but grew in complexity as the characters' layers and secrets and unexpected connections were revealed. I love how we got to see sections of the story through other eyes than our dual-POV MCs - it allowed the twists to be revealed even when the MCs were not present. Also, I really loved the interludes from the Sea's POV. They were lovely and haunting and moving.

The Mermaid, The Witch and the Sea is a Fantasy novel which first grabbed my attention with it’s gorgeous cover and the story contains mermaids, witches and sapphic romance. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED !

The story is set in the capital of The Nipran Empire, Crandon which is inhabited by the Emperor and the Imperials who were the native people of the land and much richer than the other colonies which the emperor colonized to establish their power. Evelyn Hasewaga, was a sixteen year old Imperial girl who was being send off in a ship to one of the colonial islands, the Floating Islands to marry a man ”one who does not demand too much in the way of dowry”. Flora is an orphan from one of the colonies who joined the pirates of a slave ship ‘Dove’ with her brother Alfie. There she took up the identity of Florian to protect herself and to earn respect from the sailors.

This book gives every thing which you could possibly want. There is abundance of diverity in the novel but in term of LGBTQ+ as well as racial The Empire and the colonies were representations of countries in our world such as the capital Crandon was representaion of Japan and Quark was Europe and then Tustwe from where Flora’s mother came from was Africa.Various issues such as alcoholism and poverty were talked about which were made to contrast with the rich, posh and sophisticated backgrounds of the Imperials.

The character development was pretty good. The various relationships that the characters had with each other were well written. The relationship between Flora and her mentor on the pirate ship Rake was refreshing for a change. She saw him as father figure and although he was not very affectionate and showy in his feelings, he cared about her and made her into who she was.The relation between Flora and her brother Alfie was raw and emotional. The incident of their children dented their relationships growing up and the love behind all the vexations and anger was something which I feel was wonderfully expressed in the book.

The reason why the I didn’t give the book 5 stars was just because magic was so less in the book. Yes, there is a witch but her scope was so limited. There are some bits and pieces here and there but I feel Maggie Tokuda-Hall could have made the book a lot more gorgeous by putting in more magic. Maybe it is just my whim..but I love magic okay!!!

The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea is a wonderfully written book with a great representation, swooning romance with pirates, witches and mermaids. I loved the book and would highly recommend picking up a copy.

This is one of those wondrous books that defy traditional genres. Teen brother and sister orphans run away to become pirates but when a young woman on board is about to be sold into slavery instead of being sold into marriage and the Captain becomes obsessed with catching and drinking illegal mermaid's blood, plans change. Flora, now Florian, changes her gender to become a pirate but really she isn't sure which she is more comfortable with. She is sure about her feelings for Lady Evelyn and it is this that will change the course of Flora's life. Violence, spies, magic, adventure and a love story all under an Asian umbrella marks this as something to delight everyone. I am hoping that this will become a new series. It is intended for young adults but there are plenty of adults who will enjoy it as well. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review..
I just liked this book ok.. I loved the cover, and i was satisfied at the ending. But it didn't really suck me in the way I wanted it to.. I do think that a lot of people would enjoy this story, and in fact wished that I ended up liking it more that I did..
Flora/ Florian and her brother are living on a ship that is masquerading as a passenger vessel, but is in fact a slaver ship.. Evelyn has grown up as an Imperial... and her parents have just sold her into marriage. She is boarding Florian's ship The Dove to take her to the floating islands to her future husband..
They end up catching feelings for each other throughout the journey, and at some point they catch a mermaid...
The mermaids are used for their blood, which has a drugging effect.. In fact if you drink to much you could literally forget your own name.. forever..
There are lots of twists and absolutely no one is what they seem..

Flora, seeking to hide her identity, becomes Florain among the other crewman aboard a pirate ship called the Dove. She must earn the crews respect to maintain her safety as they traverse the seas enslaving their unsuspecting and wealthy passengers. Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, a disgrace to her royal family, finds herself aboard the Dove on her way to an arranged marriage across the sea. Two young women defying their roles become an unlikely duo whose destinies become intertwined along with their hearts.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a captivating debut novel by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. This is an epic gender bending nautical fantasy with a diverse cast of characters. The novel explores the lives of several characters struggling to defy the roles in life they were given and societies expectations as they fight to create their own path in life. This was a captivating and beautifully written novel set within an enchanting realm. Although this appears to be a standalone novel, and the book doesn't necessarily have an open ending, I would absolutely love to see a continuation of this story and its characters. A must read in 2020!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to read this book early, and I feel like I had a lot of ups and downs with this book. I don’t even know how my thoughts are able to be coherent in this review, but I’m definitely going to try. From the time that I’m writing this now to the time that this ends up posting, who knows how long it’s actually going to take me, but I have been really trying to digest my thoughts for this novel to give my review the best representation as it could be. So let’s try it out, and let me know if any of these thoughts end up making sense to you.


Totally seeing the Japanese influence in this novel and I dig it so much
The Flora/Florian thing… I get it.
Evelyn’s parents suck so hard. I literally hate them.
I don’t know how I’m feeling about this book right now.

Your sex doesn’t define you
Flora had to take on the persona of Florian while she was employed on the Dove, which was a pirate ship that would sometimes disguise itself as a regular passenger ship. Throughout the book Flora and Florian would be interchanged based on I guess however they were feeling at the time, although there were some times were it would be changed in back to back sentences. That confused me a little bit, but then I realized that I guess it didn’t really matter because if that’s how Flora/Florian wanted to identify at the time, then that’s how we would refer to them. When Flora was Flora, there would be she pronouns. When Florian was Florian, there would be he pronouns. Never they since Flora was technically born a girl I guess? But there was a line where Evelyn sees that Florian is actually Flora – since all of their interactions were as Florian, and I just… really liked it.

“There are those who are neither a man nor woman. Those who were born and called the wrong gender and must reshape their story for those around them. But you. You’re something else. You’re whatever is safe. Both, maybe, but not neither. Or interchangeable. Names are funny things, because they can feel like lies but tell our truths.

You have the power to change your circumstances, and your fate, if you truly desire to
Yes, that was so dramatic but so true okay? Evelyn was pretty much sold off to some Commander on the other side of the empire to be his wife or whatever – which first of all really sucks to begin with but then the real reason why is even worse but that’s a spoiler okay – and at first she thinks that maybe this will give her an opportunity to start over with someone that will treat her better than her own parents but then… ugh is that going into spoiler territory?

BASICALLY, both Evelyn and Flora find out that they are able to get out of these situations that they feel have defined their life and their being as a whole, and they find out just how strong they are individually, and together as a team. I was just so proud of them when they figured it out, and seeing how they were able to keep each other safe and loved throughout the entire thing.

I think the more I sit on this review and think about it, the more I’m able to cry about how it ended up going, the ending, and just my overall love for Evelyn and Flora.

What price would she have paid, in those days of stolen moldy bread, to know she could be free of that fear? To be free of that constant, terrible worry? Anything. She would have paid anything.


Our two main characters Evelyn and Flora have the biggest character development in the entire book. Maybe that would have been a big obvious but not always. Evelyn had to learn how to fend for herself without having servants or anybody else to care for her, and she learned how to save herself from a situation that was not going to be good for her at all. She didn’t wait to be rescued from the Commander situation, and even did something that she never would have done in a million years! It was something that she felt could have been really superficial for her, and it was the one thing that she actually loved about herself physically, but she did it to give herself a better chance at being able to escape her circumstances and I was so proud of her for that.

Flora also learned that it was okay to identify either as Flora or Florian, whichever one she was feeling like she needed to be at the time. And even though Florian was a killer because he needed to be, and maybe he didn’t want to have to kill innocent people just because he was a pirate, he was able to use those skills to save him and Evelyn from another situation that could have ended really badly. Flora also learned something from the Witch Xenobia as well, and while I don’t remember exactly how long they were together during the novel – it seemed like time was either going really fast or really slow when we heard from Flora so I really couldn’t tell at that point – it felt like she learned a lot of how to really believe in herself and find the strength within her to change a lot of things in such a short amount of time.



A lot of the time I was feeling really confused. Maybe it was because I wasn’t very much into all of the other POVs besides Flora and Evelyn, or maybe it was weird for me how some characters would be mentioned a couple times and then not again? I don’t know, but I did end up ugly crying towards the end and I thought Tokuda-Hall was going to let me down after all that I went through in this journey, but she didn’t. I have to say that she didn’t and now I can safely say that I am okay with how this book turned out for me.

I was sooooooo pissed off at Evelyn’s parents and I’m so glad I didn’t have to deal with them for longer than necessary. So freaking irritated with Alfie – Flora’s brother – because he was such an alcoholic. Like, I understand why and I do not blame him for finding a way to cope with the violence that he faced at the hands of Fawkes but then he didn’t just keep it to regular liquor, you know? He had to drink stuff that would legit get him killed by the Pirate Supreme and that just made me so angry because he knew better! Like, come on Alfie!! Come on, now!



I feel like there was two different plots going on at the same time, and maybe that was okay but I think I was more okay with just the Flora and Evelyn plot. I get that there needed to be some sort of something happening while Flora and Evelyn were off the Dove and all that, but I don’t know. Maybe for me it was a little bit too much. Maybe the whole side plot about the Pirate Supreme wanting to end the Nameless Captain and then the whole Empire operatives on the side and then the witch stories….

Maybe it was just a lot for me, but in the end, I liked the story so I guess that works out.




I think the relationship between Flora and Evelyn is what really made this for me. Which I was so glad that I had the opportunity to read their romance and see them growth from learning about one another to themselves. I don’t know how I feel about that ending though… it does leave room for a spin-off basically but I don’t know if I even like that character enough to care about wanting to know if that person deals with their circumstances. But… maybe if there was more about Evelyn and Flora, or even more pirates and mermaids in something else, or even just another book from Tokuda-Hall. I’m okay with that. Give me more of this vibe and I’m good.