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.

This book took me a little by surprise. I was expecting the magical element but not the political undertones of the story.

The world is beautifully crafted with a diverse set of characters. The prose itself is flowing and easy to follow.

I wanted to love it but it fell a little flat for me. I think it was too high fantasy for my tatstes. I'm glad I got to give it a chance though!

**Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.**

Tokuda-Hall has beautiful writing that brings you into the world of "The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea" with a different outlook on relationships and pirate-life; however, there is more focus on the former than the latter.

Unfortunately, I was only able to get through approximately 55% of the book before I had to stop. The story line is interesting and I kept reading to see what would happen next, but each twist seemed really obvious or poorly drawn out.

I'm hoping to pick this up again and give it another chance, but not anytime soon.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. All the opinions are my own.

I fell in love with the cover of The mermaid, the witch and the sea and I wasn't disappointed in the story, that's very captivating and interesting.

The pirate Florian (who is actually Flora) is ready to do anything to survive in a world dominated by men and she's sailing on the Dove, where on board is also lady Evelyn Hasegawa, an highborn lady, who is travelling towards an arranged marriage. When Flora/Florian discovers the plan of the captain and the crew to enslave their wealthy passangers, she decided to act. Attracted to each other, Evelyn and Florian fall in love and decided to do anything in order to control their own fates, in a world, above all for women, where they have to follow rules and others' wishes.

The mermaid, the witch and the sea is an amazing book, full of complex and interesting characters.
Flora/Florian is a desperate orphan that decided to become a pirate, but fell in love with an imperial lady and they fight together in order to be free and in love. In this book, there are so many plot twists, revelations, magic, mythical creatures and above all the characters stuck out, because they are amazingly written and well rounded.
I really loved this book! It's a skillfully written fantasy, set on high seas, with forgotten memories, mermaid's blood, witch's magic, love and connection.

The word mermaid in the title caused me to request this book wasn't quite what I expected. I though this would be a somewhat lighthearted tale but it's actually quite heavy and not what I need at the moment.

**ARC from NetGalley**
This book is intriguing from start to finish.I quite enjoyed the gender fluidity of the main character Flora/Florian and their journey from orphan to pirate to falling in love and beyond. The Sea holds her secrets and her favors close.

First off, take a look at that cover and how stunning it is? I’ll admit, the cover is what made me hit the request button before I learned what this book was even about. Then I read the summary and I was even more excited.

The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea is going to take you on a magically journey of you guessed it, mermaids, witches and the sea. Tokuda-Hall did an amazing job of a building a world that completely immerses the reader from the first page. Her characters were complex and all had motives of there own in why they did what they did. The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea is full of adventure and contains some twists that you might now see coming.

The ending of this book made me tear up and I think that Tokuda-Hall wrapped this story up in a satisfying way that will leave readers content. Their only complaint would be that they might want more!

Summary

A Love Story: In Three Parts. We have pirates, mermaids, witches, and politics. What more could a reader ask for? Evelyn is set to marry a very important man even though she would rather stay home with her handmaid. Flora is girl pretending to be a boy, Florian, on a slaver that is pretending to be a charter ship named, The Dove.

Evelyn’s and Florian’s stories weave together when Evelyn boards the Dove in order to travel to her newly betrothed. Florian is assigned to be Evelyn’s own personal guard which leads to Evelyn teaching Florian how to read. Their relationship is truly put to the test when the Dove is revealed to truly be a slave ship.

Thoughts on Writing and Creativity

I immediately like Flora/Florian. She was a girl trying to survive in a man’s world, and she had clearly earned her right to be in that world. I was hesitant to like Evelyn, but that’s because I don’t get attached to exceptionally girly characters. Being and exceptionally girly character isn’t Evelyn’s fault - I blame her parents. Evelyn eventually stands up for herself and becomes a more interesting character who is willing to make sacrifices in order to get what she truly desires.

I really loved the fairy tale feel of the interludes that broke up the main parts of this story, and the fairy tale feel of the witch’s tales that were told to Florian.

My biggest concern was how slow the beginning of this novel was. It was really dragging on, and then all of a sudden there was a mermaid involved. And I was invested. This is not to say that the beginning of this novel did not contain necessary plot building, but maybe that plot building could happen a little bit faster. After the discovery of the mermaid, the plot moved along quite swiftly.

I liked the bond between Flora and Evelyn and how the two of them found one another and fell in love. I liked the adventure they went on together and the characters around them. This was an interesting story of love and adventure.

Pirate stories are some of the best stories around. This is a fantastical ocean adventure full of mythical creatures and disguises. I loved the world-building Tokuda-Hall created. It was different from other pirate stories in tone and the characters are flawed and sometimes downright unlikeable.

Overall, I loved the moments I didn't like them as much as the moments I was captivated by their adventure. I liked most of the romance but also wanted a little more from the main pair.
I found the beginning and the prologue a bit confusing and it took me a bit of time to get into the groove of the story.

Queer, pirates and mermaids do I need to say more?

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me get this e-arc early.

This story has quiet a few stories from the imperial girl Evelyn who doesn't fit in, unloved by her family. Flora/florian an orphan who got a job on sea with her brother. Who hides her identity to stay safe only to come out a strong person. Rake, a red headed spy working for the supreme trying to help him and the sea take vengeance on those who drank mermaid blood.

Fate, love, deceit... A good read for anyone up for adventure. I only wish some of the holes that were left in the book were filled.

A solid 4 stars

I love books that have romance, magic, fantasy, adventure and this book has it all, spend a pleasant moment with this book, I pulled laughter, worry and I love the dark side that has the story.
The world that the author poses is spectacular, every detail and the narrative is wildly.
I connected quite well with the characters that has their unique essence.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book in advance in its publication.

Fans of action-packed swashbuckling romances in the style of 'The Princess Bride' will love Maggie Tokuda-Hall's "The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea."

The beautifully written and plotted story has tightly woven twists and turns, and nothing ever quite goes as planned. Our lovely leading heroes feel real and honest (and if their love-at-first-sight is a little too dreamy, it's what we expect from a romantic adventure). Topics of gender and roles are discussed thoughtfully but is not a main focus of the story; once everyone is on the same page, the adventure commences immediately. Even beyond our main characters, the friends and family and folks met along the way feel fully fleshed out, where it felt like they might wander off the page and have their own adventures some day.

"The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea" is one of those rare books that ends too soon as is enjoyable along the whole way. Recommended for everyone.

Description :
A desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial daughter find a connection on the high seas in a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic.

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.


Review:
This is a story about love, pirates, mermaids and adventure, what more could you ask for ? I truly enjoyed this book, though I felt at some points it seemed a bit rushed. The character development could have been a bit more thorough.
I will definitely recommend this one :)

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a stunning YA debut combining pirates, witches, and mermaids in a new and refreshing mythology. Tokuda-Hall’s lovers—a Black genderfluid pirate and a courageous royal—are fascinating both together and apart and their romance lives at the heart of this adventure, which takes unexpected twists and delights at every turn. A thrilling and queer adventure for readers looking for a bright new take on old favorites.

A book about mermaids AND witches? You bet I'm reading it. The sea, meh, that's here nor there on whether I care about the actual setting of the book to be honest. I enjoyed this book for the most part. It was super easy to read and well written. Nothing too hard to comprehend when I'm on the cliff of a book slump still. It was actually a breeze to get through and therefore a perfect book for me to read right now.

I do think however, that this book would have been an even more amazing trilogy. I have a feeling there might be a second book based on how the ending went. However, I do think that this book itself could have been written into a trilogy and I would have maybe enjoyed it more. I say maybe, because of course it could be crap as a trilogy, and I'm not taking blame for that.

I do think that The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea could have each been their own books in this series. The concept to each one "part" in this book, I would have read more about. I think that the bare bones of the plot was great and could have used more time to appreciate the authors writing. Everything happened all at once, which is never a bad thing, and who am I to judge stand alone novels right now, in my sort of slump. It's what is getting me onto reading the next book. But I would have much rather enjoyed more time for each story. And of course that's just my opinion.

This is, essentially, a LGBTQ romance novel that happens to place is a semi-fantasy alternative earth. I was expecting more emphasis on magic, more of a fantasy novel with a bit of romance tossed in. The writing isn't bad, but the romance is not particularly compelling. In fact I generally felt the romance got in the way of what would have been an interesting story. Maybe the author will write more non-romance stories in this universe?

Reading the Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is a lot like driving through Texas.

Now, there’s a lot of ways I could go with this. If you’ve ever driven through Texas, you know what I’m talking about.

You know that moment you cross the state lines and your GPS tells you the next turn is in 853 miles. Yeah, that’s no fun.

I could also be meaning that by driving through Texas you get Buc-ees. Who doesn’t love Buc-ees? Amazing!

But in fact, what I’m actually referring to is the consistency of the drive. And it’s a glorious thing, but it doesn’t come without it’s downsides.

What do I mean?

Texas is flat (for the most part). And the highways are straight (for the most part). And the speed limit is consistent (for the most…you get the idea).

There’s nothing I love more about driving through Texas than the 80 mile-an-hour speed limit with almost no traffic in sight.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a lot like this because it’s a good, steady adventure from start to finish. I didn’t feel there were any slow parts, even right there at the beginning.

It gripped my attention early, and didn’t let up.

But consistency has a price.

I like my stories to ratchet up the excitement as we get to the climax. But the pace really didn’t change at all.

Let’s dive into it in more detail.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea Review

The book starts out with Flora, a small pirate girl on a ship full of ruthless men.

The captain initiates her into the crew after she slits the throat of a passenger. Her name is then changed to Florian and she starts to dress as a man.

It’s easier for her to fly under the radar of the lustful men if she pretends to be a man.

Then we switch to Evelyn Hasegawa who is a traditional Asian girl in a typical Asian household. Except Evelyn has a secret.

She loves women.

And that doesn’t sit with her traditional upbringing at all. Her parents seek to separate her from her love (her maid) by marrying her off to some important general who lives 7 months away by sea.

The ship she’s to be sent away on is a passenger vessel called the Dove. Except this is no passenger vessel, it’s a slaver in disguise, and it’s the ship that Florian serves on.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea takes place almost exclusively on this ship during the long journey to the Floating Islands.

But the ship will never make it to its destination as Evelyn is set to be sold as a rich noble virgin to some lowlife on the black market.

Cue suspense and high-stakes drama.

The Mermaid

The book is aptly named the Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, since the book is split into three parts, each that focus on these three items.

The first is the mermaid.

Mermaid are a highly sought after black market item. Their blood has magical properties that allow the drinker to lose distant memories of pain and anguish.

The captain of the Dove has drank the mermaid blood so much that he’s forgotten his own name, and thus he’s called the Nameless Captain.

His penchant for mermaid blood also makes him a target for the Pirate Supreme, who protects the Sea and her children.

This animosity creates a nice side-story with some pretty exciting moments throughout the book.

The Witch

Witches are supposed to be extinct. But nobody can truly snuff out magic.

Kill all the currently existing witches and more will be born in the future. This is just a turn used to relate to any magic user.

Evelyn and Florian eventually meet a witch in the story, and the parts of the book that revolve around the witch are some of the most interesting in the whole book.

Tokuda-Hall outdoes herself with these sections. It’s pure brilliance and took a lot of creativity to craft the many tales, lessons, and details given by the witch.

The witch is neither good nor bad. She isn’t a complete ally, but she’s also not an enemy.

It’s difficult to explain, but suffice it to say, our heroes need to stay on their toes around her.

The Sea

The Sea is not just a body of water.

Think of her as you would Gaia, Mother Earth.

The Sea is an ethereal, god-like being. She is the Sea, but she has no body. Everything that lives in the Sea is her children.

But this is not some higher feeling, she is real and she has will and personality.

The Sea is all about protecting her children, and she is very jealous. She is the enemy of all who would hard her children or taken them from her, even if her children want to leave voluntarily.

This makes the Sea also a bit of a gray character.

Overly protective to a fault, yet powerful and benevolent at the same time.

Evelyn and Florian also have direct interaction with the Sea, and one of the most magical moments of the whole book involves the Sea.

Final Thoughts

The story keeps its pace throughout and held my interest. But as I noted earlier, I never really felt it ratchet up in intensity as we approached the climax.

I remained neutral.

My interest held, but never became enthralling excitement.

Additionally, there’s a lot of introspection/retrospection going on in the Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea.

What I mean is that the characters frequently stop what they’re doing to recall a previous event and recount in to themselves in great detail.

It was kind of jarring to frequently do this. It’s almost like the book just needed to start a lot earlier. Or flash back entirely Once Upon A Time style.

It might be this very thing that prevented the story from ever getting more exciting.

Just when you’re getting into it, we spend several pages looking back, taking you out of the moment.

It’s for these two reasons that I dock half a star each from the Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea.

4/5 stars