The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
Ratings11
Average rating3.8
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.
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.
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Content Warning
Series
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Maggie Tokuda-Hall.
Reviews
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Reviews with the most likes.
I like this book a lot. The way gender diversity is portrayed with such nonchalance was amazing. The story did go very quick and skipped some bits or went through them really fast that I would have like to have seen explored further. I really loved the idea of the sea as this godly entity with immense power instead of just a natural force. The personification of such things is always super beautiful and interesting to me.
Some of the descriptions of events were a bit bland for my taste but I still thoroughly enjoyed the story as well as the many diverse and complex characters. Definitely worth a read.
A goal for 2021 is to read more fantasy because I'm often like, “Oh I LOVE fantasy!!” but then when I look at what I've read it's a lot of . . . science fiction. And I do really like fantasy. I've just been on a space kick for the last few years. So more fantasy.
Anyway, this was great! If you're looking for a queer, magical pirate story this is for you! I also liked how there's a nonbinary Pirate Supreme and the Imperial/Japanese influence on the world-building was cool.
