In a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic, a desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial lady find a connection on the high seas.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 … don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is headed to an arranged marriage she dreads. 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. Neither expects to fall in love.
Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, double agents, and the all-encompassing Sea herself.
Deftly entwining swashbuckling action and quiet magic, Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s inventive debut novel conjures a diverse cast of characters seeking mastery over their fates while searching for answers to big questions about identity, power, and love.
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I’m not usually a big fan of sea stories, but the story of Florian and Evelyn was masterfully done. The idea of the Sea being a mother of her mermaid daughters was fascinating. And I also loved the descriptions used, they were beautiful.
“An utterly romantic and breathless adventure that wouldn’t let me sleep until I’d devoured every last word. It’s a journey of love, magic, and self-discovery unlike any I’ve ever read.”
I just finished this. Quite something. Unlike most anything I’ve read.
There are sailors, good and bad.
Mermaids, wanted for their blood for the bad sailors to drink in order to see visions and lose memories.
A sentient sea.
Non-binary people (is that the right term for people who are both male and female?).
And so much more.
An alternative Asian empire with all the evil you could imagine and some redeeming graces, too.
I absolutely loved this book! It’s beautiful and original and had me captivated from start to finish.
“She had often thought of casket girls with pity — that their parents would be so crass, that their lives would be so transparently close to death, that their futures would be so blindingly arranged.”
‘The Mermaid, The Witch, and The Sea’ by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is a dramatic adventure filled with characters struggling to define themselves, while surviving a world that seems bent on destroying them.
This shifting narrative told from multiple viewpoints, mainly focuses around a somewhat wild imperial lady.. Evelyn and the pirate Florian.. assigned to guard her.
Flora, one half of a pair of desperate orphans and crew member of the pirate ship, the Dove.. has taken on the identity of Florian. In part, it’s a matter of survival amongst the men, but it’s also part of their journey of self-discovery.
“Know your truth, not your story.”
Lady Evelyn Hasegawa is a casket girl. She’s been sold into an arranged marriage by parents who seem to have little regard for her. Sent with her things packed neatly into her coffin, a provision offered to the husband to be. She’s always been rebellious and ‘crooked’ in her mother’s eyes. Never quite ladylike enough, but to be separated from her only friend.. sent away across the sea to assume the role of wife suddenly, is more than she can fathom.
Inexorably drawn to one another, Evelyn and Florian attempt to escape the ship and free a captured mermaid who is coveted for the effects of her blood. A prize worth a pretty penny.
“She was not a creature of courage, but she was one of spite. This one little rebellion would sate that, at least.”
Tokuda-Hall did a fantastic job of merging swashbuckling fantasy with a brooding sea magic that almost feels like it’s infused with primordial Titan mythology. I loved the author’s take on mermaids and their connection with the sea itself, as well as all the complex layers of deceit happening amongst the cast.
We do get to meet some other great characters like Alfie, Florian’s soul broken brother.. and boy is his a story. There’s also Rake, the first mate, Lafayette, the Nameless Captain.. known as such from a unique over-indulgence, Lady Ayer, a childhood friend of Evelyn’s mother who sticks close on the voyage, and Xenobia, a healer they meet on a far away land. Fawkes is particularly nasty, but in the most basic of ways.. there’s the Pirate Supreme, Xoan, who is loyal to the sea first, and I found Evelyn’s betrothed.. the Commander, to be intriguing as can be.
“She’d tried to love him out of it, nagging and begging and pleading with him. But there was nothing she could do, and she’d long since lost the energy to fight the currents so bent on drowning him.”
The book certainly holds plenty of surprises for its readers and you won’t be disappointed if you’re looking for something original, that’s smoothly crafted, and poses questions of identity.. both in who we believe ourselves to be and how others see us. I found every character led a bit of a brutal life, when you looked closely at them. It was simply the way of their world.
The characters are incredibly diverse and I found myself deeply invested in the outcome for several of them. I enjoyed seeing them reach understandings about themselves and their predicaments.. conclusions about how.. even when.. to take action. In some cases, being figuratively blasted out of complacent lives in a moment of realization that they needed to make a decision because no one else was going to.
(More reviews like this at Betwixt The Sheets.)
I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is both wonderfully unique and brilliantly written.
Written by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, the novel explores the life of a desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial daughter as they find themselves on the high seas. Together they form a connected and seek to free a mermaid and return her to the sea.
The premise itself is lovely as it works to build this magical world divided by colonialism. It shows the hardships felt by colonialism and the cruelty unleashed by it in both stark and subtle detail. Tokuda-Hall allows the reader to use their imagination, inspiring great emotion in the reader.
Tokuda-Hall’s writing style is magnificent because she spends much time showing the reader instead of telling them. She creates a beautiful world full of hardships without losing the magic and fantasy. She has these interludes that break up the story characterizing the sea. These lyrically written scenes breathe magic into the sea and give it life and personality.
The same can be said for the characterization.
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea bring Florian/Flora and Evelyn to life wonderfully. Both characters come from different backgrounds, but they bring out the best in one another. Moreover, the way they grow on their journey together make them better characters.
Evelyn is a fierce character who yearns to be true to herself and go against social standing. She befriends her servants and the pirates, befriending Florian, who is female by birth but a male on the pirate ship. Their relationship and dynamics. Florian discovers who they are on the inside and they come to terms with the grief of their past and the resentment they have come to feel with having to take care of their older brother. Evelyn, too, must come to terms with her hardships and grows stronger because of it.
Both characters grow exponentially throughout the novel, and the ending result leaves the reader enthralled in both the magic, the fantasy, and the characters themselves.
This has quite a divisive plotline and I somehow feel that many readers will struggle with what these characters actually do. Flora is a pirate using magic so that others perceive her as the very male Florian. These pirates are not nice in any way but murderers and slavers and Flora has truly earned her place. Evelyn comes from a privileged background but she’s unloved by all except her maid. The time comes for Evelyn to leave home and travel to meet the man it has been arranged for her to marry and here we get a glimpse of her true personality. I’m sure many will find her attitude cold and unfeeling but I could understand that she’s in a situation with really no power at all. Once on-board ship Evelyn becomes friendly with her guard and in exchange for companionship tries to teach him to read but life at sea can be full of danger but does the danger come from those aboard or from the sea itself ?
Yes this has a romance running through it but for this reader it was the twists and revelations particularly in the second half that really brought this to life. I wasn’t particularly enamoured by a trope that was used to bring the couple together and the relationship wasn’t particularly engaging but the deception that fuelled this story was certainly original. Perhaps I would have liked more magic and the Mermaids element could have been explored a little more but I feel the all too human intrigue and lies did make up for that. Did I like the end ? Sadly no but that’s probably because I’m a hopeless romantic and yes it made sense but still wasn’t how I wanted it to end. Oh and as I’m referring to the end I was very surprised with how the author left a rather unpleasant character but then again as most of these are morally reprehensible maybe I shouldn’t have been that nonplussed. This definitely had a clear ending but there is a way to return to this world so I wonder what the author will write next ?
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair