The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

(Edit – looks like they deleted their review I’m referencing) It pisses me off to see 1 star reviews from people that couldn’t be bothered to finish the book. They read 40% and complain about the lack of mermaids, when mermaids have a huge role in the ending of the book. Basically all their petty complaints would have been explained or resolved if they had actually read the book. Even if they hadn’t, you shouldn’t be rating a product at all if you can’t be bothered to fully evaluate it. All the other raving 5 star reviews go to show what an irresponsible reviewer they are. /rant

This was a great book with a great cast of characters and great world building. I love the writing style, and the editing was superb; didn’t notice a single spelling or gramatical error. This was an amazing fantasy lesfic.

I had preordered this book a while back and kinda forgot about it (I buy/preorder a LOT of books). When I saw it had appeared in my library this morning I read it in one sitting. Coincidentally, I had just finished another mermaid lesfic the day before, The Fate of Stars by SD Simpe, also highly recommended.

Imaginative, hard-bitten and full-hearted. I wish this book had existed when I was still figuring myself out. There’s adventure here, romance, hard-headed survivors and quick-witted courtiers. There’s a different kind of mermaid in this book than you’ve ever seen anywhere. There’s a rich kid/poor kid quest for understanding. There’s self-sacrifice and self-preservation. There’s gender questionining and budding sexuality and the coolest pirates I’ve seen in ages. It’s fast-paced and compassionate, it’s real feelings told in a fairy tale. If you know a kid whose heart is tender and maybe a little rainbow tinged, this is the book they need this summer.

Thanks to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Candlewick Press for letting me read and review this unique, different, and interesting book.
I’ve had to think about this book for a bit to try to figure out how to write my thoughts on it. I’m still not entirely sure what I think about it. I go back and forth between 3 and 4 stars but ultimately I gave it a 3.
The thing is that I did enjoy the book and the story or at least parts of it, but there were parts I didn’t like or that seemed a bit confusing to me. Anyway, this is quite a bit different than other fantasy stories I’ve read and I don’t know that I like the romance part that much, but I liked and found other aspects more intriguing such as the witch because I wanted to know more of her story. Also how the mermaids were portrayed was very unique and made me think more of sirens than mermaids.
I was more interested in the dynamics, relationship, and story between the pirate, Florian, and her brother along with the story of the Pirate Supreme and their man on the ship.
This story is about two orphans, a brother, and a sister that grow up and become pirates. Then on one of their voyages, things happen and there’s a lady headed to meet and marry another in an arranged marriage. The girl pirate, Flora/Florian, dresses and passes themselves off as a boy then begins to be friends and learn to read with the Lady that she is assigned to protect from the other crew members. As the Lady and the pirate girl spend time together, they begin to have a relationship and fall in love, but it isn’t focused on as much as the other things that happen next.
The things that are more focused on that happen next have to do with capturing and learning more about mermaids through that part of the story and getting to know the sea as a character. After that, we’re introduced more to the Pirate Supreme and such and then we have the strange ending to the story, which I can’t explain because if I do I’ll end up giving spoilers.
So, I think this story is good, but, for me, it wasn’t quite as good as I was hoping. So, if you’re interested in this book, then feel free to check it out because you could like and enjoy it more than I did.

Beautifully haunting! Too many of us dont show our true face to the world around us. No matter who you are, fight trough to be your authentic self. This is an epic action story of love, life, and self-discovery. This is one of the very best debut novels I have ever read!

At a very young age Flora and her brother were left to fend for themselves. They struggled just to stay alive. Then they were taken aboard the pirate ship Dove. Their lives were no easier, especially for a little girl, but at least they stayed warm and fed.

Flora put much of herself away becoming Florian, committing brutal acts, just to be accepted. One of the passengers set to be sold into slavery starts Flora on a road to self-discovery that may see her lose everything to regain herself.

The beautiful cover drew me in. I totally love it! Finished it in a few days because I couldnt wait to find out what would happen next.

It is well written and well-edited (I teach composition and have edited books). I teach Asian American literature and have a PhD in English (African American and Asian American literature) with 4 decades of reading fantasy literature, including all the classics (LOTR, Narnia, Pern, Earthsea, etc). I also read sci fi (Asimov, Frank Herbert, Octavia Butler, NK Jemison, etc.).

This novel measures Well as a YA novel. It is very much of the moment with a light hand, inclusive of a diverse group of characters and centering a Black female-gender fluid character and another character that might be gender non-conforming. I do wish the string Black female character didnt have to be contrasted with a weak Black male character, but that was the only flaw in an otherwise perfect first novel.

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