Title: The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea.
Author: Maggie Tokuda-Hall.
Format: E-ARC (all opinions are my own!)
Publisher: Candlewick Press.
Page count: 368.
Release day: May 5th 2020.
Genre: YA, fantasy.
Rating: 2 stars.
Rating:
Characters: 4/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Writing: 6/10
Plot: 5/10
Intrigue: 4/10
Logic: 4/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Average: 4.57
My thoughts:
The first third of this book was very intriguing, especially the prologue. I really wanted to know what the deal was with these pirates. I especially thought Rake was an interesting character. Then the middle part started and it was almost only focussed on the romance between the two main characters. But the first third was more focused on plot and didn’t make me care about these characters very much. So I honestly didn’t care about their romance. The last third was more plot focussed again, but the story had already lost my attention.
I liked that the pirates were all very dark characters! I just really didn’t care for out main characters Flora and Evelyn.. And also I didn’t really like how their romance developed. As in it was just there, and then they wanted to do everything for each other..
There were POVs added near the ending of the book and I cared way more about their story then those of Flora and Evelyn, so it was kinda sad we didn’t get more from them
I really didn’t enjoy the pacing in this book, it felt really off. As I mentioned, this book was kinda split into three, and each third felt a bit like a different story that didn’t fully connect. First we had pirates, then we had romance and witchcraft, and then the ending felt like it was trying to squeeze a whole book in 100 pages..
I think this book had potential, but was missing out on many parts. Idk how to properly describe it.. It definitely had good ideas, but I think some parts were underdeveloped. Like the witchcraft I mentioned, she started to learn it, used it twice, and then it was barely mentioned again.. like what is the point then!?