Gr 9 Up—A sea voyage turns violent for Evelyn, Lady Hasegawa, on her reluctant way to meet her betrothed. Her
escape with crew member Florian, along with a mermaid they plan to release, creates as many problems as it
solves. Though dark at times, Tokuda-Hall's lyrical writing balances harsh passages with themes of rescue,
retribution, and the healing power of accepting and loving yourself.

I’ve been longing for another pirate tale since reading the Wicked Bargain last year. This story did a lovely job of creating a world I could immerse myself in. While it tackled a LOT of topics, at its core it was a love story. Love for yourself, love for the sea, love of another. I would have loved to get a bit more magic in this tale, it still left me feeling like I was sipping on a warm cup of cocoa on a winter night. ( )

Pirates! Witches! Mermaids! Politics! Gender fluidity! Plot twists!! This was the only book I've read during the great stay-at-home of 2020 that I could not put down. Loved this so much, and highly recommend! ( )

Queer pirates, political intrigue, and storytelling magic? Seemed like an ideal read for this snowy weekend. And generally, I did enjoy it - the fast-paced plot and myriad threats to the heroes kept my eyes firmly on the pages. That said, the character development and relationships were somewhat lacking. I’d have loved to see much more from Rake and a general fleshing-out of the found family theme. ( )

I wanted to like this book so, so badly. Who doesn't love sapphic romance between the high class aristocrat, a prisoner to her status, and the pirate girl that has to fight tooth and nail to keep breathing? Good concept, and potential with the whole mermaid and witch thing, too.

I haven't read it in a while, but I still need to rant *ahem* *cough cough* I mean- I still need to REVIEW, so please mind the vagueness lol. This is a mess. But. I gotta start somewhere with these reviews!

For starters, the ship that the pirate girl, Flora, works on is a slaver ship. Which is more than just morally ambiguous. Maybe even irredeemable. They are teenagers, so that does help you sympathize a BIT (at least when you forget that the ship is a slave ship lol), but still really effed up.

Another issue I have with Flora is her... genderfluidity? The author is cis and I feel like the representation is poorly done. Like. The whole time Flora uses the identity of Florian as a mask, as a way to repress herself in order to survive, and the whole genderfluidity ideals that are presented contradict other ways Flora's talked about their gender. I am not genderfluid, so if I'm wrong w this please let me know! But with all of the other issues I took with the writing, I wanted to speak on this briefly, too.

Another thing with Flora. Since we're on a roll. The fact that they're a witch and have latent powers is cool, and I wish she spent more time learning about powers. But NOPE! They are there for such a short amount of time. I really liked that the author described the equal exchange of magic. It would have been cool if more came from Flora learning magic. But what came from it instead is it was used as a plot device and nothing else whatsoever. Like, they end up on this island, Flora needs to be doing something while Evelyn is learning her parents were evil, and then they need a way to get back to the ship. Make her spend time magicking and then the magic can get them back to the ship?! Oh wow cool! No character growth or relationship with magic beyond that.

Okay, and when they get back on the ship, it feels like we missed all of the action!!! And the Pirate Supreme is around for such little screen time! For shame!!!!

Okay,then as for Flora and Evelyn's relationship- insta love. That's basically the whole thing. Insta love that makes Flora abandon her only family, that apparently is an all-powerful force, blah blah blah. I wish that they had more interactions with one another.

I really liked Evelyn's character archetype, and I like where it all went and how it ended for the most part. I also liked Flora's relationship with the pirate man (HIS NAME ESCAPES ME) and the pirate man himself was super cool. It did flip around POVs a lot which I don't love but the different voices were always captured really well.

I feel like if the story was better the ending where they both turn into mermaids could have felt magical, but instead I just stared at the page with my eyes wide. Ridiculous


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