Everything I've ever wanted from a fantasy

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is the story of the Lady Evelyn and the pirate Florian as they are thrown together aboard a pirate ship called the Dove. They encounter mermaids and witches and embark on the adventure of their lifetimes as they are forced to face their own identities and forces that conspire to keep them apart.

As a lifelong fan of The Pirates of the Caribbean, I feel like this book was kind of made for me. It has all the fun elements of that -- a coalition of sea-loving pirates facing down the evils of colonialism and capitalism -- with a whole lot of queerness thrown on top.

I loved the fantasy elements that Tokuda-Hall added: her version of mermaids, her version of witchcraft. I enjoyed the elements of espionage and intrigue; the conspiring forces that wove against each other, each believing they'd outsmarted the other.

I thought the book was well-paced and well written, but I have one gripe: the characterization. There were characters I wanted more from (Rake? Genevieve? The Lady Ayer?) and even the main characters could have had more going for them. In a lot of ways, Evelyn was a very typical "not like other aristocrats" who falls for the first commoner she interacts with. Florian was the only character in the story who felt fully, completely fleshed out, likely because a big part of her story involved self-discovery.

Here's the thing though: honestly I didn't mind the relatively flat characters, which seems really odd to me. But I think the reason is that I never felt the need to feel deeply connected to them in order to deeply connect with the book. I was always fascinated by the world or the themes or the adventure, but if you are a person who needs to feel close to characters, this book may not be for you.

If you're a fan of pirates and adventure and fantasy, though, I'd wholeheartedly recommend giving The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea a read.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.