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The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea #2
The Siren, the Song, and the Spy
In this second vibrant fantasy from Maggie Tokuda-Hall, companion to her best-selling debut, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, a diverse resistance force fights to topple an empire in a story about freedom, identity, and decolonization.
By sinking a fleet of Imperial Warships, the Pirate Supreme and their resistance fighters have struck a massive blow against the Emperor. Now allies from across the empire are readying themselves, hoping against hope to bring about the end of the conquerors’ rule and the rebirth of the Sea. But trust and truth are hard to come by in this complex world of mermaids, spies, warriors, and aristocrats. Who will Genevieve—lavishly dressed but washed up, half-dead, on the Wariuta island shore—turn out to be? Is warrior Koa’s kindness toward her admirable, or is his sister Kaia’s sharp suspicion wiser? And back in the capital, will pirate-spy Alfie really betray the Imperials who have shown him affection, especially when a duplicitous senator reveals xe would like nothing better?
Meanwhile, the Sea is losing more and more of herself as her daughters continue to be brutally hunted, and the Empire continues to expand through profits made from their blood. The threads of time, a web of schemes, shifting loyalties, and blossoming identities converge in Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s remarkable companion to The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, as unlikely young allies work to forge a new and better world.
By sinking a fleet of Imperial Warships, the Pirate Supreme and their resistance fighters have struck a massive blow against the Emperor. Now allies from across the empire are readying themselves, hoping against hope to bring about the end of the conquerors’ rule and the rebirth of the Sea. But trust and truth are hard to come by in this complex world of mermaids, spies, warriors, and aristocrats. Who will Genevieve—lavishly dressed but washed up, half-dead, on the Wariuta island shore—turn out to be? Is warrior Koa’s kindness toward her admirable, or is his sister Kaia’s sharp suspicion wiser? And back in the capital, will pirate-spy Alfie really betray the Imperials who have shown him affection, especially when a duplicitous senator reveals xe would like nothing better?
Meanwhile, the Sea is losing more and more of herself as her daughters continue to be brutally hunted, and the Empire continues to expand through profits made from their blood. The threads of time, a web of schemes, shifting loyalties, and blossoming identities converge in Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s remarkable companion to The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, as unlikely young allies work to forge a new and better world.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2023
84 people are currently reading
5731 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Tokuda-Hall
9 books934 followersMaggie Tokuda-Hall (1984 -) is the author of Also an Octopus, The Mermaid the Witch and the Sea, its sequel The Siren, The Spy and The Song, Squad, and Love in the Library.
She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, children, and objectively perfect dog.
She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, children, and objectively perfect dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
October 4, 2023
There are a few different ways to sequel. You could pluck a couple of minor characters and put them under a microscope. Or you could blow out your world and the stakes. This book manages to do both? All while flooring it from cover to cover. Buckle up.
April 13, 2024
While this sequel isn’t bad, it isn’t really good either. It feels rushed, haphazard, and entirely random at times. As though this is the layout for a 3 book series that features a multitude of characters, plots, and creatures that eventual entwine themselves and fight a final battle. Really The Siren, the Song, and the Spy should be, could be, so much more than it is. To take the complex ideas regarding killing, death, colonization, innocence before sin, and try to put them into this teeny tiny book did not work out well.
Maybe I’m just in an epic fantasy mood but I felt we could have benefited from more of the POVs we got maybe once or twice, more exploration into the POVs own thoughts, and certainly more into the love of friendship, spouses, and familiar companion. The characters are all here, the plot is lined up, it just needs someone to go back into it and really flesh it out. (And please include a cast of characters, when people’s names change, are called by many names or roles, etc. it is too hard to keep track without a cast list!)
Overall this didn’t really work for me. Others unfamiliar with truly epic series maybe won’t see it that way; but for me, all I felt and could see was stifled potential, details of creativity lost, and ultimately an epic story brought down by rushing through events and not giving time for the characters, and the reader, to digest the large concepts being transversed.
Maybe I’m just in an epic fantasy mood but I felt we could have benefited from more of the POVs we got maybe once or twice, more exploration into the POVs own thoughts, and certainly more into the love of friendship, spouses, and familiar companion. The characters are all here, the plot is lined up, it just needs someone to go back into it and really flesh it out. (And please include a cast of characters, when people’s names change, are called by many names or roles, etc. it is too hard to keep track without a cast list!)
Overall this didn’t really work for me. Others unfamiliar with truly epic series maybe won’t see it that way; but for me, all I felt and could see was stifled potential, details of creativity lost, and ultimately an epic story brought down by rushing through events and not giving time for the characters, and the reader, to digest the large concepts being transversed.
October 24, 2023
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW: colonization, gun violence, execution by hanging, death of a child, ableism, strangulation, implied death of a pet-like animal
4
I think sequels can be very tricky, as can companion novels- but this book functions well as both. There’s a nice expansion in the world that builds on what we already know from the first book, as well as direct movement on the first timeline. I loved revisiting the old characters, while keeping the closure of the first book.
I, especially, really liked seeing Alfie again and getting to see how his arc progressed after Florian left him behind. His storyline in particular was one I really enjoyed.
The way the many different POVs came together was well done and satisfying. It helped keep the story interesting and the ball moving, and led to a well crafted ending.
For me, whoever, there were too many POVs to keep straight in my head, which encumbered my reading experience and made it hard to keep myself consistently invested. Also, while I liked the ending, it wasn’t totally satisfying and I was hoping for more information in the epilogue.
TW: colonization, gun violence, execution by hanging, death of a child, ableism, strangulation, implied death of a pet-like animal
4
I think sequels can be very tricky, as can companion novels- but this book functions well as both. There’s a nice expansion in the world that builds on what we already know from the first book, as well as direct movement on the first timeline. I loved revisiting the old characters, while keeping the closure of the first book.
I, especially, really liked seeing Alfie again and getting to see how his arc progressed after Florian left him behind. His storyline in particular was one I really enjoyed.
The way the many different POVs came together was well done and satisfying. It helped keep the story interesting and the ball moving, and led to a well crafted ending.
For me, whoever, there were too many POVs to keep straight in my head, which encumbered my reading experience and made it hard to keep myself consistently invested. Also, while I liked the ending, it wasn’t totally satisfying and I was hoping for more information in the epilogue.
September 19, 2023
Beginning this by saying that I haven't read THE MERMAID, THE WITCH, AND THE SEA yet and while this is a companion to, and not a sequel, I think I would have caught on to who is who faster by reading THE MERMAID first. Especially in the Sea and Florian/Flora POV/chapters. (For one, the pronoun changes in the Florian chapters at first made me think it was a typo since I'm reading an advanced copy, but the more I saw the consistency, I realized it was intentional. I would have known that from the beginning if I had read the first book. Anyways. Not super important since it didn't take me out of the story.)
I still thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the more I got into it, so by the last half of the book, I was plowing through it like I was one of the Sea's waves, ready to take out some ships. Even though there are a lot of characters, each one is so fully formed that they come alive off the page. And who doesn't like a group of diverse and quirky underdogs coming together to crush their colonizers? Absolutely adore the ending.
Thank you to Candlewick Press for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
I still thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the more I got into it, so by the last half of the book, I was plowing through it like I was one of the Sea's waves, ready to take out some ships. Even though there are a lot of characters, each one is so fully formed that they come alive off the page. And who doesn't like a group of diverse and quirky underdogs coming together to crush their colonizers? Absolutely adore the ending.
Thank you to Candlewick Press for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
December 2, 2024
Un banger, du début à la fin. Une fantasy queer intelligente et inclusive , touchante, bouleversante, déchirante mais aussi réconfortante. Une très juste analyse de notre société, sur la colonisation, sur les extrêmes, sur le totalitarisme, mais aussi sur l’amour, l’amitié, le sacrifice, la révolte, le tout agrémenté de pirates, de sirènes et de dragons. Une duologie incroyable, nécessaire, qui mérite qu’on parle d’elle !
December 26, 2023
3.5
The rotating POVs felt a little clumsy and took me a while to warm up to, but the last couple chapters slayed
The rotating POVs felt a little clumsy and took me a while to warm up to, but the last couple chapters slayed
May 23, 2024
It‘s another 3.5* liked the first half more but the end was a little abrupt.
July 29, 2025
"Let's go make something of this world."
I don't even know where to begin, to be honest.
I had low expectations, the first book was good but didn't entirely catch me, and this book has some of the same issues I had before–i felt that it was lacking development in general, things happened very quickly and didn't felt as if the changes happened organically? maybe a couple of more chapters would've been better.
but, the book also got better in ways it was already good.
the characters? immaculate. the plots and twists were good, and the way the author conneted all of them and just the way they were written–all those povs?? this was my dream in a fantasy series.
past me wouldn't believe me when I say my favorite character was genevieve, without any doubt, I'm sorry rake but your place was taken.
I liked how the magical elements were incorporated, there wasn't a proper magic system? most of the characters in this book do not use magic at all, and I felt that we lost some of that fantasy aspect, but the book worked. maybe it was even more impactful since they're all normal beings and their choices matter in a different and more realistic aspect.
"The Sea is forever destined to forget. And I am forever destined to remember."
I would say maybe the book isn't that good for a four star but I enjoyed it so much you wouldn't even imagine how much I loved reading it and that's such an important part too isn't it?
I'm also gonna say something that should go unsaid? perhaps but the representation felt so well made. like maybe I unfortunately haven't read many books who do a good job but here it felt so natural and I honestly loved it, the author truly knew what they were doing.
I don't even know where to begin, to be honest.
I had low expectations, the first book was good but didn't entirely catch me, and this book has some of the same issues I had before–i felt that it was lacking development in general, things happened very quickly and didn't felt as if the changes happened organically? maybe a couple of more chapters would've been better.
but, the book also got better in ways it was already good.
the characters? immaculate. the plots and twists were good, and the way the author conneted all of them and just the way they were written–all those povs?? this was my dream in a fantasy series.
past me wouldn't believe me when I say my favorite character was genevieve, without any doubt, I'm sorry rake but your place was taken.
I liked how the magical elements were incorporated, there wasn't a proper magic system? most of the characters in this book do not use magic at all, and I felt that we lost some of that fantasy aspect, but the book worked. maybe it was even more impactful since they're all normal beings and their choices matter in a different and more realistic aspect.
"The Sea is forever destined to forget. And I am forever destined to remember."
I would say maybe the book isn't that good for a four star but I enjoyed it so much you wouldn't even imagine how much I loved reading it and that's such an important part too isn't it?
I'm also gonna say something that should go unsaid? perhaps but the representation felt so well made. like maybe I unfortunately haven't read many books who do a good job but here it felt so natural and I honestly loved it, the author truly knew what they were doing.
May 28, 2024
4.5 stars
Thank you Walker Books Australia for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was SUCH a good sequel, even better than the first in my opinion.
I loved the ebb and flow of feelings and emotion in this book. The rage and the softness, the hate and the love, the ignorance and the compassion. All of this was a constant push and pull and it made for an emotionally complex, rich story.
I loved that we followed new characters. Some of them we knew as side characters from the first book but some, I believe, were brand new as well. I loved them all, every tiny flawed part of each of them.
The diversity in this one is strong. We have a bigender character, two nonbinary characters, multiple sapphic characters, an ace and possibly aro character. We have characters from all sorts of cultural backgrounds that reflect our real world cultures in ways. All this diversity is so delicately handled and these characters are all so rich and vibrant and unique.
I have a soft spot for Koa, I won’t lie. His heart is so pure and he just wants to help people, just wants everyone to be safe and happy and looked after. He’s too dang precious for this world.
We have pirates and warriors and mermaids and witches and dragons and I honestly can’t recommend this series enough.
Thank you Walker Books Australia for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was SUCH a good sequel, even better than the first in my opinion.
I loved the ebb and flow of feelings and emotion in this book. The rage and the softness, the hate and the love, the ignorance and the compassion. All of this was a constant push and pull and it made for an emotionally complex, rich story.
I loved that we followed new characters. Some of them we knew as side characters from the first book but some, I believe, were brand new as well. I loved them all, every tiny flawed part of each of them.
The diversity in this one is strong. We have a bigender character, two nonbinary characters, multiple sapphic characters, an ace and possibly aro character. We have characters from all sorts of cultural backgrounds that reflect our real world cultures in ways. All this diversity is so delicately handled and these characters are all so rich and vibrant and unique.
I have a soft spot for Koa, I won’t lie. His heart is so pure and he just wants to help people, just wants everyone to be safe and happy and looked after. He’s too dang precious for this world.
We have pirates and warriors and mermaids and witches and dragons and I honestly can’t recommend this series enough.
November 7, 2023
Another triumph! It’s simultaneously a lush plunge into a fully engrossing fantasy world and a very real feeling gut punch. The author so thoroughly respects the audience that she gives them characters with more moral nuance than I’ve ever seen in YA. It’s so so good. All the swashbuckling and humor and fantasy of the first book with an extra dollop of redemption that hits you squarely in the feels.
August 23, 2024
AMAZINGGG
I just love this book and the one before this one so so muchhh
I just love this book and the one before this one so so muchhh
July 21, 2024
Liked this one more than the first book to be honest. Did think the storyline could have been more slow paced, it was very quick; especially because it has so many character povs.
October 8, 2025
Beautiful, unique and inspiring. 💚💛🧡
March 25, 2024
"How can she explain such wanton destruction? If she once had the words for this, she has lost them along with her murdered children. She knows, in some distant part of her mind, that the Empire of Nipran is responsible, but she cannot always hold this fact in her memory. Her grip on this truth slips, fades, is transformed into all humans. With their avarice and their greed and their unending propensity for violence."
4,5/5!
The Siren, the Song and the Spy follows many characters - including an imperial agent who washes on the shores of an oppressed culture, the warrior girl and the boy with a golden heart the agent encounters, and a spy who is helping plot the Emperor's fall from within his palace – as they all grapple with the looming battle ahead, choose their sides and find their own place in the world.
This book was a solid sequel, great fun and full of awesome action, tear-jerker moments and gripping philosophical pondering about oppression, rebellion and human nature. Tokuda-Hall's writing remains engaging and emotive, and I once again have to praise her for how easy to fathom her fantasy world is without ever feeling overly simplistic or unrealistic. It is so easy to get lost in this story and world, and I love the whimsical nature of the magic.
My favorite characters in this book were Genevieve and Koa. Genevieve’s storyline, beginning with her washing up on the shore of the Wariuta people, half-dead, having lost her mentor, was very interesting. She is a character I didn’t think much of in book one, but I am actually really glad she ended up being one of the leads for this novel: she has a cool story to tell. I really enjoyed following her as she Koa was a sweetheart, exactly the type of boy I love in fiction: sweet, kind, good-hearted and always trying to do his best. What I loved about his especially how his softness was never equated to stupidity, how he was strong in his own way – diplomatic, brave in a non-warrior way. Seeing him have to step outside of his comfort zone and adopt more of a leader-like role after was interesting. It’s always cool to see characters pushed outside of their comfort zones. In terms of the smaller characters, I still really liked the Pirate Supreme – who doesn’t love a good, cool, morally gray pirate leader on a mission to save the world? – and I enjoyed Alfie’s chapters, as they provided some interesting thematic exploration. Him ending up
The Sea and the are both interesting characters as they are both personalities as well as larger than life figures who defy any kind of human understanding or limitation. The Sea losing her memories as she loses her daughters, her rage over the injustices humans heap upon her, and the
This series deals with themes of colonialism, oppression, imperialism and resistance, and I like how nuanced Maggie Tokuda-Hall manages to be with these themes despite these books not being all that long and for a younger audience. In this book, there were many conversations about what it means to fight back, how far you can go before you become too much like your enemy, how to deal with collateral damage and how, even when you fight for a good reason, you always end up with blood on your hands. Resistance and rebellion are beautiful, needed, courageous things, but they are not simple. I enjoyed, especially, Kaia’s scenes with her mother, Ica, who tries her best to teach her angry, rage-filled daughter what it truly means to lead and fight back. Alfie’s storyline deals a lot with him realizing that while he believes in what he fights, he also has to recognize that the fight might cost innocents their lives. Genevieve’s story is all about unlearning your toxic beliefs, recognizing that what you dedicated yourself to was not what it seemed and I found that storyline very gripping. I enjoy stories of redemption and atonement, so all of that was wonderful. In terms of the way Tokuda-Hall explores colonialism and imperialism, I liked how this series shows the effects of these oppressive actions on both a personal and a larger level. The Nipran Empire doesn’t just forcibly annex once-independent territories to its own empire and claim the resources of their new lands, leaving little, if at all, to the native population, but it also strips people of their culture – their religion, their language, their art, their customs. An element of real world history that Tokuda-Hall added to her story and which I appreciated, as it made the events ring even more honest, was the way she showed the Nipran empire approach the Wariuta people, a native culture, under the guise of commerce and cooperation while in reality having much darker motives. That was like something out of a history book about the way European settlers treated the indigenous peoples of America.
These books are wonderfully diverse, and I love how the importance of diversity is woven into the story itself. This book has many moments of cultures clashing, people from different parts of the world with different beliefs encountering each other and learning to understand each other. Encountering someone different might be scary, but there is also beauty to be found there. The baddies are trying to make people homogenous, erase what makes cultures and peoples different, and this is their weakness and their cruelty. A world of diversity of religion, sexuality, ideology, gender and lifestyle is what the good guys are fighting for. In terms of specific characters, Florian/Flora’s identity was delightfully depicted with the pronouns used for her changing from one sentence to the next. It is as if now, as a mermaid, he has found a way to fully inhabit both roles of her life, finding peace in her identity. I also especially loved how two of our main characters are aro/ace. It was not just an aspect of them, but also something that made them integral to the story and was almost like a superpower to them. When I realized that It is still quite rare to see ace/aro rep in fantasy books, so this positive rep made me, as someone somwehre on the ace/aro spectrum, very happy.
Now, on to the reasons why this book is not 5/5 like the first book in this series.
This book is very different from the first book in this series. Where The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea was an intimate character study of Flora/Florian and Evelyn, and a love story, this is a much bigger story with way more POV characters and larger stakes. In some ways, this works. I like that the author decided to not just repeat what made the first book great and did something different. The world feels much bigger, we get to learn about new cultures (chiefly the Wariuta, the native population of the Red Shores) and new characters are introduced, but at the same time, I found myself not quite as enamored with this story as I was with book one, because it lacked the intimacy and the focus. With so many POVs (some characters just had one or two, and to be honest not all of them felt needed) it felt like I wasn’t able to connect with the new characters as well as I connected with Flora/Florian and Evelyn, and while there were cool relationships (I liked Kaia and Koa, for example), none of them felt quite as developed. For example, I didn’t really feel anything much for Same with Xenobia and the Pirate Supreme. We learn of their backstory in book one and
Tied to my issues with the new, large cast, is my issues with the pacing and plot. The storyline is cool and exciting, but sometimes it feels a bit disjointed, due to so many POV characters. It’s not as cohesive a narrative as The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea. I think this series could’ve been a trilogy, with this book focusing more solely on the Wariuta people, the siren and all that stuff. As it is now, it feels a bit hurried. But as you can see, from the 4,5/5 rating, these issues were not too much for me to handle and the book managed, with its awesome ending, to get itself a very solid rating.
I would happily recommend this duology to anyone looking for an enchanting, thoroughly queer and diverse fantasy story about mermaids, witches, revolutionaries, pirates and sirens that has both whimsical and sometimes dark magic as well as honest reflections on real-life horrors such as colonialism/imperialism. It is a shame this series seems to not be all that well known. It is one of my favourite duologies ever.
4,5/5!
The Siren, the Song and the Spy follows many characters - including an imperial agent who washes on the shores of an oppressed culture, the warrior girl and the boy with a golden heart the agent encounters, and a spy who is helping plot the Emperor's fall from within his palace – as they all grapple with the looming battle ahead, choose their sides and find their own place in the world.
This book was a solid sequel, great fun and full of awesome action, tear-jerker moments and gripping philosophical pondering about oppression, rebellion and human nature. Tokuda-Hall's writing remains engaging and emotive, and I once again have to praise her for how easy to fathom her fantasy world is without ever feeling overly simplistic or unrealistic. It is so easy to get lost in this story and world, and I love the whimsical nature of the magic.
My favorite characters in this book were Genevieve and Koa. Genevieve’s storyline, beginning with her washing up on the shore of the Wariuta people, half-dead, having lost her mentor, was very interesting. She is a character I didn’t think much of in book one, but I am actually really glad she ended up being one of the leads for this novel: she has a cool story to tell. I really enjoyed following her as she Koa was a sweetheart, exactly the type of boy I love in fiction: sweet, kind, good-hearted and always trying to do his best. What I loved about his especially how his softness was never equated to stupidity, how he was strong in his own way – diplomatic, brave in a non-warrior way. Seeing him have to step outside of his comfort zone and adopt more of a leader-like role after was interesting. It’s always cool to see characters pushed outside of their comfort zones. In terms of the smaller characters, I still really liked the Pirate Supreme – who doesn’t love a good, cool, morally gray pirate leader on a mission to save the world? – and I enjoyed Alfie’s chapters, as they provided some interesting thematic exploration. Him ending up
The Sea and the are both interesting characters as they are both personalities as well as larger than life figures who defy any kind of human understanding or limitation. The Sea losing her memories as she loses her daughters, her rage over the injustices humans heap upon her, and the
This series deals with themes of colonialism, oppression, imperialism and resistance, and I like how nuanced Maggie Tokuda-Hall manages to be with these themes despite these books not being all that long and for a younger audience. In this book, there were many conversations about what it means to fight back, how far you can go before you become too much like your enemy, how to deal with collateral damage and how, even when you fight for a good reason, you always end up with blood on your hands. Resistance and rebellion are beautiful, needed, courageous things, but they are not simple. I enjoyed, especially, Kaia’s scenes with her mother, Ica, who tries her best to teach her angry, rage-filled daughter what it truly means to lead and fight back. Alfie’s storyline deals a lot with him realizing that while he believes in what he fights, he also has to recognize that the fight might cost innocents their lives. Genevieve’s story is all about unlearning your toxic beliefs, recognizing that what you dedicated yourself to was not what it seemed and I found that storyline very gripping. I enjoy stories of redemption and atonement, so all of that was wonderful. In terms of the way Tokuda-Hall explores colonialism and imperialism, I liked how this series shows the effects of these oppressive actions on both a personal and a larger level. The Nipran Empire doesn’t just forcibly annex once-independent territories to its own empire and claim the resources of their new lands, leaving little, if at all, to the native population, but it also strips people of their culture – their religion, their language, their art, their customs. An element of real world history that Tokuda-Hall added to her story and which I appreciated, as it made the events ring even more honest, was the way she showed the Nipran empire approach the Wariuta people, a native culture, under the guise of commerce and cooperation while in reality having much darker motives. That was like something out of a history book about the way European settlers treated the indigenous peoples of America.
These books are wonderfully diverse, and I love how the importance of diversity is woven into the story itself. This book has many moments of cultures clashing, people from different parts of the world with different beliefs encountering each other and learning to understand each other. Encountering someone different might be scary, but there is also beauty to be found there. The baddies are trying to make people homogenous, erase what makes cultures and peoples different, and this is their weakness and their cruelty. A world of diversity of religion, sexuality, ideology, gender and lifestyle is what the good guys are fighting for. In terms of specific characters, Florian/Flora’s identity was delightfully depicted with the pronouns used for her changing from one sentence to the next. It is as if now, as a mermaid, he has found a way to fully inhabit both roles of her life, finding peace in her identity. I also especially loved how two of our main characters are aro/ace. It was not just an aspect of them, but also something that made them integral to the story and was almost like a superpower to them. When I realized that It is still quite rare to see ace/aro rep in fantasy books, so this positive rep made me, as someone somwehre on the ace/aro spectrum, very happy.
Now, on to the reasons why this book is not 5/5 like the first book in this series.
This book is very different from the first book in this series. Where The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea was an intimate character study of Flora/Florian and Evelyn, and a love story, this is a much bigger story with way more POV characters and larger stakes. In some ways, this works. I like that the author decided to not just repeat what made the first book great and did something different. The world feels much bigger, we get to learn about new cultures (chiefly the Wariuta, the native population of the Red Shores) and new characters are introduced, but at the same time, I found myself not quite as enamored with this story as I was with book one, because it lacked the intimacy and the focus. With so many POVs (some characters just had one or two, and to be honest not all of them felt needed) it felt like I wasn’t able to connect with the new characters as well as I connected with Flora/Florian and Evelyn, and while there were cool relationships (I liked Kaia and Koa, for example), none of them felt quite as developed. For example, I didn’t really feel anything much for Same with Xenobia and the Pirate Supreme. We learn of their backstory in book one and
Tied to my issues with the new, large cast, is my issues with the pacing and plot. The storyline is cool and exciting, but sometimes it feels a bit disjointed, due to so many POV characters. It’s not as cohesive a narrative as The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea. I think this series could’ve been a trilogy, with this book focusing more solely on the Wariuta people, the siren and all that stuff. As it is now, it feels a bit hurried. But as you can see, from the 4,5/5 rating, these issues were not too much for me to handle and the book managed, with its awesome ending, to get itself a very solid rating.
I would happily recommend this duology to anyone looking for an enchanting, thoroughly queer and diverse fantasy story about mermaids, witches, revolutionaries, pirates and sirens that has both whimsical and sometimes dark magic as well as honest reflections on real-life horrors such as colonialism/imperialism. It is a shame this series seems to not be all that well known. It is one of my favourite duologies ever.
August 14, 2024
I loved every single word in here. I wasn't sure wether it would keep up with the first book, but I liked this one even more
November 6, 2023
The tale of a conflicting reign of an empire and the struggles of a resistance group fighting for their freedom. Where secrets are revealed and the malicious deceptions of power are played, the protagonists have to reluctantly make a choice.
The book was a little confusing at first, but the story grows on you with time. The different angles mentioned in the book make it slightly difficult to gauge the perception from a reader's perspective but the plot is worth the effort. So if you do enjoy the components of mermaids, islands revolution, empire and blood magic, this could be your cup of tea. Was it mine though? Slightly yes and slightly no 🤌😅
Thankyou @netgalley @spotify @maggietokudahall for the ARC
Genre: #scifi #fantasy #ya #teens
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️
The book was a little confusing at first, but the story grows on you with time. The different angles mentioned in the book make it slightly difficult to gauge the perception from a reader's perspective but the plot is worth the effort. So if you do enjoy the components of mermaids, islands revolution, empire and blood magic, this could be your cup of tea. Was it mine though? Slightly yes and slightly no 🤌😅
Thankyou @netgalley @spotify @maggietokudahall for the ARC
Genre: #scifi #fantasy #ya #teens
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️
May 30, 2024
While I think this was a really good sequel to the first book, I really wish the end was a little longer. It felt really rushed and like everything that the book had been leading up to happened within the last 30 pages. I do like the way that the points of view we get to see in this book are different from the first book. Seeing some of the side characters fully fledged out and leading in this story was a really nice touch to bring both of the books together. I also wish that the very last part of the book in the "fifteen years later" was longer because I wanted to see more of those characters reunited. ALSO, hot take, but I wish we saw Flora and Evelyn more considering they did probably the most important thing in the book. Anyways, pretty good, 3.5 star but I just rounded up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 18, 2024Genevieve from The Siren, the Song, and the Spy is aromantic asexual!
Koa from The Siren, the Song, and the Spy is aromantic asexual!
https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...
Koa from The Siren, the Song, and the Spy is aromantic asexual!
https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...
April 15, 2024
Such a wonderful conclusion to one of my favorite books ever. Maggie Tokuda-Hall has such a way of transporting you to a far distant land, filling you with warmth and understanding.
Absolutely knocked it out of the park with the character building and connections laid throughout this story. All characters seem tangible, believable, and make for an interesting cast.
The worldbuilding is nicely done. I could spend time traveling from city to city, witnessing the sunset on every shore.
3 others have asked me if they could borrow this book as they followed my recommendations of reading The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea. It feels delightful to have friends with whom I can share my love for books.
Absolutely knocked it out of the park with the character building and connections laid throughout this story. All characters seem tangible, believable, and make for an interesting cast.
The worldbuilding is nicely done. I could spend time traveling from city to city, witnessing the sunset on every shore.
3 others have asked me if they could borrow this book as they followed my recommendations of reading The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea. It feels delightful to have friends with whom I can share my love for books.
May 14, 2024
I read this book as a read aloud with one of my daughters. We both throughly enjoyed the storyline and complex characters. As a sequel I found it to be on par with the first novel, which I was not expecting. This books shines like a beacon on a hill in an age where the YA scene is flooded with mediocre writing.
August 3, 2025
This was a little strange because I was unable to recall most of what happened in the first book.
Became really invested towards the ending but then the resolution felt very uninspired and was not really worth it to me. Character work is good but there were too many POVs.
Became really invested towards the ending but then the resolution felt very uninspired and was not really worth it to me. Character work is good but there were too many POVs.
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December 2, 2025In der Hälfte beendet, ich finde gerade keinen Zugang. Liegt vielleicht daran, dass ich es auf Englisch lese. Schade.
August 26, 2025
3,5 ⭐️ - Una pena no haber leído más de Evelyn y Flora. Y aunque objetivamente el libro tuviera más sentido de la forma en la que se desarrolló, la trama se sentía apurada y los povs eran bastante aleatorios. Aún así, muy buenos capítulos finales!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2024
I loved the first book in this series and the sequel definitely delivered. The whole colonialism/revolution storyline was very well developed in my view...I enjoyed getting some backstory for certain characters to explain their actions and motivations. I loved the character arcs and the new players introduced to the story. I would have liked a bit more development in terms of worldbuilding and explaining the origins of some of the mythical beings, but that's literally the only nitpick I could think of for this book. 10/10 would definitely recommend.
May 9, 2024
When I saw that Tokuda-Hall was returning to the world of The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea I was very excited... but it's also been a few years so my memory of characters and events was a little fuzzy. This didn't end up being that big of an issue, though I didn't remember all of the plot points from the first book so I wasn't always able to easily connect the dots to what was happening in this book.
While I enjoy multiple POVs in novels, unfortunately I think there were too many here. The first 25% of the book was a bit of a jumble trying to keep characters and plot separated and organized. This felt like it impacted the pacing as well. I found myself putting this audiobook aside in favor of listening to other things. The last 25% of the book did hold my interest though and I liked how the pieces and characters fit together in the end.
Rachanee Lumayno, Kurt Kanazawa, André Santana, Krysta Gonzales, and Angela Tran do a good job with the audiobook narration, though I wish there had been more of an audible difference between each of them to make the POV jumps easier to distinguish while listening.
Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review.
While I enjoy multiple POVs in novels, unfortunately I think there were too many here. The first 25% of the book was a bit of a jumble trying to keep characters and plot separated and organized. This felt like it impacted the pacing as well. I found myself putting this audiobook aside in favor of listening to other things. The last 25% of the book did hold my interest though and I liked how the pieces and characters fit together in the end.
Rachanee Lumayno, Kurt Kanazawa, André Santana, Krysta Gonzales, and Angela Tran do a good job with the audiobook narration, though I wish there had been more of an audible difference between each of them to make the POV jumps easier to distinguish while listening.
Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review.
May 17, 2024
a wonderful sequel…i rated it higher then the first book because i kinda liked the characters in this one more and the arcs of the returning characters were really good to read! it’s a very fast paced fantasy series but highly entertaining and inclusive!!
July 7, 2024
The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall.
Quick synopsis : Set on a fantasy-Earth, the world is a bad place. Fantasy-Japan's Empire has taken over most of the world, murdering and enslaving its way to profit. A ragtag army of pirates, fantasy-Africans, and fantasy-Irish need to take the Empire down.
Note: This is book two of a series, but it's a companion book, not a sequel. It plucks a handful of minor characters from book one and tells their stories. With rare exception, I didn't feel lost because I hadn't read the first one.
Brief opinion : While this book may have had more POV chapters than any other book I've read in my entire life, I generally liked them all, so that was fine. The book's overall message though, especially its ending, was extremely heavy handed.
Plot : In fantasy-Japan life is good... as long as you're not a poor person. Life around the palace is great, even if you just work there. Elsewhere in the country people are starving.
In fantasy-Africa, noble warriors who battle with hyena-partners at their side are trying to defend their land against the Colonizers (Capital C, that's what fantasy-Japan was called by them through the book).
While in Fantasy-Ireland, a young girl is taken in (fooled) by an Imperial/Colonizer/Fantasy-Japanese woman and made into a spy against her own people.
While on the Sea (which is a sentient being in this world), the pirates are trying to muster the world's various resistance groups against fantasy-Japan.
In the end, adeus ex machina dragon (all of which were supposed to be dead) .
Writing/editing : Technical-wise, the writing was great. There were two trans characters though, one she used they/them for and the other xe/xyr/xem ("And xe turned on xyr heel and stepped into the ornate carriage that awaited xem.") As I've said in other reviews, I have zero issues with trans people, I just wish the English language had some better way to handle this, some native singular neutral pronoun.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : I really liked all the storylines, it's just the ending didn't work for me. Even in a fantasy world, it felt too much like a fantasy of what our-world people would like to happen. Too perfect. Too unbelievable.
I really, really liked the Thistle/Genevieve character (the girl who became a spy). It's just the kind of plotline I like: Twisting someone to believe in something they shouldn't. Another reviewer (madeline on Goodreads) described her arc as "it was one of the most well-written case studies in colonial brainwashing and subsequent decolonization that I’ve read in years".
The Sea and mermaid chapters didn't work for me. (This might be the one place not reading the first book hampered my enjoyment, but also I just don't like mermaid stories.) The sea as a sentient creature was just a real reach for me.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ / 4 and a half stars, rounded up for Goodreads. On to the first book next!
Quick synopsis : Set on a fantasy-Earth, the world is a bad place. Fantasy-Japan's Empire has taken over most of the world, murdering and enslaving its way to profit. A ragtag army of pirates, fantasy-Africans, and fantasy-Irish need to take the Empire down.
Note: This is book two of a series, but it's a companion book, not a sequel. It plucks a handful of minor characters from book one and tells their stories. With rare exception, I didn't feel lost because I hadn't read the first one.
Brief opinion : While this book may have had more POV chapters than any other book I've read in my entire life, I generally liked them all, so that was fine. The book's overall message though, especially its ending, was extremely heavy handed.
Plot : In fantasy-Japan life is good... as long as you're not a poor person. Life around the palace is great, even if you just work there. Elsewhere in the country people are starving.
In fantasy-Africa, noble warriors who battle with hyena-partners at their side are trying to defend their land against the Colonizers (Capital C, that's what fantasy-Japan was called by them through the book).
While in Fantasy-Ireland, a young girl is taken in (fooled) by an Imperial/Colonizer/Fantasy-Japanese woman and made into a spy against her own people.
While on the Sea (which is a sentient being in this world), the pirates are trying to muster the world's various resistance groups against fantasy-Japan.
In the end, a
Writing/editing : Technical-wise, the writing was great. There were two trans characters though, one she used they/them for and the other xe/xyr/xem ("And xe turned on xyr heel and stepped into the ornate carriage that awaited xem.") As I've said in other reviews, I have zero issues with trans people, I just wish the English language had some better way to handle this, some native singular neutral pronoun.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : I really liked all the storylines, it's just the ending didn't work for me. Even in a fantasy world, it felt too much like a fantasy of what our-world people would like to happen. Too perfect. Too unbelievable.
I really, really liked the Thistle/Genevieve character (the girl who became a spy). It's just the kind of plotline I like: Twisting someone to believe in something they shouldn't. Another reviewer (madeline on Goodreads) described her arc as "it was one of the most well-written case studies in colonial brainwashing and subsequent decolonization that I’ve read in years".
The Sea and mermaid chapters didn't work for me. (This might be the one place not reading the first book hampered my enjoyment, but also I just don't like mermaid stories.) The sea as a sentient creature was just a real reach for me.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ / 4 and a half stars, rounded up for Goodreads. On to the first book next!
December 7, 2023
I found this book from Netgalley. I started listening to it and then found out that this is book 2 of the series. then I thought of reading tey first book but I was so into the story and plot I could not put it done. If you are wondering The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
the first book in the series.
My Rating
Overall: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
Plot: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
Characters: ★★★★★| 5 Stars
Audio: ★★★★★ | 5 Stars
Ending: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
Fun: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
My Review
The world-building in this narrative is truly captivating. I was so enthralled by this world where so many characters are struggling to do their own things. At the start, I was a little confused about what was happening because I did not know the backstory. However, as the tale progressed, everything became clear. The plot follows the same old arc of The Great Power against Resistance featuring spies, resistance groups, pirates, and mermaids.
The multiple points of view (POVs) were skillfully executed, contributing to a satisfying narrative. They added complexity and momentum to the story, culminating in a well-crafted conclusion. There is one thing that I would like to say that the ending could have been more interesting and satisfying. it was a bit down for my taste but nonetheless, it was a good read.
Do I Recommend it?
Yes!! ofcourse.
Read My full review here!!
https://quillsandpages.blogspot.com/2...
Other links:
My blog: https://quillsandpages.blogspot.com/2...
Medium: https: //medium.com/@quillsandpages
BookTok: https: //www.tiktok.com/@quillsndpages
Bookstagram: https://www.instagram.com/quillsandpa...
Tumblr: https://quills-and-pages.tumblr.com/
the first book in the series.
My Rating
Overall: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
Plot: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
Characters: ★★★★★| 5 Stars
Audio: ★★★★★ | 5 Stars
Ending: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
Fun: ★★★★ | 4 Stars
My Review
The world-building in this narrative is truly captivating. I was so enthralled by this world where so many characters are struggling to do their own things. At the start, I was a little confused about what was happening because I did not know the backstory. However, as the tale progressed, everything became clear. The plot follows the same old arc of The Great Power against Resistance featuring spies, resistance groups, pirates, and mermaids.
The multiple points of view (POVs) were skillfully executed, contributing to a satisfying narrative. They added complexity and momentum to the story, culminating in a well-crafted conclusion. There is one thing that I would like to say that the ending could have been more interesting and satisfying. it was a bit down for my taste but nonetheless, it was a good read.
Do I Recommend it?
Yes!! ofcourse.
Read My full review here!!
https://quillsandpages.blogspot.com/2...
Other links:
My blog: https://quillsandpages.blogspot.com/2...
Medium: https: //medium.com/@quillsandpages
BookTok: https: //www.tiktok.com/@quillsndpages
Bookstagram: https://www.instagram.com/quillsandpa...
Tumblr: https://quills-and-pages.tumblr.com/
March 8, 2025
adored this! the first book felt a little bit of a drag at times to read, but couldn’t get through this one fast enough - loved the diverse range of character (koa and thistle probably my fav), that the plot was still unique despite the common themes, moved at a good pace, disabilities/queer/poc rep, complex family relationships. such a fun read and definitely recommend if you were on the fence about the firet book - this one is v different (evelyn/flora barely feature in this one but tbh i didn’t really miss them…)
“I don’t believe we can beat them. Not because we are not fierce enough, but because in order to win, we’d have to abandon everything that we are.”
“Teacher says I’m too smart for my own good.” Lady Minami chuckled. “My tutors said the very same to me. Never seem to say that to the boys, do they?”
“I don’t know who I am anymore.” “You’re my daughter.” Her mother squeezed her hand, and she was not only the Fist then, she was also Mrs. Vo. She was still her mother. Was it worth it? To have been lied to, to have fought for the wrong side, to have shamed herself— all to be reunited with her mother, the family she thought she had lost? To see that person clearly, finally, for the first time? Was that enough? She didn’t know. But it was the truth, at least. And it was nice to know something true. “No matter what you’ve done.”
“It is always the same, has always been the same. The Sea is forever destined to forget. And I am forever destined to remember. The remembering is my labor, and I shoulder it alone. Perhaps if I were stronger, if I could stand to do this more often. Perhaps then the pain would not be so great. I will never know.”
“I don’t believe we can beat them. Not because we are not fierce enough, but because in order to win, we’d have to abandon everything that we are.”
“Teacher says I’m too smart for my own good.” Lady Minami chuckled. “My tutors said the very same to me. Never seem to say that to the boys, do they?”
“I don’t know who I am anymore.” “You’re my daughter.” Her mother squeezed her hand, and she was not only the Fist then, she was also Mrs. Vo. She was still her mother. Was it worth it? To have been lied to, to have fought for the wrong side, to have shamed herself— all to be reunited with her mother, the family she thought she had lost? To see that person clearly, finally, for the first time? Was that enough? She didn’t know. But it was the truth, at least. And it was nice to know something true. “No matter what you’ve done.”
“It is always the same, has always been the same. The Sea is forever destined to forget. And I am forever destined to remember. The remembering is my labor, and I shoulder it alone. Perhaps if I were stronger, if I could stand to do this more often. Perhaps then the pain would not be so great. I will never know.”
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