Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Lies We Sing to the Sea

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

14 reviews

lisa_m's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This book was very interesting to read. I finished it in a single day and I wasn't bored for a second.

I've read about people saying the author did not research this book well because she did not read the Odyssey. Still I think this was a good story in its own right. I probably would have liked it more if she built her own world instead of using Greek mythology as a setting but still.

I think the thing that I liked most about it is how much is she committed to the ending.

It would have been easy to give it a happy ending, and many other authors probably would have done that too, but that would have taken away from the story. The whole plot is based on the Prince having to die so him not magically coming back was a good thing in my opinion. While reading the ending, I thought that he may turn into a sea-creature like them but i'm glad he didn't.

The thing I did not like was the cheating aspect of the relationships between the characters. If it had been better defined as either polyamory or something else I would have perhaps understood it more. But because of the jealousy involved it still felt more like cheating, which is a big no for me. I was positively surprised that this was a sapphic story, since I did not know that before starting the book. Originally I was convinced Leto would just fall in love with the prince which would put make it harder to kill him so I liked that twist to the story.

I did feel like some aspects of the story were underdeveloped or just not explained well enough. But especially for a debut novel I am very surprised by how well written this book was.

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Writing: 4⭐️/5

The writing in this story was clear and poetic. At times, I really did love the beauty of the words and how the story was unravelling carefully. I think Underwood writes very cleanly and epically, which served this Greek-myth-inspired story well. The shifting character POVs served the story well, though I do wish each character had a more defined voice during their own section.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

The characters in the story were clear and relatively strong. Or, at least, the main characters – our narrators – were. The side characters felt much more wishy-washy, their personalities left unexplored and undeveloped until the climax of the story, which then felt far too late. Despite our three main characters being clear in their characteristics, they also didn’t develop much throughout the story. The plot took the centrefold of the story, and the characters simply continued along their paths.

Plot: 3.25⭐️/5

I did enjoy reading the story, as the plot felt clear and decided. However, at many points, the plot’s pacing felt incredibly off. I wondered at the stretched out timeline between Menthalo and Leto’s training to the condensed timeline of them returning to Ithaca and crashing into Mathias’ life. Since the timeline felt rushed, many of the plot points felt rushed. Personally, while I enjoyed both of the love stories in the novel, I wondered whether they could have been handled a bit better to make it feel more respectful. I love a good poly relationship, but – while Menthalo and Mathias ended up respecting each other – one was left in the dark about the other, and Menthalo herself never seemed to be settled with the fact that Leto also loved Mathias.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of Greek Mythology looking for something inspired by it; readers looking for a tragedy that isn’t hopeless; those who like LGBTQIA stories;

Content Warnings?

Blood, death, hangings, drowning, murder, injury, injury detail, fire, rape, sexual assault, sexual content, sacrifices, misogyny, sexism, gaslighting, abuse, suicide, suicidal thoughts, depression, classism,

Post-Reading Rating: 3.25⭐️/5

I liked the ending, but I wanted a bit more from the lead up into it.

Final Rating: 3.25⭐️/5 (3.38)

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katie0528's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Leto is born on Ithaca, home of the famed Greek hero Odysseus. However, hundreds of years earlier, Odysseus offended the god Poseidon by executing his wife's Penelope's maids. Poseidon curses the land, creating a yearly tradition where the people of Ithaca sacrifice 12 more young women. Leto, is unfortunately one. After her violent execution, Leto wakes up on an island, home to the mysterious Melantho, a girl who died much the same way as Leto. Melantho reveals that the only way to break the curse is to kill the prince of Ithaca, Mattias, so the two girls disguise themselves as Matrias' betrothed and her maid. Unfortunately, killing a prince is easier said than done, particularly when he's handsome, charming, and also desperately wanting to break the curse.

I spent the whole book hoping this would turn into a throuple situation, but alas I was disappointed.

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gentle_human's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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lesemaus2303's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved every bit of it!
Almost didn't want to finish it because i didn't want the story to end. Emotional and so thrilling.

Content Warnings

captainchloe__'s review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I was reading this book thinking it was YA, and I will say the content towards the end got quite graphic so just be aware of that. Also, as many have said, it's not a retelling. It's a reimagining of what could have happened next. My main issue with this book is that some aspects of it were not historically accurate - one of the characters, in ancient Greece, uses the phrase "Latrine" which is a Latin word in origin?? As a classicist who focused on politics in ancient Greece, I also haven't read the Odyssey fully, like the author 🤣🤨, but I aim to one day be that confident and have that much audacity.
Overall, if you can look past the audacity, I enjoyed this book, the plot was interesting and the characters were engaging. It was a bit teen drama at points, but overall it was a... It was a read. I read it. Yay. And finally, between the halfway point and the end, it was clear that Melantho's eyes were, in fact, green, and did not change colour.

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kailajay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book was gifted to me, based on my Goodreads books, and my gifter hit the nail on the head. I love retellings of mythology, and have a particular affinity for the retelling of mythologies that undo the white cis-het versions, and tell new (and sometimes old) stories from a more modern, intersectional lens.

This was definitely that. A often glossed over part of Odysseus' story, the hanging of the 12 maids, is retold and reexamined. Hundreds of years later, a young girl called Leto- the daughter of an Oracle- finds herself one of the 12 girls chosen as sacrifice to keep Poseidon's fury at bay. The story follows her death and rebirth, meeting Melantho

(her eventual outing as one of the original 12 maids is less exciting if you a) read into the things she says or b) know of the Odyssey already)

and discovering how, and why, she isn't dead yet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the story was appealing- like I said, I love retellings- and the impact that the demand of retribution has and the acknowledgement that winning doesn't always mean surviving runs throughout the book.

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elderwoodreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

The first third of this book could've been about a quarter of the length. I honestly couldn't tell you much of what happened outside of the bits of backstory sprinkled in. The last 2/3 the book really shined, however,

the love triangle felt so unnecessary and really made it a struggle to get through at times

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lil_saddie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have a problem with YA where it feels like the author doesn’t trust the audience to grasp the plot or character motivations so things are constantly repeated or said so blatantly it takes me out of the story.

Content Warnings

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Listen, I hate to be dragging down this author’s Goodreads rating any further than it already is. It seems like the majority of 1 star reviews on here are review bombs without having read the book. I, on the other hand, have read the book, and there was so much wrong with it I don’t really know where to start.

1) Suspension of disbelief. There were so many instances where I was required, as a reader, to simply accept that something ridiculous had happened. Protagonist Leto makes a series of increasingly nonsensical decisions and then is never questioned or suspected by anyone around her. How did 2 women with no sailing experience crew a Grecian boat to Ithaca without raising eyebrows? How can a small city manage to sacrifice 12 girls every year for centuries without having significant impact on that town’s population?

2) Poorly researched. Apparently this book is set in Ancient Greece, but only the occasional name of an item of clothing or references to the Greek Gods and Odysseus tells you this.

3) Poorly executed. Why does one of the characters fall in love with the person who killed them? Why does everyone fall in love so quickly? All these things needed far more nuance and greater explanation.

4) Pacing. All over the place. The opening and ending are the best parts of this book. Everything else is a meandering, boring mess.

5) Cheating bisexual trope. This book is marketed as a sapphic book, but one of the characters is bi and in a love triangle with a man who she doesn’t tell her girlfriend about. I hate it here. I gave her the benefit of the doubt when it was all just still flirting, but nope, things didn’t stop there. This trope needs to die or at the very least directly addressed if you’re going to keep it in.

The beginning of the book was brutal and I really liked how things were resolved at the end of the book. I will at least give the book credit there where it’s due.

Overall, not the book for me. I read it as part of the Illumicrate March readalong and finished it only because I was enjoying the lively discussion so much. If you like juvenilely-written stories loosely inspired by Greek myths and packed full of YA tropes like love triangles, angry girls and rash choices, this is the book for you.

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