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

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

26 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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hevlav's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

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corabookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Every year in Ithaca, 12 girls are hung and dropped into the sea to satisfy Poseidon. Except, this year, one survives. Leto wakes on an island and meets the mysterious Melantho, a girl who tells her that to end Poseidon's wrath, they must kill Ithaca's prince.

I really enjoyed this book! The plot was a beautiful combination of curse-breaking and assassination attempts and romance, and the writing was really gorgeous. My only real problems were that 1) the plot and pacing got a little tedious at times, as it would kinda loop around and repeat and drag at a few points and 2) (slight spoilers!) I do feel like it perpetrated the whole bisexuals-are-cheaters narrative as the main character holds a relationship with both Melantho and Mathias without either of them knowing. I know other people had issues with the historical accuracy of this book, but honestly if you go into it just expecting a fun fantasy novel, there's nothing that really sticks out or ruins the story or anything. And all the controversy about the author never having read the Odyssey is pointless. This is NOT a retelling of the Odyssey. It takes one element of the end of the story and spins a new tale that takes place centuries later. (I also really did like this spin on said element of the Odyssey.)

All in all, this book wasn't perfect, but I really liked it! If you like Greek Mythology-inspired stories and retellings, you should check this one out!

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raaahella's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

It was interesting to learn more about this group of individuals but it was also predictable. I could determine she was a maid pretty early on. There were a ton of warning signs. And the other two main characters were a bit annoying. The mother was definitely the worst and her out offer was not helpful and seemed to just come from hate

I also didn't fully get the prophecy. Was it actually shared or just hinted at?

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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

Content Warnings

fuqing_god's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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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.

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pencilspeaker's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

This is definitely NOT a retelling of the Odyssee, rather (just) a "what if I take one side character from this myth, put them in a YA love triangle, use ancient Ithaca as a backdrop and see what happens".
There were some plot holes and inaccuracies, but I enjoyed the prose. The book kept me entertained; at times I was unable to put it down.
Leto is a really cool protagonist, I like that often times we only know what she knows. I really hate Mathias tho

like how can you fall in love with him after he had you executed

and the whole sapphic/bi romance arc was poorly executed

(I was here for the sapphic couple that was advertised, and have a lot of anger for the trope of the bisexual who cannot choose and cheats on both of the people they're (supposedly) in love with)

.
The plot of the curse was really interesting, but I do have a lot of questions that remain unanswered, because they were apparently solved off-page (hello, what happened to Adrasteia? Where did Selene get her information?). The ending was written beautifully (apart from that jump-scare-y Sex scene, wholly unnecessary at that point), however

can I for once have a happy ending in sapphic fantasy please?!

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em_of_swags's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.5

why is it always a tragedy, can I be allowed happy books for once?

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