Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

18 reviews

corabookworm's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Grief

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism

pagesofplatypus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I know the biggest complaint about Lies We Sing to the Sea is its inaccuracies regarding The Odyssey. If you look past that and accept this as headcanon, Lies is really very enjoyable. The ending is so beautiful and wrecked me.

I love love love Leto and Melantho's relationship and romance 🥰! And their mission to break the curse of Ithaca is engaging. Their naiad-like abilities to manipulate water was also a neat touch.

Melantho, my love, you did nothing wrong and you deserved so much better.

Mathias had me going back and forth on whether I found his character likeable or not.

I personally did not feel the chemistry between Leto and Mathias as much I did between Leto and Melantho. I love a bi mc, but her romance with Mathias just wasn't as believable. Although their "steamy" scene was done very tenderly and beautifully.

There are some instances where the writing and especially the dialogue feel to modern, so don't expect Madeline Miller, but overall the writing is engaging, emotional, and keeps things moving along smoothly.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death and Death of parent

katie0528's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

main character death

gentle_human's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lesemaus2303's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

summerspence's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I’m wrapped up in the post-reading-endorphin-rush, so I want to give it a higher rating, but I can’t. I think I’m already being generous. There’s just something about Greek myths… However, this is so loosely related (read: under-researched and oversold as something it isn’t).  According to the author, this is a feminist retelling of “The Odyssey”, except she didn’t read it/do additional research or include the other 99% of the original story. She admitted she gathered info from “Percy Jackson” and other stories. To me, there needs to be more than 1% to be considered a retelling. The historical details are also very inaccurate for 4th century BCE. 

Even with all of that, there are so many plot holes and straight up UNCLEAR details that really do make a difference to the story. The reader is just supposed to accept that things are the way they are because the internal monologue of the MC says so. 

So, why give it 3 stars then? Idk, I still kind of liked it 🤷🏻‍♀️😂. There really is a story there, and I do think that some of the writing is very beautiful, even if it was full of holes and inaccuracies.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

em_of_swags's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery, Death of parent, and Alcohol

thelily_library's review

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Death of parent

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Suicide

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lizy's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment