A review by anxious_cowpoke
Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

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

2.5

So, this wasn’t the feminine rage Odyssey retelling I was hoping for. This story follows Leto, one of twelve girls who have been sentenced to die by hanging in Ithaca to prevent Poseidon’s rage from devouring the island. Though she dies, she is resurrected on the shores of an island called Pandou, with a population of one, another girl named Melantho. The two of them are determined to break the curse that plagues Ithaca and save the next twelve girls from being sacrificed — but that includes killing Prince Mathias and sacrificing him to the sea, instead.

I wanted to like this book. The beginning was lovely, but the entire second act dragged horrifically. The third act picked up again, but the information presented right at the very end of the book should have been given to Leto at some point earlier. A lot of other convenient plot armor instances also occur — I’m pretty easy to please, and while at first I thought that it really was reading somewhat like an oral retelling of a hero, it just got to the point where everything happening was too convenient. There were also moments where characters acted out of character, and I felt as though that could have either been developed further or left out entirely. 

In general, I liked the writing style immensely. It really did read a lot like a myth with the language it used. This alone would have saved the book from being knocked down into the 1 or 2 star range, but there’s something else I feel the need to address.

As someone who is bisexual, I found this book to be a little bit biphobic in its love triangle. It falls into the “cheating bisexual” trope, where Leto’s internal monologue while kissing Mathias begins to work out how she’ll hide it from Melantho. I also found Leto’s and Melantho’s relationship to be rather codependent-feeling as well, with Leto obsessing over Melantho as much as she did. It got to the point where I wasn’t rooting for the two of them like I wanted to be because it just felt unhealthy. Because of this, I can’t within good conscience really rate it much further above than a 2.5. 

Finally, and this is a personal aside that doesn’t affect my review, and it contains a minor spoiler so proceed with caution.
SpoilerTruly, I came into this book assuming it would be feminine rage. I didn’t really sign up for a tragic ending. I wasn’t in the headspace to cry as much as I did at the ending and still go away from the book saying “that kind of fucking sucked at the end.” There is beauty in tragedy but that wasn’t it for me.
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