Scan barcode
A review by cluttered_mind
Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
If you know little to nothing of greek history or mythology, and are a fan of trope characters you will probably love this. And I sincerely hope you don't let other people's (and mine) opinions ruin your enjoyment of the book.
I was listening to the audiobook, and the three narrators did an amazing job. The feelings they put into their work comes across very well. They're the main reason I managed to finish the book.
Boring and drawn out, could have easily cut 100 pages.
The author clearly has done no research into ancient Greek life or mythos. If you wanna make a fantasy greek world that's fine, but this tried to bring in actual historical events, and brought up characters from the epics etc. Which made it read as under-researched. The dialogue is also modern in nature.
I was also told this was a retelling of the Odyssey, and going in with that mindset set the book up for failure in itself.
I've read the deleted interview with the author after I finished the book, and had I known about this, I would have never even tried reading this, as it's not written for me.
I'm baffled over how they marketed this book.
The characters are stiff, and the love triangle is badly executed. It also didn't feel like it was intentional how unlikeable Leto was. Mathias is also a wet fish. Spending months being sad about girls being killed and doing absolutely nothing. But I suppose this comes to the pacing issue of the book.
The story also has the cheating bisexual trope. Something I definitely did not enjoy. And again, I was told this book was sapphic, so went into the book expecting something else. Rape was also use as a plot point.
The two girls were cute until they arrived at Ithaca I suppose. But all the relationships in the book felt insincere.
There is an issue of time blindness and space awareness in the writing. Suddenly it's night when it was just morning, and characters happens to be at places that makes no sense for them to be. Mostly for drama. I'm surprised the editors didn't fix these issues.
Fade to black sex scene was also neither appropriate nor welcome right before the only important part of the book
Basically feels like a cash grab, hanging onto the popularity of Greek retellings.
I was listening to the audiobook, and the three narrators did an amazing job. The feelings they put into their work comes across very well. They're the main reason I managed to finish the book.
Boring and drawn out, could have easily cut 100 pages.
The author clearly has done no research into ancient Greek life or mythos. If you wanna make a fantasy greek world that's fine, but this tried to bring in actual historical events, and brought up characters from the epics etc. Which made it read as under-researched. The dialogue is also modern in nature.
I was also told this was a retelling of the Odyssey, and going in with that mindset set the book up for failure in itself.
I've read the deleted interview with the author after I finished the book, and had I known about this, I would have never even tried reading this, as it's not written for me.
I'm baffled over how they marketed this book.
The characters are stiff, and the love triangle is badly executed. It also didn't feel like it was intentional how unlikeable Leto was. Mathias is also a wet fish. Spending months being sad about girls being killed and doing absolutely nothing. But I suppose this comes to the pacing issue of the book.
The story also has the cheating bisexual trope. Something I definitely did not enjoy. And again, I was told this book was sapphic, so went into the book expecting something else. Rape was also use as a plot point.
The two girls were cute until they arrived at Ithaca I suppose. But all the relationships in the book felt insincere.
There is an issue of time blindness and space awareness in the writing. Suddenly it's night when it was just morning, and characters happens to be at places that makes no sense for them to be. Mostly for drama. I'm surprised the editors didn't fix these issues.
Fade to black sex scene was also neither appropriate nor welcome right before the only important part of the book
Basically feels like a cash grab, hanging onto the popularity of Greek retellings.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault