Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Review: Lies Beneath

LIES BENEATH (Lies Beneath #1)
Anne Greenwood Brown
Paranormal Young Adult
303 pages
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Available June 12th
Received through Teen Book Scene and NetGalley for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. 

But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. 

Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

MY THOUGHTS
With a dark premise–merfolk who feed on the positive emotions of others, pulling every ounce of happiness from them in brightly colored strands to leave nothing but lifeless bodies in their wake–and a rare male first-person point of view, Lies Beneath has the potential to be the type of read that lingers in our memories for an indeterminate amount of time after finishing. Unfortunately, events move forward at a pace that has us wondering when all the intriguing intricacies promised us in the synopsis are going to begin to unfold, and we’re given characters who lack some of the beautifully rich depths found in the very waters they inhabit. We are but spectators in this tale, passive observers who can see the waves of Lake Superior crash against the shore but not feel the spray on our faces, and who understand that a love is blossoming between predator and prey but don't fully experience the tension radiating from their unlikely pairing.

Ms. Greenwood’s mermaid (and merman) mythology is truly fascinating–emotional cannibals who thrive on the stolen feelings of human beings, thus causing a clench in our guts as we realize just how far we’ve come from the beloved fairytale versions of the same creatures. While we are equally horrified and fascinated by their nature, we never truly feel consumed by their desire to kill since Calder has denied his basest urge to take a life for six months when we’re introduced to him. Because he seems to find it relatively easy to overcome the murderous desires his three sisters continually struggle with, the sense of danger is only a light breeze on the back of our necks rather than a great gust that causes our bodies to erupt in chills.

Our relationship with Calder and his sisters is in direct opposition to their relationship with humans in the story: where the prey in this tale are vibrant and overflowing with life only to end up mere husks, we begin reading this tale empty but expectant, waiting to be filled with and enveloped by the emotions of the characters, but instead we’re left much the same at the end as we were when we started. Overall though, Lies Beneath is well-written and has all the makings of a truly enthralling and hypnotic anti-fairytale, we just can’t help but wish the characters would pull a strong emotional reaction from us they way they do their victims so that we would cease being decorative lures bouncing on the surface and would instead find ourselves yanked beneath the waves for a more terrifying and exciting experience.

Rating: 3/5


*Confession: I wrote this review months ago, and as I was editing it last night before it posted I noticed how heavy-handed I was with the water theme. I squeezed a ridiculous number of water references into a short 3 paragraphs. Well done Jenny, well done. O_o

34 comments:

  1. Every review should be a themed metaphor. For example, I can't wait to sink my teeth into the next Immortal Rules. And I'm foaming at the mouth for Andrea Cremer's newest book. Plus, I would die and go to heaven for the second Daughter of Smoke and Bone book.

    BTW...what book are you most excited for at BEA? For me, it's the new Laini Taylor book or Raven Boys.

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  2. Oh that happens to me, too! :) Sometimes I write themed reviews (that might be a bit too much.) I'm so eager to find out more about the mermaid mytho in this novel. Great review!

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  3. Oh, I wish I could write reviews months in advance like you! I always end up writing them the night before and sometimes it takes me forever to do them on the spot haha :') But water-references or not (loved the waves one, by the way!), this was a great review! I loved how you called them emotional cannibals LOL. It's too bad that you didn't fall in love with the characters, but it sounds like the mermaid lore is really original and cool!

    Beautiful honest review, Jenny! :) <3

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  4. Wow Jenny! I love how flawlessly you incorporated the water motif! Seems that the characters needed more edge but it was a good story. I was surprised to learn Candor hasn't preyed for months at the beginning of the story, I would expect that change would go along throughout the story.
    Wonderfully written review Jenny!

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  5. I love your heavy handed word phrases, and I know what you mean about looking over a review that you wrote months ago, Ill do that sometimes and when I go to post it Im like hmmmmm I dont even remember this book...haha...:)

    *Confession.....I really don't like mermaid stories...there I said it.

    ;/

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  6. Jenny, you can be heavy handed with your water theme (or any theme) all you want! I approve.

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  7. Alison - Hahahaha I like it:) I'm super excited for The Raven Boys as well, I don't know if Days of Blood and Starlight is going to be there or not, but it if is, I WANT IT. I'm also super excited for Crewel and Ten.

    Precious - Yay! Glad I'm not alone:)

    Mimi - Haha normally I don't, but I got this one on tour so I had to read it and write my review earlier than I would otherwise. Then I read it and was like Huh. Apparently I felt strongly about the water motif.

    Rachel - Thank you! I sort of winced when I read it, but I'm glad you enjoyed it:) I expected him to want to change throughout the story too, maybe that's why things didn't feel as tense - he'd already made the change when we met him.

    Tina - And I love you:) I haven't been super successful with the mermaid stories (except Of Poseidon), so I'm thinking they may not be the paranormal entity for me.

    Amanda - Thank you! I value your approval:)

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  8. Hi Jenny. I need to read this one. I think I'm going to read it next. I hope I like it more than you did, though. I must admit I'm not a huge fan of mermaid tales but I got this on Netgalley so I want to give it a go. Great honest review. :)

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  9. I know Wendy really liked this one which is why I ended up requesting it. Your review makes it sound kind of slow-paced though and you know I don't do well with that. It's also too bad that it couldn't evoke strong emotions from you. Hmm, I guess I'll start reading this one a little later then.

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  10. Jenny, I love all the water references! ;) This is a great review. It's a shame the characters weren't the best, but I'm glad you think the book was well-written overall. I keep wondering if this will be my type of book or not as mermaids are very hit and miss for me and I still can't decide. I need to get round to it soon! ;)

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  11. Hm... Water... Mermaid... Galen.. Ops no, that was another book!
    I'm afraid I'm tainted now since I'm always looking for the next Of Poseidon that will totally bow me away! Your review was as usual pretty damn awesome but in the end told me that I don't think I will like this book very much.
    Emotions are important, especially emotional connection to the characters, and if you didn't feel it, I won't!

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  12. I have not read this book but I love mermaid tales. I do like more underwater stuff, makes me feelas if I am there.

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  13. I haven't read many Mermaid tales, so this one sounds very interesting. I'll be adding this one to my wish list.

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  14. You know, I don't think I ever properly read the synopsis on this one until now. Lies Beneath certainly does sound unique! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jenny. We really don't mind the water references. :)

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  15. This is such a fab review Jenny! You are seriously the reviewing queen! There seems to be a phase that writers are going through mermaid stories are popping up all over the place! But this does seem like an interesting read, I think I may go with this as one of the first ones! Thank you for the honest review!

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  16. Hmmm too bad about the connection with the characters. That usually makes or breaks a book for me, and it sounds like I would find this one lacking. Great review, especially the water references. ;)

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  17. I have this one waiting to be reviewed. I hear it is a bit dark and after reading your review I am curious, emotional cannibals sounds cool. I liked that last line in your review about bouncing on the waves like a lure intead of being yanked below.

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  18. Hey! I just realized this is a Minnesota author and she's going to be in town doing a signing after the book releases. Would it be worth going to?

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  19. I really wasn't sure about this one, since I'm not usually a mermaid/man fan in the first place but I do like the idea of violent, cannibalistic merpeople. That's disgustingly cool. Suck about the disconnect, though. Hate when that happens!

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  20. Rachel - I haven't been a huge fan of mermaid tales either (I did love Of Poseidon), and this one didn't do as much for me as I'd hoped. I can't wait to read your thoughts though!

    Z - I know she loved this one! I just wanted a little more for it - I was expecting more intensity with the whole murderous mermaids premise, and I didn't feel that.

    Danny - I'd say it was more on par with Wrecked than Of Poseidon. I wanted to love it a bit more than I did, but it was still a good story.

    Savy - I noticed last night on Goodreads it said this was book 1, so maybe book 2 will work better for me:)

    Jennifer - Looking forward to your thoughts on it!

    Lauren - Doesn't it? I had such high hopes for it and I was just a touch disappointed. I thought it would be darker and grittier and I just didn't react to it the way I thought I would.

    Jasprit - *blushes* Thank you:) Mermaids are definitely the new trend, and even though I haven't quite found a book in this trend that blew me away, I've still had a lot of fun reading:)

    Ashley - Me too. I wanted to root for both characters and I was more indifferent than I'd hoped when I started.

    Heidi - It is dark, but it's not as dark as the synopsis suggests.

    Amanda - I think so! I love going to signings:)

    Mary - I really liked the idea of the violent merpeople too, I just wanted to feel that violence a bit more I guess. It seemed easy for Calder to overcome his nature.

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  21. Shoot- I expected a lot from this one! Well, I'll go in with lower expectations. But the water references were well done! Excellent job! Were you missing the beach that day? Brought out the summer girl in you. They aren't overdone, very well played! Oh, to write like you! Very nice review, very nice. (Can I say you make me a little jealous sometimes?)Pfft!*sticking my tongue out at you*

    Heather

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  22. Lol. It's like when i notice that i use the word awesome in every sentence..yes, so well written :)

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  23. Hm... I just started this one and so far, I can't agree more. I want to be involved in the characters, but it's not happening. I'm hoping something happens to pull me under with them a bit more, but at least now I know it may not happen. *sigh*

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  24. I'm soooo torn on reading this one dude!!! Like the synopsis makes me go, "Ashley- YOU NEED THIS BOOK." but the reviews I keep reading for it make me think otherwise! *sigh*

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  25. It's so easy to poke fun of mermaid tails..er tales? But looks like we should take caution, lest we find ourselves as the bait next time we go for a swim. LOL

    I'll probably be skipping this one, but I love your themed reviews.

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  26. I've read some really awful reviews on this one which made me nervous for the Teen Book Scene tour. Glad to know that it offers an anti-fairy tale story, which is what pulled me in initially. Thanks for the heads up on your issues. I now know the speed bumps when I pick this one up.

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  27. Sounds interesting, especially the ant-fairytale angle.

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  28. You squeezed the water metaphors dry, baby! *high fives*

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  29. I'm seeing a lot of mermaid books lately and I had this one mixed up with Of Poseideon .. I love the cover for Lies Beneath ! Thanks for the lovely review :)

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  30. I felt the same way about this book, Jenny. I felt like it had a ton of potential and the mermaid mythology was pretty captivating, but I felt no emotional connection either. I definitely felt luke warm about this novel as well!

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  31. I have this book on my iPad to review, and was hoping to start it soon. I just finished reading Of Poseidon last week, and was looking forward to reading another mermaid type book. This definitely sounds different than OP!

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  32. I need character involvement in these type of stories! Seriously, I can live without it in Thrillers but in most other stories I need it :)

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  33. Hmmm sounds intriguing! Maybe not the best book but I think I'm willing to give it a try... Sounds dark, but maybe not as fulfilling as desired? You've definitely got me interested! Thanks for this great review! ;)

    Sierra @ Yearning to Read
    www.yearningtoread.blogspot.com

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  34. The cannibals sound creepy, but also interesting. But eating humans? Makes my skin crawl.

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