In Sarah Underwood’s “Lies We Sing to the Sea,” we follow Leto as she figures out her messed up love triangle with the person who gives her the quest and the target at the end of the quest. In this story of choices and heartbreak, the hero finds out that she can either save the world, or save her love, but not both.
For several generations after Odysseus’ return to Ithica, Poseidon has demanded a boon. Each year, 12 girls will be sacrificed to the sea, a revenge plot for the 12 maids Odysseus murdered in his rampage. This year, Leto, daughter of the palace oracle, is one of them. Only, she finds herself awakened on the shore of a hidden island, chosen to do Poseidon’s bidding.
This was a great story to read through. I really appreciated the truly different take on a topic that is repeated time and time again. Getting to see an imagined version of the aftermath of the aftermath of Odysseus’ return was incredibly interesting.
I was not, however, very fond of the way some of the things that happened in the book happened. So much could have been solved with just a bit of communication, and the tension in this book was on a whole different level of extreme. Seriously, I think communication would have been the easiest way to solve some of the issues throughout the book.
That being said, the power system in this book was really interesting. While being blessed with powers from the gods is not an unheard-of system, warlocks and clerics are a thing for a reason, the way the characters went about using these powers is what made it interesting. Being able to turn a little bit of Poseidon’s seawater into your own personal spy is an interesting concept.
Something else I was intrigued by with this book was the ending. I have said before that a book’s ending can either make or break a book. Well, the ending did not quite break the book; it did not quite make it either. The ending itself felt kind of incomplete and a bit confusing, but the buildup to the ending was absolutely incredible. The main character must go through all of this only to have nothing in the end.
The author’s way of making the characters not necessarily relatable but giving them the ability to connect with the reader and making the reader feel their feelings, is a talent that not all authors have.
However, the thing that I liked the least about this book was the way the love triangle was approached. Having the main character essentially cheat on her main love interest with her secondary love interest was definitely not the way to go about it. The fact that all of the characters in this book were OK with it made it kind of hard to read.
While the general idea of this book was a great read, and the power system was cool and well thought out, there were just so many parts of it that made it a tough read. Sure, I could connect with these characters, and the ending made me cry, but I just could not get past some of the topics that were covered in this book. I give this book a 3.5/5.