Reviews

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

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novaturient_bibliophile's review against another edition

5.0

⭐️5/5 Stars⭐️

Wow. Just…wow. When I first read the blurb, I KNEW that the overall plot/premise was going to be amazing, but the book BY FAR exceeded my expectations. Even Mathias’ perspective, which was my least favorite out of the three, was wonderful. I mean, the yearning for Leto, the outsider POV of Leto and Melantho’s relationship (which, those two? sold the whole thing for me), just…*chef’s kiss*. And the beautiful language throughout the book; every metaphor, piece of imagery, allusion, and recurring motif had me swooning. The whole Greek myth genre should have alerted me to the tragic ending, but I still held out hope until the last page. It was nice, though, how the tragedy was painted as poetic (the daffodils).
It reminded me of Circe and the Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
Also….
Today, on how-to-avoid-choosing-an-endgame-ship: Just kill both romantic interests.

kahikole's review

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adventurous challenging inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.0

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I have very conflicted feelings about this book. If this book was set in a fantasy world it would have gotten a good 4,5 stars since I did really enjoy the writing styles, the characters and the in my opinion almost poly relationship that could have blossomed if given more time. I did however have a lot of issues with this book as well. The author clearly stated that she didn’t really do her research and it shows. In the historical and mythological context a lot is wrong or just forgotten, from the “Athenian princes” while Athens was a democracy at that time, to the forgetting of the peloponnesian war, the history background is just not correct. Mythologically a lot is also left to be desired. This book could have been such a big hit if the author had just put in the work. A couple of quick Wikipedia searches would have already made a world of difference.