Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Lies We Sing to the Sea

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

6 reviews

mirandyli's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This was a beautiful story perfect for fans of queer Greek mythology. Very heartwrenching.

I thought this book was going to subvert the “kill your gays” trope, but in the end, a queer character does die. It isn’t a happy ending.

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rhiaintheclouds's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

1☆.

honestly. this should've been a dnf.
i really wish the author chose to promote this story as inspired by the odyssey rather than a retelling b/c maybe then my opinions would've changed.

Leto as the main character? Extremely frustrating. Extremely wishy washy and a terrible bi-rep if that's what was happening. Melantho was literally just always pissy or trying to be sassy but it was honestly just annoying. Surprisingly Mathias was literally the only character I could tolerate.

i was pretty much irritated throughout the story, and i couldn't even fully grasp the story. it was so messy. pacing was all over the place and this was a highly anticipated read for me back when it first got published. sigh.

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_puberty2's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

i was deeply disappointed with how the author handled her sapphic characters and the more sensitive topics she decided to include. with all of the major conflicts being driven by the rape, abuse, and death of the lesbian character — melantho — and pretty much every other woman in the book, i expected the ending to include some kind of meaningful resolution to their suffering that would give greater purpose to that narrative choice. instead, it was treated purely as a plot device, as was the lesbian character as a whole. i grew attached to her very quickly as i could relate to a lot of her internal conflicts and her guilt, but without her trauma she would have very little individuality from leto.

introducing a male love interest (mathias) to an established sapphic relationship is already a cardinal sin but melantho just kind of accepts it when leto is effectively cheating?? with minimal resistance?? especially since it completely undercuts her consistent distain towards him and his affection for leto throughout the rest of the book. i understand that mel feels unworthy of leto’s love, but failing to resolve that internal conflict with an expression of unwavering loyalty made it seem like their relationship wasn’t real enough to involve monogamy. leto questioning her “choosing” melantho over mathias (even though he was Always going to have to die) honestly solidifies that for me. the fact that the last thing to happen before mel ends up dead is fade-to-black sex that’s framed as a “parting gift” for mathias before they end the curse was salt in the wound. adding in the detail that the caveat to needing 12 princes was one prince who chooses really just felt like a way to make mathias the heroic, selfless one despite the fact that he was already the 12th and him accepting his death made no difference for mel’s centuries of tireless work and the thousands of girls who died in the meantime. similarly, her attempt to explain melantho’s acceptance of mathias (despite her consistent rejection otherwise) using his sister’s death was another severely underdeveloped attempt to make you sympathize with him and his “sacrifice”.

overall, i think choosing to create a sapphic novel with a foundation of women’s suffering then prioritizing the feelings and image of the singular male main character is very telling to the author’s priorities. this isn’t even getting into the complete non-effort put into making this the “odyssey retelling” it was advertised to be (despite the author never having ever read the book) and complete lack of research into the setting and time period.

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Writing: 4⭐️/5

The writing in this story was clear and poetic. At times, I really did love the beauty of the words and how the story was unravelling carefully. I think Underwood writes very cleanly and epically, which served this Greek-myth-inspired story well. The shifting character POVs served the story well, though I do wish each character had a more defined voice during their own section.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

The characters in the story were clear and relatively strong. Or, at least, the main characters – our narrators – were. The side characters felt much more wishy-washy, their personalities left unexplored and undeveloped until the climax of the story, which then felt far too late. Despite our three main characters being clear in their characteristics, they also didn’t develop much throughout the story. The plot took the centrefold of the story, and the characters simply continued along their paths.

Plot: 3.25⭐️/5

I did enjoy reading the story, as the plot felt clear and decided. However, at many points, the plot’s pacing felt incredibly off. I wondered at the stretched out timeline between Menthalo and Leto’s training to the condensed timeline of them returning to Ithaca and crashing into Mathias’ life. Since the timeline felt rushed, many of the plot points felt rushed. Personally, while I enjoyed both of the love stories in the novel, I wondered whether they could have been handled a bit better to make it feel more respectful. I love a good poly relationship, but – while Menthalo and Mathias ended up respecting each other – one was left in the dark about the other, and Menthalo herself never seemed to be settled with the fact that Leto also loved Mathias.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of Greek Mythology looking for something inspired by it; readers looking for a tragedy that isn’t hopeless; those who like LGBTQIA stories;

Content Warnings?

Blood, death, hangings, drowning, murder, injury, injury detail, fire, rape, sexual assault, sexual content, sacrifices, misogyny, sexism, gaslighting, abuse, suicide, suicidal thoughts, depression, classism,

Post-Reading Rating: 3.25⭐️/5

I liked the ending, but I wanted a bit more from the lead up into it.

Final Rating: 3.25⭐️/5 (3.38)

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lindz_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Struggled to get through.

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hanne_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Gods, what a slog. Had one early moment with properly horrific use of familiar imagery (the feet, what else?), and then… kinda fell apart. This could’ve been sweet and lush, but tried to do too much with too little and was narratively all over the place. It’s a reimagining of how the Odys— okay, it’s not really doing that rigorously but it’s an intensely personal exploration of— nope, it’s one of those “monarchic inheritance acts like a reality show competition” books— but don’t worry, this YA love triangle’s *bisexual* and even drifting toward polyam— oh wait, now we’re doing the senselessly tragic nature of capital-F Fate— whoops, have two sudden twists… and it’s over. Exhausting.

I think the author needed to pick one or two things to really commit to: the worldbuilding as an extension of The Odyssey, the consistency of the magic and plot elements she wanted to include, Leto and Melantho’s first-person voices (which started out refreshing and distinct but soon blended together), the three protagonists’ relationships, or the political/governing elements. Instead, the story rushes past each in turn in service of the others, and the only reliably well-developed element is actually… the violence? If you for some reason want to read a lot of detail about people, mostly children, being disturbingly murdered and assaulted, this is the book for you.

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