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

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

8 reviews

_puberty2's review against another edition

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.

Content Warnings

lisa_m's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This book was very interesting to read. I finished it in a single day and I wasn't bored for a second.

I've read about people saying the author did not research this book well because she did not read the Odyssey. Still I think this was a good story in its own right. I probably would have liked it more if she built her own world instead of using Greek mythology as a setting but still.

I think the thing that I liked most about it is how much is she committed to the ending.

It would have been easy to give it a happy ending, and many other authors probably would have done that too, but that would have taken away from the story. The whole plot is based on the Prince having to die so him not magically coming back was a good thing in my opinion. While reading the ending, I thought that he may turn into a sea-creature like them but i'm glad he didn't.

The thing I did not like was the cheating aspect of the relationships between the characters. If it had been better defined as either polyamory or something else I would have perhaps understood it more. But because of the jealousy involved it still felt more like cheating, which is a big no for me. I was positively surprised that this was a sapphic story, since I did not know that before starting the book. Originally I was convinced Leto would just fall in love with the prince which would put make it harder to kill him so I liked that twist to the story.

I did feel like some aspects of the story were underdeveloped or just not explained well enough. But especially for a debut novel I am very surprised by how well written this book was.

Content Warnings

katie0528's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-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? No

4.75

Leto is born on Ithaca, home of the famed Greek hero Odysseus. However, hundreds of years earlier, Odysseus offended the god Poseidon by executing his wife's Penelope's maids. Poseidon curses the land, creating a yearly tradition where the people of Ithaca sacrifice 12 more young women. Leto, is unfortunately one. After her violent execution, Leto wakes up on an island, home to the mysterious Melantho, a girl who died much the same way as Leto. Melantho reveals that the only way to break the curse is to kill the prince of Ithaca, Mattias, so the two girls disguise themselves as Matrias' betrothed and her maid. Unfortunately, killing a prince is easier said than done, particularly when he's handsome, charming, and also desperately wanting to break the curse.

I spent the whole book hoping this would turn into a throuple situation, but alas I was disappointed.

Content Warnings

anxious_cowpoke's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

So, this wasn’t the feminine rage Odyssey retelling I was hoping for. This story follows Leto, one of twelve girls who have been sentenced to die by hanging in Ithaca to prevent Poseidon’s rage from devouring the island. Though she dies, she is resurrected on the shores of an island called Pandou, with a population of one, another girl named Melantho. The two of them are determined to break the curse that plagues Ithaca and save the next twelve girls from being sacrificed — but that includes killing Prince Mathias and sacrificing him to the sea, instead.

I wanted to like this book. The beginning was lovely, but the entire second act dragged horrifically. The third act picked up again, but the information presented right at the very end of the book should have been given to Leto at some point earlier. A lot of other convenient plot armor instances also occur — I’m pretty easy to please, and while at first I thought that it really was reading somewhat like an oral retelling of a hero, it just got to the point where everything happening was too convenient. There were also moments where characters acted out of character, and I felt as though that could have either been developed further or left out entirely.

In general, I liked the writing style immensely. It really did read a lot like a myth with the language it used. This alone would have saved the book from being knocked down into the 1 or 2 star range, but there’s something else I feel the need to address.

As someone who is bisexual, I found this book to be a little bit biphobic in its love triangle. It falls into the “cheating bisexual” trope, where Leto’s internal monologue while kissing Mathias begins to work out how she’ll hide it from Melantho. I also found Leto’s and Melantho’s relationship to be rather codependent-feeling as well, with Leto obsessing over Melantho as much as she did. It got to the point where I wasn’t rooting for the two of them like I wanted to be because it just felt unhealthy. Because of this, I can’t within good conscience really rate it much further above than a 2.5.

Finally, and this is a personal aside that doesn’t affect my review, and it contains a minor spoiler so proceed with caution.

Truly, I came into this book assuming it would be feminine rage. I didn’t really sign up for a tragic ending. I wasn’t in the headspace to cry as much as I did at the ending and still go away from the book saying “that kind of fucking sucked at the end.” There is beauty in tragedy but that wasn’t it for me.

Content Warnings

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.75

I'm sad... It's so beautiful though. It's also my second favorite

non poly

ending to a love triangle. I just got really attached to the characters and story. It feels like a Greek Tragedy. This story has already happened there is nothing you can do to change it.

Content Warnings

bluebreex's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A solid debut! I am always easily drawn into mythology retellings and inspired stories, and this book was no exception. The characters were lovable and witty - I felt like cheering them on the whole time even when I had a good idea of how this book was going to end.

Would recommend to anyone with a love for mythology and mystery.

Content Warnings

shetland_pone's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I cried.

It's not perfect, but my only real complaint is the love triangle. Apart from that, it's wonderful.

TW: sexual abuse

Something I think the author wrote extremely well is Melantho's experiences and character. She's afraid of men. It's never said outright but you can see it in her behaviour. And it's nuanced. She knows Mathias isn't a bad person, she even comforts him at one point despite her distrust of him. Her feelings of guilt and pain were something I was able to relate to as someone who has experienced another type of sexual abuse. It felt healing to read.

Content Warnings

hanne_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

More...