Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

6 reviews

lisa_m's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

corabookworm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Every year in Ithaca, 12 girls are hung and dropped into the sea to satisfy Poseidon. Except, this year, one survives. Leto wakes on an island and meets the mysterious Melantho, a girl who tells her that to end Poseidon's wrath, they must kill Ithaca's prince.

I really enjoyed this book! The plot was a beautiful combination of curse-breaking and assassination attempts and romance, and the writing was really gorgeous. My only real problems were that 1) the plot and pacing got a little tedious at times, as it would kinda loop around and repeat and drag at a few points and 2) (slight spoilers!) I do feel like it perpetrated the whole bisexuals-are-cheaters narrative as the main character holds a relationship with both Melantho and Mathias without either of them knowing. I know other people had issues with the historical accuracy of this book, but honestly if you go into it just expecting a fun fantasy novel, there's nothing that really sticks out or ruins the story or anything. And all the controversy about the author never having read the Odyssey is pointless. This is NOT a retelling of the Odyssey. It takes one element of the end of the story and spins a new tale that takes place centuries later. (I also really did like this spin on said element of the Odyssey.) 

All in all, this book wasn't perfect, but I really liked it! If you like Greek Mythology-inspired stories and retellings, you should check this one out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Grief

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism

lesemaus2303's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved every bit of it! 
Almost didn't want to finish it because i didn't want the story to end. Emotional and so thrilling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

em_of_swags's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

why is it always a tragedy, can I be allowed happy books for once?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery, Death of parent, and Alcohol

sophmcgraw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery and Sexual harassment

hanne_'s review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

It’s not creepy if the centuries-old entity having sex with a young woman also looks and acts like a young woman, right? No, nope, wrong, absolutely creepy, and some memory loss to reduce the weight of her years of experience does not fix it.