Review: Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood

 

Lies We Sing to the Sea is a thrilling imagining of Penelope’s twelve hanged maids from Homer’s Odyssey getting vengeance on the kingdom that wronged them. It follows the narrative of three characters: Leto, an oracle with a sliver of her mother’s powers, Melantho, imprisoned creature of Poseidon, and Mathias, an unfortunate prince over a cursed land. In unlikely ways, their paths intertwine into a nail-biting story that is impossible to resist. Every turn the novel takes leaves the reader hoping for each of the character’s happy endings, despite how impossible it may appear.

And for each character, it is indeed impossible to reach their own desires without demolishing another’s. Underwood shows this cleverly by changing the first-person narrative. Amazingly, she does this while maintaining an element of mystery in each character’s backstory. The setting is beautiful – from the idyllic encaged island of Pandou to the glamorous impoverished palaces of Ithica and its grief-stricken surrounding villages. The only issue I had was with the pacing at the beginning of Leto and Melantho’s quest. This was quickly redeemed by another layer to uncovering the story. The rest of the book reels you in as each character works toward their different, though similar, goal.

This book is for lovers of Greek mythology and high-stake quests. Filled with thrilling deceit, romance, and unforeseen plot twists, this story will immediately enrapture any reader and pull them into the untruthful songs each character sings.

Rowan Beddows, 17