Lies Beneath Review

Lies Beneath by ANNE GREENWOOD BROWN

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him (goodreads).





Review:                                    Review based on ARC/netgalley edition

What began as a mediocre read quickly turned into a fast paced story in which the line between good and evil are very easily blurred. 

Calder White is a mermaid, but not like the Little Mermaid. He drowns humans for the fleeting moment of experiencing their happiness. When his sisters relay news that they've finally found the son of the man who killed their mother, Calder is too happy to quickly kill him so that he can carry on his merry little way-away from his sisters. Except Lily happens and killing her father gets a lot more complicated. 

To be completely honest, I did not think that I was going to enjoy this book. After 86 pages I set aside the book to tackle other books on my TBR list but I eventually came back. And something happened. Maybe my mindset changed or the book picked up but I was turning pages quick as ever! I loved the idea of murderous mermaids a la mythical sirens and Calder was as heartless as they come. 

The characters were very interesting especially Calder's three sisters led by the ever-planning Maris. If there was an award for the Most Dysfunctional Mermaid Family I'm pretty sure the White's would have no competition. Maris is just so downright evil she makes Calder seem tame. Overall, Lily Hancock, the love interest, was an interesting and stable character but I found the story involving Calder and his family more appealing. 

The writing was very strong as well. What made this novel so unique is that it is told from a male perspective which was a something I personally don't come across too often in the young adult genre. In my opinion, the book starting off very rushed and unsure of itself (ie the sisters initial plot to get revenge on the Hancocks) but once it decided on a plot, I really enjoyed it. 

Lies Beneath is a great introductory novel and I cannot wait to find out more about Calder and his blooming love with Lily. With great characters and a revenge-driven plot for revenge, Lies Beneath will makes waves (yes I just did that) this summer!

I recommend this novel for fans of mermaid characters and REVENGE. 

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