Series ~ Lost Voices #1
Author ~ Sarah Porter
Release Date ~ July 4, 2011
Age Group ~ Young Adult
Publisher ~ Houghton Miffin Harcourt Children’s
Source ~ NetGalley
Goodreads Summary
Fourteen-year-old Luce is one of those lost girls. After her father vanishes in a storm at sea, she is stuck in a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village with her alcoholic uncle. When her uncle crosses an unspeakable line, Luce reaches the depths of despair. Abandoned on the cliffs near her home, she expects to die when she tumbles to the icy, churning waves below. Instead, she undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.
A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. The mermaids are beautiful, free, and ageless, and Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: they feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.
Luce’s own talent at singing captures the attention of the tribe’s queen, the fierce and elegant Catarina, and Luce soon finds herself pressured to join in committing mass murder. Luce’s struggle to retain her inner humanity puts her at odds with her friends; even worse, Catarina seems to regard Luce as a potential rival. But the appearance of a devious new mermaid brings a real threat to Catarina’s leadership and endangers the very existence of the tribe. Can Luce find the courage to challenge the newcomer, even at the risk of becoming rejected and alone once again?
Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive
Review
Lost Voices is a book of one girl’s struggle with the terrible circumstances she has endured. No one can argue that Luce has had a difficult life. After losing both of her parents, she was abused by her uncle. Now, at fourteen, Luce slips into the freezing Alaskan sea only to transform into a mermaid.
If you are expecting things to turn around for Luce you will be disappointed. The mermaids in Lost Voices are really portrayed as sirens who have the uncontrollable desire to crush ships against the rocks killing the people on board. The mermaids are mean-spirited and evil to each other as well. They didn’t have one single redeeming quality and this bothered me. Honestly, I think the situation for Luce was worse as a mermaid than as a human.
I felt bad for Luce and wished that her life were easier. This was not her reality though, and I hoped that she would fight for her humanity. Sadly, Luce was anything but a strong and feisty main character. At first, she did put up a bit of a fight, but soon she slipped into a deep depression. It seemed that this depression swallowed her up. Luce lost her personality and her drive as she began to act more like a mermaid than a human.
Now Catarina, she was a character that I could get behind. She was a strong leader and I could sympathize with her feeling threatened by and jealous of Luce. I liked that Catarina had overcome some of the obstacles from her earlier tribe. I sort of wish Catarina had been the main character instead of Luce.
I really wanted to like this book, but the miserable main character just dragged me down with her.
Trailer
Rating
2 Not for Me
Cover Comments
Beautiful and enchanting. I love the color of the water and the font that seems to flow right along with it.
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