Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
Series: Lies Beneath #1
Publisher: Delacorte Books for YR (Random House)
First published: June 12th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 303

Goodreads Summary:

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.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

First thoughts:

Introducing its readers to a dark world of evil merpeople, Lies Beneath is a captivating story of finding a balance between your need for revenge and the magic of true love. And even though I had a few problems to connect with the protagonists, I couldn't stop reading and can't wait to see what will happen in the second book of this series. 

More detailed:

I've been really excited about reading a book with a different kind of merpeople lore, because I think that their evilness and cruelty works really well for creatures that are living in the dark depths of lakes and oceans. And it definitely didn't disappoint: these mermaids (and mermen) are evil and kill humans to survive - and sometimes just because they want to.

Lies Beneath is told from Calder's point of view and considering that we don't get a male perspective that often in Young Adult novels, it was a refreshing change. He's a merman and therefore has some darker sides, but nonetheless he's a somewhat likeable protagonist. His character development throughout the story is definitely interesting to witness.

His love story is one of the forbidden kind, which are my favorite ones. Falling in love with the daughter of the man Calder and his sisters have vowed to kill is the perfect way to ensure that readers will keep turning Lies Beneath's pages and cross their fingers for the unlikely couple to get their happy ending. 

And while I really like the plot line and Anne Greenwood Brown's style of writing, I sadly had a few small problems truly feeling for these characters. I can't even explain exactly why, because all in all Lies Beneath had everything I want in a book. It's just an overall feeling that made me not like it enough for a four star (or higher) rating.

But if you've thinking about giving this book a chance, don't hesitate and get a copy. I'll definitely read the second book of this series as well and might even get a finished copy. Mermaids are a really lovely trend in 2012 and Anne Greenwood Brown's take on them is refreshing and slightly addicting.

Have you read Lies Beneath? What did you think about it?

Do you plan to read it?

Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

Carina