ARC Review: Lost Voices

Author: Sarah Porter
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Release: July, 2011
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5

Description: Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead 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. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce possesses an extraordinary singing talent, which makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

The first book in a trilogy, 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 the first book in a trilogy by debut author Sarah Porter.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

• It was slow quite a few times in the book.
• Luce was so bent on admiring Catarina, the tribe leader, even when Catarina treated her like crap. This made her seem desperate and a little...sad. Luce's attitude toward Catarina was a bit naive and annoying.
• Most of the mermaids blended in with each other. There wasn't really anything special about them that made them stand out or memorable. Most of them were annoying.
• I wasn't crazy about Catarina's (or many of the other mermaids') mood swings. One minute she was nice and sweet, the next she was mean and conniving.
• The book didn't really address the abuse the girls went through as humans. They went through some pretty heavy stuff...not just beatings.

WHAT I LIKED

• Ms. Porter does an excellent job in her descriptions. I could visualize everything while reading. Being a very visual person, this was all kinds of awesome.
• Although Luce annoyed me with her blind devotion to Catarina, I like the fact that she didn't change and become a mean mermaid, although it probably would have made life easier for her.

I'd say Lost Voices is a bit darker, though not too much, cos of some of the elements (the abuse, the siren aspect, etc). Overall, it was an ok read. I may read book #2 in the series.