Book Review: Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Title: Lost Voices

Author: Sarah Porter

Series: Lost Voices #1

Release Date: July 4th, 2011

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books

Age: Young Adult

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.

Lately I've been reading and loving mermaid's books. Lost Voices wasn't an exception, but it really surprised me!

I knew this book was going to be different when I read the summary. Luce is young and her life have been really difficult. She has no parents, no friends, and only an uncle who hurts her.

She's really amazing. I loved her from the beginning. She's younger than the usual YA protagonist, but she was so mature and strong. She was sweet even after suffering a lot.  I was so sad for her at first, always looking for someone to love her and accept her, but she's really a role model. She just wanted to have a better, and happy, life.

The mermaids were amazing. It was really original the concept of being a mermaid only after you give up your humanity. It was interesting to see them in that way, a bunch of girls with an ugly human past. But what I liked more was the singing. Usually this is forgotten in mermaids books (they are usually good mermaids), but here it's the most important aspect of being a mermaid! I really loved the descriptions of the songs, I could easily create them on my mind. Of course it was kind of scary to believe a song could make you feel things like wanting to jump to the water....

 

Overall, I think Lost Voices was an original book of mermaids, darker than the usual. I really loved it and I only wished the book wouldn't have ended so abruptly. I  really can't wait to read more about Luce and the mermaids in the next book, called Waking Storm.

More about this book at sarahporterbooks.com, Goodreads, Amazon, The Book Depository.