Coming from someone who only dabbles in Greek mythology, I enjoyed this book. There were flaws, and I'm sure for those with extensive knowledge of Greek culture and society, there are probably some problems, but very few that I could point out.

This book left me ugly crying. I knew what was coming, but it still hurt when it arrived. Parts in the beginning and middle of the book dragged on, and I would have liked to see more from the supporting cast, but I loved the main three characters and their backstories.

While there is some controversy regarding the author, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I will not be reviewing this HarperCollins book in solidarity with the striking workers. I'm disappointed by the news I've heard that your company is hiring scabs as well.

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood is a book based on Greek mythology. It tells the story of a cursed, aging Ithaca, centuries after Odysseus. The heavy price to be paid is the annual sacrifice of 12 girls marked by Poseidon. Odysseus’ last descendent, Mathias, is the prince of Ithaca charged with carrying out the sacrifice.

The real focus of the story is on the victims of the sacrifices, two in particular: Leto and Melantho. Yes, THAT Melantho, often portrayed as a traitor to Penelope and Ithaca. Like any good mythology retelling, this book takes a character we think we know and offers a different, deeper perspective. We follow these two girls as they seek to end the curse and find out how far they’ll go to save the lives of hundreds of future Ithacan girls.

I enjoyed this fresh take on a minor mythological character and the introduction of new ones that I was unfamiliar with. The first bit of character and story introduction was a little slow for me but once the story moved to the main part of the plot, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. The book treats Melantho, Leto and Mathias with equal care and the relationships they form feel real and touching. The stakes are high and the ending was satisfying.

Mythology retellings can sometimes be serious and laborious but this was a fun, fast, exciting tale.

Lies We Sing to the Sea releases on March 7, 2023.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

(Review will be posted on Instagram @backlistblooms the week of release)

An interesting young adult fantasy involving Greek mythic time. The plot spins Theseus and the Minotaur with The Odyssey and undersea fantasy.

I saw the author's tiktoks about this book a while ago, and put it on my tbr. When I saw it was available on netgalley, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. I read it at sort of a perfect time because we recently finished The Odyssey in my english class, so it was cool to read about a very minor character and dive deep into her story. I loooovvveeee sapphic books as well, so I was super excited. Now, to get into the actual book. Unfortunately, the book disappointed me a bit. I had such high expectations, and perhaps if I didn't have those coming in I would have liked it more, but that doesn't matter. While I thought Melantho and Leto's story was very cute, I found the prince and his storyline annoying. ****MILD SPOILER**** I didn't like that Leto basically cheated on Melantho****MILD SPOILER OVER****, and I thought the prince's storyline was boring- it was all about breaking the curse, but he didn't even discover anything new that changed the ending. I didn't love the pacing of this book either. The beginning was slow, and I felt like I was just being given a ton of information, and then there's just a lot of time skips that are just not mentioned and sort of glossed over. Also, there was a loootttt of repetition (Did you know that to break the curse Leto has to kill the prince in water)??? I did enjoy reading most of it after the start, up until the ending, which I won't spoil, but I did not like. On the other hand, however, the ending was much like the ending of a Greek tragedy, so if that's what the author was going for, she did a good job. Still doesn't mean I enjoyed it. Overall, this book was fun to read! I think I would've liked it better if I could have connected more to the main characters, but this is an ARC, so I'm sure the dialogue and such will be better upon release!

Good but could be better! I really like the cover. The story was a bit all over the place and seemed to mash several myths together. Probably would not read again.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I like the concept, and I think it has promise for the right audiences. I really like the idea of a story centered around Penelope’s maids, particularly a queer story. However, I just couldn’t seem to connect to Leto and was struggling to keep pushing through. It felt a tad underwritten, and I think it could have benefitted from some elevated prose.

I’m sorry but I couldn’t finish this book. It was all over the place for me and I felt the gaps made it too difficult to connect with the characters. Do had such high hopes because I love Greek mythology retellings. This book fell short for me.

This book has so many elements I really love: Greek mythology, queer rep, a retelling of the Odyssey. The cover is gorgeous too, and I'd love the aesthetics of it on my shelf, but the book itself didn't deliver. The beginning was slow and a bit info-dumpy for me; I couldn't get into it. There's also a pretty significant time jump that's skimmed over that I found hard to engage with, because important character development happens in that time. However, once the main character reaches the palace, the pace picks up and I found myself getting into the book a lot more. The only obstacle in the second half was the love triangle. The main character, Leto, is attracted to both her fellow co-conspirator, Melantho, and the prince she's trying to kill. Everything with Melantho was really believable and compelling, but the prince fell flat for me both as a secondary protagonist and a love interest. He's not very competent; his whole arc centers around him trying to figure out how to break the curse, and he makes almost no progress without Leto's help, and the progress he does make is mostly through luck. I was constantly frustrated with him. Lastly, the ending was deeply unsatisfying to me. I don't want to spoil into, so I'm not to go into the why of it, but it felt like it ruined all of the growth in the relationships that had been at the center of the book. Overall, I had really high hopes for this book, and it just didn't end up being what I was looking for.

Beautifully written, with a world that is as rich as it is complex. I could read Underwood's writing all day, it's almost like poetry.

A slow start to a story that ends up gripping you. Poetic writing, whip smart, a YA that doesn't feel young or treat its readers like they aren't smart or thoughtful. I thoroughly enjoyed this once the pace picked up; it took a few chapters for the story to feel like it had feet, but I'm glad that I stuck with it through to the end! It definitely felt dense at times, but the longer I read the more I came to appreciate the intricate plot and getting to see it carried out through multiple points of view. A good, absolutely gut wrenching original retelling with interesting characters and a rich mythology.

I have not read Odyssey, and found I was still able to enjoy the book! However, if I wanted more of an understanding of Greek mythology, than it probably wouldn’t have hurt to have some background knowledge. Otherwise, I thought it good, and I enjoyed. But I am a stickler for repetitiveness, and this book does a lot of this. i.e., Did you know Leto has to kill the prince? Aside from that, I would recommend this book to teens.

Yes, I read the interview. Then I read this anyway with the mindset that it was based on an idea rather than a retelling. Go in with that mindset.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

I love any kind of retelling of mythology but this one fell flat. It somehow felt rushed and slow all at the same time and I didn’t get that feeling I usually get that I am reading a retelling. The story felt so modern and the historical pieces of it felt forced.

Maybe it’s because it’s more of a teen book? It also just felt soooo tragic just to be tragic. Characters purposely being evasive for no reason or trying to deliver a shocking piece of the story that didn’t illicit any actual emotion from the reader.

Sometimes it was also hard to follow especially when flipping back and forth between timelines which cause me to glaze over much of the filler

I want to thank the publishers and Net Galley for giving me an advanced readers copy of the Lies we sing to the sea. Being a greek descendant, I really wanted to read this mainly because I loved Iliad and the odyssey by Homer.

I know the author admitted that they had never read the Odyssey before writing this title, and honestly, I wanted to give it an honest chance, but the book isn't good. Sadly I couldn't get into the story. I know it's an Odyssey retelling, but I didn't get that. It seemed more like a spin-off of the original odyssey. With that being said. I didn't finish this book so I can't say if it's gotten better or not.

I was just confused the whole time while reading this. I really wished I had enjoyed it. I can't really even recommend this book to anyone.

DNF.. To start off I didn’t really find it interesting sadly. I may pick this up again for its official release, though I’m not sure. I was excited to read it, but I wasn’t compelled by anything much.

What a beautiful story of heroism and the desperate lengths to which we go for love & absolution. The world Underwood has created is so vivid, I felt like I was a witness rather than a reader. With a deadly curse upon the island of Ithaca, there is no glamorizing the hopeless situations Leto, Melantho, and Mathias find themselves in throughout the story. Yet there is something oddly charming and exciting about the lengths to which they all go to find forgiveness and/or retribution for their roles in it all.

I highly recommend this book to any reader YA and up who loves an adventurous tale with romantic twists and tragic turns. Such an incredible read!

ARC provided by NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books in exchange for a fair review.

Has potential. Would've enjoyed it more if it hadn't been advertised as a "retelling" of The Odyssey. The author admittedly didn't read the source material.

In terms of mythology retellings, this is a good fit for a teen audience. The plot is straightforward, the characters are likeable, and the pacing was good. I didn't want the book to be over, which is always a good sign!

This book is most definitely for other people, it just wasn’t for me. This review is going to be shorter than most by me, because I don’t really know what to say, but I do want you to know that I am still recommending this book, even though I didn’t have any strong emotions about it, because I believe that was a me thing and not a problem with the book.
I really really loved the writing style. Even though I couldn’t really connect with the story, the writing style was still really beautiful and I admired it immensely. I also really loved the way that history was incorporated into the book! I really enjoyed it!
However I still couldn’t…connect to the book. The romance felt a bit forced which is sad because I am always looking to read and enjoy sapphic romances and so I couldn’t really connect with it, but I think other people will love it a lot! It just wasn’t for me! I don’t really know why! It could be that I just wasn't in the right headspace to read the book, and I want to be honest about that. Nothing wrong with the book at all.
I also wanted the backstory to be known to the reader faster, especially because it was so hinted at, but that made the reveal much more satisfying when it happened.
I think I went into this book expecting something different from what I got, and so I wasn’t able to connect with the book. That was a me-problem, not a book problem, and I hope you can all read this book and enjoy it more than I did.
I’m giving it a 3 star review because I couldn’t connect to the book and thoroughly enjoy it, but I still thought it was well done and that other people will love it a lot.