Book Review--Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Summary/Cover Image from Goodreads:

"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."

Review:

I'm always on the lookout for mermaid/siren books, because I just love the underwater world. It's always intriguing; it seems like it would be amazing to be a sea creature with a gorgeous scaled-tail. So Lies Beneath was definitely an eye-catcher. I didn't expect too much or too less, so I wasn't disappointed. Lies Beneath is a great, solid read.

Calder and his three sisters are sirens. But they aren't typical sirens. They drown humans so they can take away a feeling: happiness. And they are seeking revenge on the Hancocks for killing their mother. So they hunt the Hancocks down, only they want Calder to seduce the Hancock daughter so they can later on kill the father. Things don't go as planned and Calder must figure out who's side he must go on, his sisters's side or the Hancocks.

The characters were alright. I definitely liked the change in perspective (Lies Beneath is told from a male's point of view). It's really different and fresh. I was reluctant on Calder's character at first because he didn't have any emotions or feelings that are particularly flamboyant. I don't hate him, but there isn't any spark. But when Lily comes into the story, his whole character lights up and I loved Calder after that. I really, really liked Lily. She's so sweet and smart and caring, I totally understood why Calder liked Lily so much.

On the other hand, Calder's sisters were so, so annoying. I hated them from the start. They are all so cocky and full of themselves. They are also seductive towards Calder, which is actually disgusting. Ugh, disastrous. But, they are supposed to be hated (mostly) so I'm on the right track!

The plot was delightful. It had a great amount of chilling, underwater moments. I loved those, they are very suspenseful. The twist in the end was very unexpected and took me by surprise. Lily and Calder's blooming of a relationship was a little fast-paced (insta-love) but it wasn't ridiculous, so I could still go with it. The plot was very sturdy.

Something totally random: I think the title really suits the story of the book. This is a title I actually really like! How Calder has to hold in so many lies from Lily, and they are beneath as in underwater.... I'm not sure my interpretation is correct, but it makes sense to me that way!

Overall, Lies Beneath is a well-written mermaid story that I recommend to people who love underwater creature books with action. I look forward to Anne Greenwood Brown's other books!

Grade: B+

Lies Beneath will be released on June 12, 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers!

Source: Publisher via Netgalley--Thank you for providing me with an ARC!

**NOTE: This review will be re-posted again towards the time of the release date.**