Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Lost Voices
Lost Voices 1
Author: Sarah Porter
Pages: 304 pgs
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Release Date: July 4th 2011
Review Source: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's

I was very intrigued by the concept of this story and was very excited when I received an early galley of it. Story's about mermaids aren't ones that I read all that often, but the description of this particular story seemed different an innovative. Sarah Porter didn't hold back and that made this book even better.

Luce is a fourteen year old girl in a pretty dire situation. Her alcoholic uncle tries to do the unthinkable and then leaves her stranded along the cliffs of their Alaskan home. In trying to cope with what happened to her, Luce finds herself thrust into a world she never thought possible.

Mermaids.

Luce has become one of them and at first it seems like the best thing that could have happened to her. But she soon learns that things aren't perfect under the water either, especially when a new girl joins them that begins to shake things up.

One of the things I found interesting about this story was that Sarah used a siren sort of mythology with the mermaids. They would sing to boats to get them to crash, but there was so much more behind it and I loved that. She puts you right in the middle of Luce's moral delima. And Luce eventually learns a secret about herself that she isn't ready to face.

Her writing is very real and almost uncomfortable in certain areas. As  a reader you want to be able to feel like you know the characters and like your experiencing things right along with me, and I think that you get that with the way Sarah writes. It's very honest and true to her characters. She doesn't hold anything back, but leaves you with the hope that things can get better.

You also get a very true reminder of what it's like to be a teenage girl. There are so many emotions and changes that you go through as a teen, but imagine having to go through that as a mermaid.

This book, like most of the ones that I've read lately, is the first of a series and I can definitely say that I'm intrigued to find out where she's planning on taking it. So much happens by the end of Lost Voices and I know that there's even more still to come. So be sure to keep your eyes open for more this author.