Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Lost Voices

Publish Date: July 4th, 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Format: ebook
Series: The Lost Voices
Author: Sarah Porter
Author’s Goodreads
My Review on Goodreads

Introduction

Luce has had a very difficult life at the hands of her alcoholic uncle, who took her in when she lost both of her parents. After a traumatic incident, she falls off a cliff. She opens her eyes and she's underwater, as a mermaid. With this tribe of mermaids, she finds a family that cares for her deeply. What Luce is going to find out, is that you can't just be 14 forever and live happily under the sea. Mermaids have a murderous nature and the politics of her tribe become ever more fragile as more new mermaids join. Luce tries to find a place in her new family, but she cannot let go of her morals.

Story

Evil mermaids. Not the nice ones in Forgive my Fins. They are young girls/women who went through traumatic lives and they love each other, but don't let that fool you. They have a sinister hive mind fronted by their queen. The good thing is that Luce doesn't agree.

Red flags here...

It gets worse when more mermaids arrive and stir up the status quo for the worse. The story doesn't have the usual beats that other stories have. Once she is a mermaid, the story just goes along, not that I minded. There's a jarring portion that is from other people's perspective that wasn't needed, it could have been explained to Luce later. My only gripe is that one major character's behaviours later on makes no sense to me. She's friendly, then vicious, then defends Luce, then pushes her away again, then is nice again...?

Final Verdict

I quite liked it. It's not a nice mermaid story, I can't stress it enough. It's strange to see so many negative reviews because the story was darker than they wanted, but the introduction to this book clearly states Luce's human life and her mermaid life. It's not a nice story. Do you like questionable morals or questionable revenge? Do you fight nature, or embrace it? How long do you keep a secret to keep your family together? If you're looking for a darker YA book, give it a try.