Rolling in the Deep (cover) - Linkin Park

Lies Beneath
Lies Beneath, Book 1

Author: Anne Greenwood Brown
Pages: 303
Publisher: Delacorte BFYR
Source: Random House via NetGalley

Description 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.

First Sentence: "I hadn't killed anyone all winter, and I have to say I felt pretty good about that."

Review:
Mermaids and I have had a bit of a tortured history. I want to like mermaid books, I really do. However, my experiences with them have not been hugely positive. Lies Beneath is one that I would feel comfortable recommending to people, even though I was not in love myself. This book came so close to being a really good mermaid book for me, but just didn't quite make it.

What I did like about Lies Beneath quite a bit was the writing. Anne Greenwood Brown definitely has talent. I like the way she puts her sentences together. She doesn't write down to teens at all, which I'm always happy to see. I also really loved the usage of the poetry in the book.

Now, let's talk about the romance. I'm really not entirely sure how I feel about it. On the surface (water pun!), Lily and Calder's relationship falls into the typical YA paranormal relationship: dangerous paranormal boy and the girl who cannot resist him because he's oh so pretty. Not to mention the fact that I was a little uncomfortable with how young Lily seemed, especially when paired with the fact that Calder is who knows how old and a killer merman.

However, there was another side to their romance that was a bit more unique that makes me somewhat okay with it. Lily, though she is attracted to Calder, does not immediately give into that. She hides it successfully for a while. It takes her some time to trust him. She confronts him openly and repeatedly about what his deal is and why he's following her around. That, I liked. In the end, though, she still goes for him, and isn't particularly angry to learn that he's lied to her or tried to kill her dad. Considering that she loves her family, her reaction was completely unbelievable.

The real problem I had with Lies Beneath, though, was the world building. Basically, I cannot fathom (another water pun!) how mermaid respiration works. I can totally accept that they shift into their mermaid forms. When human, they breathe like people do; as mermaids, they can breath underwater. What I don't get is why they can breathe underwater AND above the water in their mermaid forms.

Fish breathe via their gills. Do the mermaids have gills on their tails? That would explain why they can breathe with their heads out of the water, since the tail would still be submerged. Unfortunately, that does not explain how Calder was able to breathe oxygen into Lily's mouth while they swam around. Even if he does breathe through his human mouth, he wouldn't be exhaling oxygen. Humans don't exhale oxygen and neither do fish. I guess he could be processing the water into oxygen and immediately passing it to her, but I just had trouble with the whole thing.

If you're a reader that is frustrated by little details, like I am, you may want to try another book. However, if you're note, Lies Beneath is a well-written paranormal romance novel.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: 'Forgiveness isn't just for them, Calder. It's for you. Forgiveness is freedom. It's something you do for yourself—to keep who you are intact. Now that I think about it—in some ways, it's kind of a selfish act.'"

Note on Today's Song Choice: All of the lyrics don't work, but I think this really sums up how Calder feels about Lily. 

"There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch, it's bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go 'head and sell me out and I'll lay your ship [shit] bare
See how I leave with every piece of you
Don't underestimate the things that I will do

There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch
And it's bringing me out the dark

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can't help feeling
We could have had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep"