LIES BENEATH BY ANNE GREENWOOD BROWN

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Mermaids

“Forget everything you think you know about merpeople. Forget that freaking Ariel, think Silence of the Lambs, think Friday the Thirteenth.“
– Anne Greenwood Brown, Lies Beneath

Series: Lies Beneath

Synopsis: 
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 and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother’s death.

It’s going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder’s job is to gain Hancock’s trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock’s daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love–just as Lily starts to suspect there’s more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing’s for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won’t be pretty.[Goodreads]

I have to admit even though I grew up on a lake and spent every day lit hour on the lake during the summer. I’d even use to pretend I was a mermaid at a younger age. I’ve never read a mermaid novel before this.  I’m still unsure about the genre of mermaid fiction after reading this novel. I did quite enjoy the twisted dark side of the mermaids. If I were to write about mermaids I would have taken the same approach. I mean Killer Mermaids! how exciting and enticing. Even having the book based on Lake Superior was a nice surprise. Since I have spent a lot of time growing up on that Lake.

Although Brown gave an exciting twist and a great location for this tale of murderous merpeople, I thought she fell short in a few other areas. I am quite the fan of the hunky male lead, but I felt that the character development fell flat. Not much was explained besides the minimum for Calder and Lily. I was even upset that not more was explained and described about Calder’s sisters.

Many factors were slightly hit on, such as the relationship/history of Pavati and Jack and the shocking revelation of Jason Hancock being a merman and the sibling of the White family. I would have loved for Brown to have drawn out and explained. Theincident that happened with the White family and truth about the debt and revenge. I also felt like the big battle between the mermaids would have been larger and longer. It happened so quickly and a whole paragraph was dedicated to the death of Lullah.

With the world being one in which we live in. I felt like more dedication should have been put forth and spent on character development and details. I felt a little let down by the end of the book and felt the ending lacked something.

“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”