Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Series: Lies Beneath, Book 1
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

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.

I fell in love with this book just by looking at it's cover. Knowing that it was about mermaids (or rather merfolk) I was determined to get my hands on it. When I did, I was taken away by the incredible descriptions and character developments throughout this novel. The plot captivated me from start to finish– it was one book I was sorry to put down, so thank goodness this is a series so I can get my hands on the sequel!

It's unfortunately rare to find a male protagonist in young adult books these days, and I was swept away by Calder. I wouldn't care if he was plotting to kill me– his descriptions drove me (insanely) crazy in love. I was falling for him every time he practically spoke. I totally get why his sisters would use him to seduce Lily... every move would drive a girl crazy.
Lily was a great love interest as well. She's really sweet, and even though I was tearing my hair out over her "hard-to-get-ness", practically screaming at her "WHY WON'T YOU JUST KISS HIM ALREADY?!", she who's really different from others... she kind of reminded me of Lena from Beautiful Creatures because of her love for that gothic feel (poetry in this case). Her sister Sophie was adorable as well.
Speaking of sisters, Calder's totally freaked me out. They're just so dang creepy. These are mermaids, but ladies and gentlemen, these mermaids don't sing "Part of Your World"... unless it's to end up killing the guy. They reminded me a lot of the killer mermaids in Lost Voices, and it even got to the point where I was having nightmares of swimming after reading this book.

There's definitely an interesting twist at the end of this book, and it's really interesting to see how this all ties up. I'm definitely pumped for book 2, Deep Betrayal!
Lies Beneath is a gorgeous novel. It was beautifully written, and enthralled me with every step of the way. Anne Greenwood Brown sure knows how to write a novel with dangerous mermaids, shocking twists, and an extremely hot guy which I couldn't stop drooling over. Seriously– look no further, because this book has got everything a reader could want.

If you like this, try...

• Of Poseidon by Anna Banks ● Goodreads
• Lost Voices by Sarah Porter ● Goodreads

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