I’m sharing another instalment of my Mini Review Mondays, the most recent of which was the other week. In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts, I do ‘mini’ reviews of books that I’ve previously read and am now ready to share my full thoughts about.
First up, I’d like to talk about Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood. Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Each spring, Ithaca condemns twelve maidens to the noose. This is the price vengeful Poseidon demands for the lives of Queen Penelope’s twelve maids, hanged and cast into the depths centuries ago.
But when that fate comes for Leto, death is not what she thought it would be. Instead, she wakes on a mysterious island and meets a girl with green eyes and the power to command the sea. A girl named Melantho, who says one more death can stop a thousand.
The prince of Ithaca must die—or the tides of fate will drown them all.
Sarah Underwood weaves an epic tapestry of lies, love, and tragedy, perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Alexandra Bracken, and Renée Ahdieh.
Publication Date: 16th March
TW: death, murder, car accident, drug addiction, gun violence, traumatic flashbacks, PTSD
My Thoughts:
Lies We Sing to the Sea shimmers and slowly pulls you into its tides until you forget to resurface.
I actually really enjoyed this tragically beautiful story. This is based on a partial fragment of the Odyssey, with Penelope’s hanged maids, but generations later. I personally really enjoyed the way Underwood wove in elements of the Odyssey, but ensured that this is a fresh and new tale. It asks heavy questions about fate, agency and the cost of survival. The central question is one that sat with me for a long time, bolstered by Underwood’s incredible exploration of grief and vengeance. Rage here is an all-consuming force if you will let it. When you are utterly backed into a corner, what would you do?
Having read and studied the Odyssey intensely, the story of Penelope’s maids always sickened me. These are women in desperate situations without power or privilege to protect them, yet they are punished for the actions of men. Underwood gives them their voices back in a creative and imaginative way that I adored. It felt like a wonderful companion to The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, which explores similar themes and ways of reconstructing the tale. Ultimately though, I fell in love with this book through the character work. These are fierce, fragile and fundamentally flawed characters. They are so three-dimensional and complex, making me love and hate them in equal measure. Through their narrative voices, you really get to dig into their individual motivations and get a sense of the trauma that has shaped them into the people you see now. For me, the characters sparkled and made me fall in love with them, only to cleave my heart in two. Underwood does not play around with the intensity and high stakes, ensuring all actions have consequences.
Lies We Sing to the Sea demonstrates an exciting new voice in YA who will snap your soul in two.
Next up, I’d like to talk about Into the Light by Mark Oshiro. Thank you to Tor Teen for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
It’s been one year since Manny was cast out of his family and driven into the wilderness of the American Southwest. Since then, Manny lives by self-taught rules that keep him moving—and keep him alive. Now, he’s taking a chance on a traveling situation with the Varela family, whose attractive but surly son, Carlos, seems to promise a new future.
Eli abides by the rules of his family, living in a secluded community that raised him to believe his obedience will be rewarded. But an unsettling question slowly eats away at Eli’s once unwavering faith in Reconciliation: Why can’t he remember his past?
But the reported discovery of an unidentified body in the hills of Idyllwild, California, will draw both of these young men into facing their biggest fears and confronting their own identity—and who they are allowed to be.
Publication Date: 28th March
TW: racism, homophobia, sexual assault, parental abuse, religious abuse, conversion therapy, neglect, parental rejection, teenage homelessness, child abuse, death, neglect, homelessness and predatory adults
My Thoughts:
Into the Light set my blood ablaze. It is an emotionally devastating and painfully honest story that you cannot help but fall totally into.
Mark Oshiro just has it. Their writing never fails to stun me into oblivion and become so deeply emotionally invested.
They deal with heavy topics, so please consider the trigger warnings for this work as it does get extremely intense. However, you can feel the heart, soul and raw emotional vulnerability poured into this work. It thrums with that emotional power I have rarely experienced in any other books.
Anger Is A Gift is one of my favourite books of all time. It was devastating, addictive and raw with incredible characterisation. From that, Oshiro became an auto-buy author that I kept firmly on my radar. Into the Light brings that same intensity, exceptional characterisation and compulsive writing and dials everything up to eleven. It forces readers to look at the devastating failures of the adoption system, the horrors of conversion therapy and the impact of religious trauma.
The plot is compulsive reading. Without giving too much away, the way Oshiro combines narratives in such unexpected and jaw-dropping ways is nothing short of astounding. You think you know where this tale is going, but trust me, you do not. The twists and turns are incredibly unique and genuinely startling. However, they would be nowhere near as effective if Oshiro didn’t make you utterly fall in love with Eli, Carlos and Manny. These are three characters that have been battered by the world around them and yet they continue to survive against all the odds. They have deep flaws and emotional entanglements that endear you to them further. Every queer kid has experienced that same struggle with their identity and a world that wants to squash it, making this representation matter that much more.
Into the Light wipes out everything in its path. I cannot implore you to read it enough.
Finally, I’d like to delve into Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker. Thank you to Hodderscape for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen.
On the anniversary of these brutal events, Clement and Cristina Trudeau – the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family – are mourning their father and caring for their sick mother. Until, by chance, they discover their mother isn’t sick – she’s cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next.
Cristina, once a talented and dedicated practitioner of Generational magic, has given up magic for good. An ancient spell is what killed their father and she was the one who cast it. For Clement, magic is his lifeline. A distraction from his anger and pain. Even better than the random guys he hooks up with.
Cristina and Clement used to be each other’s most trusted confidant and friend, now they barely speak. But if they have any hope of discovering who is coming after their family, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other and their family’s magic, all while solving the decades – old murder that sparked the still – rising tensions between the city’s magical and non-magical communities. And if they don’t succeed, New Orleans may see another massacre. Or worse.
Publication Date: 4th April
TW: lynching, murder, death, racism, abuse, sexual assault, gun violence, homophobia, gaslighting, manipulation, drug use
My Thoughts:
Blood Debts is one of the most intriguing YA fantasies I have read for a while.
I am always such a character-driven reader and Cris and Clem were two characters that I fell utterly in love with. Cris’ character arc over the course of the book is just brilliant to witness. I love watching a woman come into her power once more, especially coupled with some feminine rage. She is very confident and headstrong, but learns her vulnerabilities and starts to reconnect with her passions. Clem was someone I instantly adored, charismatic and persuasive but with a loving heart. His arc is one that really hit home for me. Benton-Walker really digs into grief and the desperate lengths to which we will go to in order to protect our loved ones. This is a book that hinges on the central question of justice and vengeance. What costs would we bear upon ourselves and how far would we go to seek what is rightfully ours?
This has such an incredible magic system and power dynamics. Every page is dripping in tension and suspense, be that the present calamity or the historical events that have set everything in motion. I enjoyed how this was a mesh of fantasy, mystery and a dash of romance. The central whodunnit and whydunnit plot lines kept me hooked and the pacing of these was spot on. Benton-Walker keeps you guessing with plenty of brilliant plot twists. I think these especially thrived in the deeply personal revelations, with unexpected character connections and hidden motivations that upend everything. It sets up such a fascinating clash that I am sure will unfold over however many more books Benton-Walker wants to write. All I know is that I will definitely be keeping an eye and picking up the next book.
Blood Debts kickstarts what promises to be a bloody and brilliant new YA series.
A Short Book Lover 
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