Review: Lost Voices

Title: Lost Voices
Author: Sarah Porter
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Find it on: Amazon | Goodreads
I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley to review.The publication date for Lost Voices is July 4, 2011.

Description:

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.

A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce's own remarkable singing talent makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However, her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

The first book in a trilogy, Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive. 

My Review:

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Luce has no one. Her parents are both dead and her uncle is an abusive alcoholic. How lonely and depressing that would be! I couldn't wait to see what would happen to her.

After she is left on the cliffs by the ocean, she just gives up. She doesn't want to go back to the only thing she has: a life with her horrible uncle. She falls off the cliff and transforms into a mermaid, leaving her humanity behind.

This is the part I expected her life to change and for things to start looking better for Luce. However, that wasn't really the case. Being a mermaid isn't as wonderful as it would seem. She finds other mermaids, but is still pretty alone.

I don't want to give too much away, but I felt like the story didn't really go anywhere and that there were too many unanswered questions. This is going to be part of a series, so I'm hoping that these questions will be answered. I know that not all stories can be positive, but I really do hope that Luce ends up in a better situation.

Overall, I liked Luce's story, but I'm not sure I loved it. I would definitely give the second book in the series a chance before deciding how I feel about it as a whole. There is a lot built up in this book that could culminate into something great. I hope it does!