{Review} Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath
by Anne Greenwood Brown
Series: Lies Beneath #1
Pages: 303
Release Date: June 12, 2012
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Random House)

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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.

*A copy was provided by Random House for review purposes*

I haven’t read many mermaid books, and I’ve certainly never read a mermaid book from a guy’s point of view, so I was a bit nervous to start this book.  I had seen some not-so-great reviews, and I was kind of worried I wasn’t going to like it.  The beginning of this book, I will admit, was a train-wreck.  The idea was really good, but the staging was atrocious, and everything was so lucky, and gosh…but after that it got so much better.  The whole idea for this book wasn’t water-tight, but it was decent, and the writing was absolutely superb and, once I got about a fourth into the book, the staging started getting better and it was awesome from then on.  I really loved the story line and how the romance grew, and I loved the situation and how it looked like there was no way out.  One thing that I really loved was the ending.  People, if you are a writer and want to write a good ending, follow Anne Greenwood Brown.  The ending was everything it should be: fast-paced, thrilling, interesting, and everything should be explained and there shouldn’t be any loose ends.  I will admit that I thought I had the whole ending figured out and I was expecting it to go as I thought it would, but no, Greenwood had to pull that!  Gosh, what an awesome ending.  It was so perfectly done, all bad situations were averted, and everything worked out perfectly.  The simplicity and believability of it all was just superb, and this is one of the best endings I’ve ever read.

Usually the books I read have the girl as the main protagonist, but this one had a boy, and, to be honest, I really enjoyed reading from Calder’s point of view.  He seemed like a pretty cool guy – nice, smart – but he definitely had a dangerous streak, so that made it interesting.  I especially liked Lily though.  She was a lot stronger as the supporting character than most girls are as main characters.  One thing that I really liked was that she was smart – smart and defiant.  I liked that she kind of suspected what Calder was before she found out, that she was strong and smart enough to figure it out.  That doesn’t usually happen.

This is my first mermaid/guy POV book I’ve ever read, and it was awesome.  What with the ending, solid cast, and really cool idea, I can’t wait to read the next book and find out what happens with Calder and Lily.  One thing though: if this book is about a guy mermaid, why is there a girl on the cover?

4 pink flowers