“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 must 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 don’t remember now what made me want to read the book. Maybe it’s because the novel had a male perspective written by a female author? Or maybe it’s because the love story begins alongside the revenge arc? All I know was that I was expecting Lies Beneath to be something new… Something different. Instead, what I got was a better-written Twilight.
I am sort of dissing Lies Beneath. Because while it does have a better premise, while the conflicts feel more real, and the characters are developed more… it’s also feels like a Twilight rip-off. It’s as if the writer read Stephanie Meyer’s book and sought to make it better. If that’s the case, she succeeded. In leagues. But it doesn’t change the fact that, structurally, it is the same story. Down to the lovestruck damsel who is slightly kickass and, spoiler alert, willing to sacrifice herself for family.
Now, if you’re one of the lucky ones who were able to avoid reading Twilight, this is the supernatural romance that you should pick up instead. In case you’re interested in picking one up, that is. But be warned that this novel features a conflicted bad boy who keeps saying that he’s dangerous and evil, but is a complete puppy throughout the book. And the aforementioned damsel who is sort of kickass? She’s not completely bland, but you will get annoyed at how quickly she throws her personality away once she accepts that she is in love with our male lead.
And don’t even get me started on how our male lead is forced to save his damsel, leading to the damsel’s piqued interest in what the male lead could be. Notice that I say what instead of who. This takes the damsel through the same journey that Bella Swan undertakes in Twilight–of continually being intrigued by the male lead, of trying to catch him off-guard, leading to a jaunt to a secluded place where he can finally show her who he really is.
He even sparkles. Well, his tail does. It’s silver. But you get what I mean?
Sure, Lies Beneath is the better book. But what use is being better when the other book came first? And I think this novel would’ve been better had it not followed the same story trajectory that Twilight has. Because Twilight is not a good book to pattern your book to.
But what do I know? I don’t normally read supernatural romances. Let’s see what other bloggers have said about the book to see if I’m alone in my sentiments:
A Good Addiction
Once Upon a Twilight
Dark Faerie Tales
taking a break 