Waking Storms by Sarah Porter

Note: This review contains no spoilers of Waking Storms, but may contain spoilers of the first book in the series, Lost Voices, a review of which can be found here.

I really loved the dark beauty of Sarah Porter's debut novel, Lost Voices, so I was incredibly excited to delve into the sequel, Waking Storms. It picks up with Luce living on her own, having abandoned the murderous group of mermaids she was once a part of. It's a life of solitude she's content with, until the boy she saved– breaking the most important mermaid rule– comes back into her life. Dorian should hate Luce, she was responsible for the death of his family, but there is a deep sadness that connects them, even if being together means risking everything, including their lives.

Porter's writing is just as beautiful in Waking Storms as I remembered– especially her description of the haunting mermaid songs. Interestingly, there are a few chapters that follow Dorian in his life without Luce, which helped emphasize how big a risk the both of them were taking and made the potential consequences of their actions even more clear. At first, I really did love the story between Luce and Dorian; it was the ultimate star-crossed lovers. But as time passed, I grew weary of Dorian. He becomes so possessive of Luce, so unaware of her feelings, that it made me not really want them to be together at all.

In opposition to Dorian, Luce actually grows a lot as a character throughout Waking Storms. It was amazing to see her begin to embrace her powers, and start to realize exactly what it means to her to be a mermaid. I think she gained a lot more confidence, and that was reflected in the way she interacted with others and made me really root for her to figure things out. There's a minor storyline involving Luce spending time on a remote island, and it honestly wasn't my favourite. I think because the subplot spends so long going on, the the point of dragging, when what I really cared about– the conflicts among mermaids– gets forced to the back burner. I especially hope there will be more about that in the third and final book, The Twice Lost, because I did miss it in Waking Storms. Unlike Lost Voices, this is a book that is less about mermaid drama and more about Luce's romance.

There are some interesting new characters introduced in Waking Storms and they are just as authentic as the ones returning from the previous book. Porter does a fantastic job of creating characters that are flawed but with an emotional core that makes them feel real, even if the reader disagrees with their actions. Overall, I really enjoyed Waking Storms and although I preferred the mermaid-centric conflict to the romance, Porter's beautiful writing has once again blown me away and I will certainly be picking up The Twice Lost in 2013.

Release Date: July 3rd 2012  Pages: 400  Format: Hardcover
Source: Thomas Allen & Son Ltd  Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 
Also By This Author: Lost Voices (Lost Voices #1)  Buy It: Book Depository

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Release Date: July 4th, 2011

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover and Audiobook

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Source: Publisher and Personal Shelf

Buy It: Book Depository

When Luce is assaulted on the cliffs near an Alaskan village, she expects to die when she tumbles into the icy water below. Instead, she transforms into a mermaid. Luce is thrilled with her new life—until she discovers the catch.

Lost Voices is actually the first novel to get me interested in the mermaid trend that has been happening YA literature, I picked it up before I even read (and loved) Forgive My Fins and Fins Are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs, but suffice it to say that if Lost Voices had disappointed me it's unlikely I would have gone 'swimming' for more mermaid tales right afterwards. As it was I picked up Ripple by Mandy Hubbard the same day I finished devouring Lost Voices and these fish-tailed beings are certainly on my radar now.

What I loved so much about Lost Voices was its darkness, in that way Hubbard's novel resembles it far more closely than Childs' cheerful story, these are not Disney mermaids Porter writes about. Instead, Luce joins a group of sirens, each of whom died terribly and at a young age. So, although Lost Voices is intended for a YA audience, the violence and other abuse such as an attempted rape mean it is definitely more suitable for the older age range. Why did I love this awful darkness? Because it makes Luce and the other mermaids rich and complex creatures, the result of a unique mythology, their stories may be sad but by bringing them together Porter gives them a kind of shared happy ending. 

The setting of Lost Voices is also extremely unusual, Porter really brings the cold Alaskan sea to life and gives the reader a strong visual idea of the area where Luce and the other mermaids live. One of Porter's strengths is definitely description, and in particular the portions of the novel where the girls sing. When I realized the storyline was heavily centered around music, I was nervous for tacky rhyming poetry, but the songs the mermaids sing are without words and yet Porter's language truly brings them to life.

I listened to Lost Voices on audiobook, and this format makes it very obvious when a portion of a novel drags but I never got distracted while listening to the book. I thought the narrator, Julia Whelan, did a fantastic job- although I wasn't totally convinced by her Russian accent- and I really hope she reads the upcoming books. Although it has been nearly two months between finishing the book and writing this review, Lost Voices is a novel that has grown, not diminished in strength, leaving me eager for the second book in the trilogy, Waking Storms, which is due to be released July 2012. Fortunately, although the novel ends with a clear opening for a second book, it still provides resolution of enough of the story that I wasn't left dissatisfied. As a sidenote, I'm also excited to see that the cover of the second book features a mermaid with short hair like Luce has as it fits the story much better.

With her debut novel, Porter took me into a dark and twisted world, cold and deep as the ocean, but through it all there was a sharp and piercing song, leaving me with a chill and a memory I will not soon forget, it is a book which speaks the unheard words of Lost Voices.