Monday, August 06, 2012

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

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