Waking Storms (The Lost Voices Trilogy, 2) Paperback – June 4, 2013

Bought as a gift

With the coming of summer, I've been on a bit of a mermaid kick lately. If anyone were to ask me, mermaids are probably one of my favorite mythological beings/creatures, and the lore surrounding them varies wildly from one story to another. After reading and enjoying the first book of this trilogy, I dove into this sequel hoping that the cliffhanger we were left on the last time would be resolved. And while many questions were answered, even more were brought up and left hanging by the end of this installment.Picking up exactly where "Lost Voices" left off, Luce the girl-turned-mermaid, has been totally abandoned by her tribe, both for her insistence on refusing to kill humans, and for the fact that her singing has become powerful enough that she's now able to command and control water itself. Things turn even more complicated when Dorian--the young man she rescued from a shipwreck--begins trying to get in contact with her. Going against virtually every established rule in mermaid law, Luce and Dorian strike up a starcrossed romance. But as more mermaids discover Luce's secret human lover, and as more of the human government and FBI agents begin investigating the string of sunken ships plaguing the area, Luce will have to make the difficult choice of whether to save her fellow mermaids, or risk everything to try and turn human again....Despite the story being about mermaids and featuring a young protagonist, this book is NOT for a young audience. It features more than a fair share of death, discussions about murder and abuse, and though the writing and descriptions are vivid in about every aspect when setting a scene, it doesn't shy away from gore, especially towards the end that, once again, leaves off on a cliffhanger.Thankfully, the "leave the story on a cliffhanger to force the reader to buy the next book" problem that I normally don't like is made up for by the fact that all the main characters are developed even more, especially Luce. Slowly, but surely, her powers grow stronger as she practices more, and her romance with Dorian forces her to have to weigh the pros and cons of being human versus being a mermaid. As such, she holds out the hope that the two worlds she's torn between can somehow be united some day. Dorian is a bit less developed by comparison, but his romance with Luce is interesting (if just a bit sudden--he forgives Luce rather quickly for the death of his family in the previous book). The two desperately try to make it work, and thankfully, Luce doesn't fall into the trap of suddenly needing Dorian for everything or doing everything for him. She still has her own life to live and other responsibilities to take care of.This is all the more emphasized with the introduction of a new character, Nausicaa--a mermaid who's been around for over 3000 years. With her, we're finally given solid explanations as to where the mermaid laws came from and why; how their magic works, why only girls transform, and if it's even possible for a mermaid to turn human again---details that were left a mystery in the previous book. And when Luce begins to defy all these laws, she makes her share of mistakes and has to own up to them; leading to a dark ending that hammers home the message that all of our actions and all of our choices, good and bad, can have severe consequences in the long run.With even more character development and world building, this new installment has gotten me even more hooked, and I now can't wait to read the final book to see how this trilogy ends.

The is the second book in the "Lost Voices" trilogy. This review contains spoilers for the first book in the series.At the end of  Lost Voices , Luce had proven herself to be the most powerful singer in her mermaid tribe, so by rights she should be their queen. However, disgusted by the actions of the other mermaids, Luce has chosen instead to live in solitude, far from her former friends. Her isolation isn't total. Dorian, the boy that Luce allowed to live instead of drowning with the rest of his family, is fascinated and obsessed by the mermaids he saw. He and Luce begin meeting in secret, and a forbidden romance blossoms. But Dorian isn't the only human who knows that mermaids exist, and if Luce doesn't end the relationship she risks putting her sisters of the sea in mortal danger.One of the problems I had with the previous book in this series was that only abused girls become mermaids. Why, I wondered, did this only happen to abused girls - and, since there obviously young women murdered all the time, why don't all of these victims become mermaids? I was pleased that "Waking Storms" fully addressed how and why the mermaid "curse" works, thanks to the appearance of Nausicaa, an ancient mermaid who was among the first to be created by the god Proteus. So that was fantastic. The story has always shown the heavy influence of Greek mythology, but it takes place of the coast of Alaska, so I was really hoping we'd get some Native legends, too. I was delighted when Sedna herself shows up near the end of the novel.I'm a bit on the fence about the romance between Luce and Dorian. On the one hand, they fall in love *really* fast. On one page, Dorian's ranting about how he wants to kill all the mermaids and get revenge for his family...a few pages later, he's making out with Luce. But, I remind myself, they are teenagers. Luce may be a mermaid now, but she's still only about fourteen or fifteen years old! If their hormones attack as suddenly as Romeo and Juliet's, is that really such a surprise? Toss in the factor of the siren's influence, and it's little wonder that Dorian should become infatuated with Luce. It's a little more mystifying as to what she sees in Dorian - the boy lacks personality and frankly comes across as selfish and petty. But I suppose he is the only guy Luce has seen in months, and if he's good-looking it's probably easy to overlook those personality flaws. Clearly, it's not a good relationship for anyone involved, but as a portrayal of a teenage relationship, it's surprisingly believable."Waking Storms" is one of those rare "middle" books that is strong enough to equal or surpass the other books in the trilogy instead of acting as a mere bridge between Act I and Act III. It's a dark story, with graphic descriptions and some very ugly moments, but it's told very well. I can't wait to finish the trilogy when  The Twice Lost  comes out in July.

Not your typical mermaid book. While there is a teenager romance it doesn't end well. I love this series because the author does not shy away from talking about ocean conservation or making despicable characters the reader will hate. These mermaids are not cute at all. They're very bitter and will do anything to protect their ocean or themselves. Love it! Also definitely for teenagers. Not for kids.

Good book... got for great price and fast delivery

Well, well, well... 3,5 stars, I'd say.So, let's recap a little bit. Luce turned into a mermaid because her uncle tried to rape her. She was living with her uncle because her dad went missing on the sea and the uncle was the only living relative. In the Alaskan sea she finds out that mermaids are divided into tribes and she belongs with Catarina's. Every tribe has a queen, who usually is the best singer of the lot. Luce is by far the best singer around but she doesn't want all the responsibilities that come with being queen. She also finds out that mermaids do kill for revenge and she refuses to continue. She also save a boy named Dorian after killing his whole family. Later, with the arrival of Anais, the tribe decide to kick Catarina out and elect Anais, the soulless one, as new queen. Luca decide to leave. End of book one.Book two begins with Dorian who, having listened to the sirens' singing, tries everything to heard it again. She tricks Luce into talking to him, even if mermaids' laws prohibit having any contact with humans. They start spending time together and they fall in love. In the meantime, the FBI is gathering evidence that mermaids do exist and Dorian is one of their key witness. They start planting cameras all over the Alaskan sea trying to capture images of mermaids. Luce, being an outcast, spends most of her time alone or with Dorian. She tries to maintain an amicable relationship with Dana and Violet but she fails and they both leave her. She also meets Nausicaa, an almost three thousand years old mermaid, who explain a lot about how it means to be a mermaid. When Luce decides to accept her responsibilities as queen is sadly too late.It took me a lot to read this book. It was OK, I was curious to know how it would end but still it was a slow read. This time all the descriptions of the natural environment kind of bored me, even if they're still very, very good. All the teen love drama was also a bit of a drawback compared to the battle for leadership in the first part of the trilogy. From page 300 on the novel gained momentum again. Luce got a huge surprise in finding that (view spoiler) and in doing that she waste lots of time. Dorian gets tired of waiting for her and he (view spoiler). The girl, who was physically abused by her stepfather, tells him that she actually felt that a change was going to come but she refuse to give in. In hearing that Dorian is very disappointed in Luce because he feels that she's given up on life. This change of heart in Dorian, really surprised me and kind of disappointed me. I was rooting for a human-mermaid relationship... ^__^All in all, I found this book a little bit too long but I really want to know how it end and I've just ordered The Twice Lost.

First of all, I just want to say that the ONLY reason I am giving this book 3 starts instead of 4 is because I absolutely loathed Dorian, Luce's new love interest, and I was so furious at Luce for being attracted to such a pathetic, childish boy in the first place.I will list all the good things first: the cover is absolutely stunning. Especially with all those jellyfish. It's absolutely beautiful. The descriptions of the ocean are so vivid and alive - I could practically see and feel the ocean tides and the sunsets. We get to know Dana and Violet better, which I really liked. And we get to meet other mermaids too, including a 3000 year old Greek mermaid named Nausicaa. Through her, we learn a lot more about the world of the mermaids and more facts about their laws and where they come from. It was really fascinating and I wish more was explained. At the tail end of the book (get it?) we get to meet a new tribe of mermaids and I really hope they play a bigger part in the next book. I can't wait to see the Inuit tribe, Nausicaa, Dana, and Violet again. MILD SPOILER: also, a certain character Luce thought she'd never see again made an appearance! And it isn't Catarina! Where is she anyways? I look forward to finding out.Now to the bad part of the story: Dorian. Dear God he was awful. Childish, whimpy, pathetic, gullible...ugh, he creeped me out. I absolutely could NOT see what Luce saw in him. What makes him so special? He's 15 but he acts like he's 5. It's rare for me to hate a male character the most in a story out of all other characters, but Dorian wins (or should I say loses?) I liked Anais better than him, and that's saying a lot because that girl is evil. I wanted to smack Luce across the face for falling for such a loser and kept on wishing that Nausicaa would do that for me. Even when a 3000 year old mermaid warned her, Luce did not listen. Dorian honestly has to be one of my least favourite fictional characters of all time, but I suppose there is a (small) chance he can redeem himself in the next book (although I'm hoping he won't be in it.) Luckily, at the end of the series, Luce realizes her mistake:"Why did you *stop*?" Dorian whispered. Plaintively, childishly. Luce found his babyish tone utterly sickening. She was dishonored, humiliated, shattered. She'd let Nausicaa leave without her. She betrayed Dana and Violet. For *this*?~p.g. 384, the * show italicized wordsI thought, FINALLY. "Utterly sickening" is *exactly* what Dorian is. I think Sarah Porter did that on purpose though, at least I certainly hope she was aware of how awful he was and how Luce deserves so, so much better. Even if Sarah Porter made Dorian so horribly flawed beyond likeability on purpose, he really did ruin the story for me. Because I spent most of the story being mad at Luce for loving the guy, and he was such a big character too. I thought the idea of a romance between a mermaid and a human who's family was murdered by mermaids would be very interesting and romantic, but it really wasn't. But in Luce's defense - and this is a big defense - she is BARELY 14. How could she possibly have known better?The whole FBI thing also disappointed me. Did we really have to drag such a modern, overdone theme into a beautiful story about mermaids? I don't think so. So Dorian made this book lose 1 star for me, and the FBI made it lose another star. If I wanted a story that included the FBI, I would watch Bones.All in all, I did not enjoy this book as much as Lost Voices but I will definitely read the next book in the trilogy. If you are able to tolerate characters such as Dorian, and having the FBI come into this story is exciting for you, then chances are you will love this book more than the first.OTHER MERMAID STORIES I HIGHLY RECOMMENDOf PoseidonWake (actually about sirens, but still recommended)Lies Beneath

Didn't come with a dustcover but it's a good quality book anyway.

Product came in time and wasn’t damaged in any way