Lies We Sing to the Sea

by Sarah Underwood

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Sarah Underwood’s electrifying debut inspired by Greek mythology reimagines the fate of Penelope’s hanged maids, complete with captivating characters and gut-wrenching romance.

An instant New York Times bestseller—and a legendary YA debut!

This dazzling sapphic fantasy inspired by Greek mythology will captivate fans of Circe and The Song of Achilles.

Each spring, Ithaca condemns twelve maidens to the noose. This is the price vengeful Poseidon demands for the lives of Queen Penelope’s twelve maids, hanged and cast into the depths centuries ago.

But when that fate comes for Leto, death is not what she thought it would be. Instead, she wakes on a mysterious island and meets a girl with green eyes and the power to command the sea. A girl named Melantho, who says one more death can stop a thousand.

The prince of Ithaca must die—or the tides of fate will drown them all.

Sarah Underwood weaves an epic tapestry of lies, love, and tragedy, perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Alexandra Bracken, and Renée Ahdieh.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063234499
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/23/2024
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	120,646
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 5.20(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

SARAH UNDERWOOD grew up by the sea in Devon. A data scientist by training, she is a graduate of Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, and is now studying for her PhD at the University of Oxford. 

Sarah has been writing as long as she can remember, and has always been drawn to stories of myth and magic. Her debut novel, Lies We Sing to the Sea, was an instant New York Times, indie, and international bestseller.

Editorial Reviews

01/30/2023

Underwood artfully ties Homeric tropes into the plot of this alluring, if unevenly paced, ancient Greek retelling. To avoid societal destruction, the citizens of a cursed Ithaca annually sacrifice 12 teenage girls to Poseidon. When 17-year-old orphan Leto is sentenced to death, unexplained happenings lead to her waking on the island of Pandou, where she meets Melantho, who had previously been sacrificed only to similarly awaken on the island, cursed to command the tides. To break the curse, Leto must kill teenage Prince Mathias of Ithaca, a descendant of Odysseus who is haunted by the annual tradition. As the three teens’ lives intertwine, amorous feelings are forged amid harrowing action and vengeful pursuits. Leto, Mathias, and Melantho’s sweeping alternating perspectives drive this urgent-feeling romantic adventure. Floral language, while occasionally dampening character development, excels at setting an absorbing scene. Exploring conflicts surrounding the mistreatment of women, power imbalances, and sexual violence, Underwood adroitly utilizes the inspiration material’s foundation to deliver an expansive world plagued by monsters both mythical and mortal. All characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Catherine Cho, Paper Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Gorgeous, tragic, and timeless, Lies We Sing to the Sea makes an age-old story feel new again. This is Greek tragedy at its best: sweeping in scope yet deeply intimate in characterization. This book will break your heart and you’ll be grateful for it.” — Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief

“Lies We Sing to the Sea is a lyrical, elegant debut bursting with imagination and heart. Underwood expertly weaves a tale about the inevitability of fate—and the love that makes us rail against it anyway. Bittersweet and wholly cathartic.”  — Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic

“Overflowing with emotion and full of magic.” — Jennifer Saint, internationally bestselling author of Ariadne

“A wondrous tale of love, death, and sacrifice. The vivid characters give depth and adventure to a story with roots in classic Greek mythology.” — Natasha Bowen, New York Times bestselling author of Skin of the Sea

“Sarah Underwood’s classical reimagining is woven with pure magic: salt-laced myths, a plot that slowly unravels like a tapestry, and vivid characters who are destined to steal your heart. A scintillating, beautiful debut.”  — Rebecca Ross, internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted and Sisters of Sword & Song

"Sarah Underwood gives a brave, ferocious voice to a character who richly deserves one. Filled with knife-sharp banter, smoldering romance, and twists that will tear your heart to pieces, this is the story about one of Penelope's doomed maids that was always waiting to be told. "  — Heather Walter, author of the Malice duology

“Prepare to be utterly wrecked by this brilliant, lyrical, queer, feminist af book. Lies We Sing to the Sea grabbed my heart from the first pages and I couldn't put it down. Utterly breathtaking. I loved it.” — Jamie Pacton, author of The Vermillion Emporium

“Rich, immersive and utterly compelling. A stunning achievement from Gen Z’s answer to Madeline Miller” — Laura Steven, author of The Society for Soulless Girls

From the Publisher

Gorgeous, tragic, and timeless…This book will break your heart and you’ll be grateful for it.”

New York Times bestselling author Grace D. Li

03/01/2023

Gr 9 Up—This novel expands on the story from the Odyssey in which Odysseus and Telemachus kill Queen Penelope's 12 maids. Centuries later, Ithaca must sacrifice 12 girls every spring to Poseidon or be destroyed—a curse placed on Ithaca for the actions against the maids. When Leto, daughter of a royal oracle, is sent to be hanged with the other 11, she wakes up very much alive in a mysterious place called Pandou. There she meets Melantho, another girl like her, who was brought back by Poseidon with the chance of breaking the curse. Those who are saved come back changed, with the ability to transform into sea creatures. There have been others, but only Melantho remains—and Leto is the last. In order to break the curse, they must kill Mathias, the Prince of Ithaca. Mathias has lost a sister to Poseidon and wants nothing more than to break the curse himself. The novel alternates among Leto's, Melantho's, and Mathias's points of view. While not a full retelling of the Odyssey itself, Underwood's novel gives a new voice to the 12 maids and their legacy in her debut. There are clear romantic feelings between Leto and Melantho that build through the novel, as well as hints of romance between Leto and Mathias. Themes of love, betrayal, hope, and loss permeate the pages. VERDICT As expected with a tragedy, love does not always ensure a happy ending, but readers will be invested in the story and characters regardless. Recommended for most teen collections, especially where Greek mythology-inspired fiction is popular.—Marissa Lieberman

School Library Journal

2022-12-24
Every year, 12 girls are sacrificed to sea god Poseidon to save the Ithacan people from starvation.

Leto is an orphan in a poor village, selling her half-formed prophecies, when the fate of execution befalls her. Miraculously spared, she is washed ashore on the island of Pandou unconscious but alive, and there she makes her new home with mysterious Melantho, who is something more than human. Leto, like Melantho, has been changed—able to become a scaled, aquatic creature and graced with watery magic. Leto and Melantho form a daring plan to kill the prince whose orders doom girls like them to death, though Leto also feels affection for and attraction to him. As they slowly succumb to their desire for revenge and love for each other, Prince Mathias attempts to right the wrongs of his ancestors. In this feminist retelling, Underwood takes a lesser-known portion of The Odyssey, mining what it has to say about queerness, legacies of violence, and women’s roles in mythology. Unfortunately, the characterizations are underdeveloped, the timelines confusing, and the pacing off. Relationships and plot elements are developed primarily through exposition rather than unfolding naturally. For example, elements such as what precisely defines the attraction between scrappy Leto and Melantho and who Matthias is as a person beg for deeper examination. The retelling works best when it leans into the more monstrous and surreal aspects of the story’s larger mythology and is willing to examine complications in morality and love.

Inconsistent but intriguing. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews