Spoiler-Free Review

If you’re looking for a new young adult fantasy that builds on Greek mythology and features a bisexual love triangle, Lies We Sing to the Sea may be for you.

Click here for content warnings.

What’s Lies We Sing to the Sea about?

Leto’s story begins with her death. After she is sacrificed to the sea god, she finds herself transformed – and saddled with a mission to kill the prince.

There’s a lot of potential here.

While not a standout reading experience in and of itself, I felt there were pockets of strong writing throughout.

The beginning was very compelling and drew me in immediately. I was taken with Leto’s plight right from the start as she copes with, and tries to escape, her fate. The introduction of her character was so well executed; not only did we learn of her situation, but we gathered a lot about her personality in those opening chapters.

From there, my intrigue waned a bit as it became a little more tropey. There’s a lot of focus on a love triangle, with all the angst and drama that typically entails in a young adult novel. While it was refreshing to see a bisexual love triangle (F/F/M), I still felt it brought a degree of silliness to an otherwise heavy plot that deals with themes of death, murder, revenge, and doing bad things for the greater good.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator for Leto absolutely captivated me. She brought so much personality to this role, and really brought the words to life.

Should you read Lies We Sing to the Sea?

If you like other recent YA fantasies like A Study in Drowning or Divine Rivals, I think you’d enjoy this one as well. Bear in mind that it does prominently feature a love triangle with lots of angst. It does ask heavy questions, but I didn’t feel it was ever too overbearing with those themes. I recommend if you’re into retellings from Greek mythology.

A note on the ending: it’s sad, but with a hopeful tone for the future.