Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Released: July 3rd 2012
Format: Hardcover (400 pages)
Source: My local library
After parting ways with her troubled mermaid tribe, Luce just wants to live peacefully on her own. But her tranquility doesn’t last long: she receives news that the tribe is on the verge of collapse and desperately needs her leadership. The tribe’s cruel queen wants Luce dead. Dorian, the boy Luce broke mermaid law to save, is determined to make her pay for her part in the murder of his family. And while the mermaids cling to the idea that humans never suspect their existence, there are suddenly ominous signs to the contrary.
But when Luce and Dorian meet, they start to wonder if love can overpower the hatred they know they should feel for each other. Can Luce fulfill her rightful role as queen of the mermaids without sacrificing her forbidden romance with Dorian?
Waking Storms is the second instalment of the Lost Voices trilogy, and I have to say this was better than the first book, Lost Voices (you can read my review of it here). Waking Storms essentially revolves around Luce's relationship with Dorian and humans being on the verge of finding out the mermaids' existence, while introducing new characters and some mermaid history.
***WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Luce and Dorian's relationship is sort of expected given that she saved him in Lost Voices, but then again, how do you develop feelings for someone who killed your entire family (except you) with her deadly, enchanting voice? Porter does a wonderful job in gradually showing how the two of them overcome their fear and suspicion of each other. Their romance isn't a fluffy one, though. There's this constant debate of how a mermaid should try to turn human again for the man she loves, though it could kill her, which surfaces a few times in Luce and Dorian's conversations. Also, Luce has to hide the fact that she has broken the timahk from Dana, her friend.
The humans are also getting onto something, and the police are after Dorian.
To me, Dorian is never going to be a book boyfriend, and I hardly think Porter would have intended for him to be that way to her readers. Dorian comes off as insincere and snarky at times to me, but on the whole he's pretty decent towards Luce. However, he later does something so unforgivable towards Luce that completely shattered whatever good impression I had of him.
Meanwhile, in Luce's old tribe, the timahk has fallen apart for Anais and the other mermaids. One thing that really disappointed me in this novel was that Catarina did not reappear – I was totally expecting her to, but she didn't. I hope we'll see her again in book three.
With the arrival of Nausicaa the wise mermaid, much light is shed upon the story of the first mermaids – of why the mermaids are meant to sing, to sink ships and drown humans. Yet we see Luce still unsure and conflicted, and it's great to see her this way. She's a heroine who's still growing and trying to find herself in this mess that's been created.
As two worlds are increasingly about to collide, Luce must find a way to hold off the humans while trying to save other mermaids. Also, is her father still alive? If so, will she be able to save him, and bring him back home? Will Dorian still wait for Luce? Will the humans destroy all the mermaids?
With her stellar writing and compelling characters, Porter weaves yet another story with more action, angst and an absolutely haunting cliffhanger. I can't wait to get started on book three, The Twice Lost. Four starfish!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm a writer, artist, and freelance teacher. I teach creative writing workshops in the New York public schools via Teachers and Writers Collaborative; I've worked with kids in grades K-10, but I've focused on junior high and high school for the last several years. I don't think I would have written a YA novel if it weren't for that experience! Reading my students' intense, passionate poetry and stories recalled my own emotions at that age. Lost Voices was my attempt to write the book I most needed as a twelve-year-old struggling with what it means to be human: a book I never really found.
I live in Brooklyn with my wonderful husband Todd, an artist and fabricator of electronic art, and our cats Jub Jub and Delphine. I have an M.F.A. from City College.
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Great review! This book sounds really interesting and i love the unusual cover x
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