Lullaby
Author: Amanda Hocking
Series: Watersong #2
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
My Rating:
Summary:
Harper won’t give up on finding her sister Gemma, vowing to get her back no matter what the cost. The search draws her closer to too-gorgeous-for-his-own-good Daniel, and tests her fiercely guarded independence like never before. She’s always been the strong one who everyone else depends on…Can she let herself depend on Daniel?
As Gemma and Harper plunge deeper into a magical world they barely understand, it becomes painfull clear that Gemma’s old life may be lost forever. But can she still hold on to her humanity?
First Sentence: Harper woke up when the sun was just beginning to set, and squinted at the dim orange light steaming in through her curtains.
My Review:
I was skeptical and unsure if I should read Lullaby after my awful experience reading Amanda Hocking’s Wake. However, the beautiful oceanic cover of Lullaby pulled me in and persuaded me to give Amanda Hocking’s new Watersong series another chance. I’m still unsure if it was the right move to make. Lullaby wasn’t as boring and slow as Wake, but it wasn’t exactly great either.
Unlike Wake, Lullaby had a decent-paced plot. There were no pages of info-dumping like how Wake was and we didn’t have to wait until the last eight or so chapters to see some action.
Gemma is a lot less selfish in Lullaby than Wake and actually cares more about the people around her than herself. (You have absolutely no idea how much I love that change in Gemma after reading chapters of her being so selfish in Wake.) Harper wasn’t as bossy, which was probably because Gemma was missing for at least one-half of the book.
After reading both Amanda Hocking’s Trylle Trilogy and both Wake and Lullaby, I have to say Amanda Hocking should stick to writing in first-person point of view than third-person point of view like in Wake and Lullaby. Wake and Lullaby wasn’t as engaging as the Trylle Trilogy simply because the writing was a little awkward.
The main question I have concerning the Watersong series is why is the Watersong series consisting of four books? The events of Lullaby can easily be summed up in four, maybe five chapters. I hope Amanda Hocking isn’t turning into one of those money-hungry authors who just writes more books in order to gain more money.
However, I have to give major kudos to Amanda Hocking for her mythological creatures. Wake made me tire of her version of sirens, but in Lullaby, she managed to entrance me to want to learn even more about her version of sirens. Can the siren curse be broken? What can kill the sirens? Why does the siren’s song not affect some people? Will Gemma and Harper ever get the happy ending they deserve? I’ll admit, I can’t wait for Tidal, the third installment of the Watersong series, to come out so I can finally get the answers promised in the next book.
I have yet to read Amanda Hocking, I’ll have to give her a go. I’m looking for a good mermaid read, was thinking of getting Of Poseidon. I had bad luck with the last mermaid book I read…slow pace, characters I couldn’t connect with and a scant plot. This sounds pretty good.
Of Poseidon was too cliche for my tastes. Amanda Hocking’s mermaid series isn’t that good either. Now that you’ve mentioned it, there isn’t exactly a really good mermaid book/series, unless you count Japanese manga.
I have heard of this book, but I have never read anything by Amanda Hocking. After reading your wonderful review I think I am just going to skip this series all together. Thank you very much for sharing your review. Maybe one day we can all find a mermaid series that will blow us out of the water (;
I read this book a while ago. I honestly liked Amanda’s first series, The Trylle Trilogy a lot more than Watersong. But I did give it a chance and it was okay. I still need to read the last two, but I’m more excited that Amanda is going back to the Trylle world and writing a new series that will release next year. Hopefully those come out soon! :D
I am glad that lullaby is a little better than Wake, I didn’t care for Wake either. ;)