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The Twice Lost (Lost Voices #3)

Mermaids have been sinking ships and drowning humans for centuries, and now the government is determined to put an end to the mermaid problem—by slaughtering all of them. Luce, a mermaid with exceptionally threatening abilities, becomes their number-one target, hunted as she flees down the coast toward San Francisco.

There she finds hundreds of mermaids living in exile under the docks of the bay. These are the Twice Lost: once-human girls lost first when a trauma turned them into mermaids, and lost a second time when they broke mermaid law and were rejected by their tribes. Luce is stunned when they elect her as their leader. But she won’t be their queen. She’ll be their general. And they will become the Twice Lost Army—because this is war

Characters: This story jumps around from several characters perspectives. Our main focus is still on Luce, as the general who is taking a stance to help prevent any further mermaid deaths. We get the side of the American Government, a secret weapon the government is holding hostage, and the humans that have had connections with the mermaids and are on their side.

Plot: As Luce travels south after witnessing the loss of her old Tribe, she has found other mermaids and humans along the way. Breaking the code of the Timahk more than once, she is now focusing on finding her long lost friend Nausicaa and warning the mermaids of the government killings. When she reaches San Francisco however, she comes across hundreds of misplaced mermaids and decides this is the spot where she will stop and fight.

Originality: This trilogy includes all female mermaids. There is very little made of any ties to current mermaid mythology. However, the mermaids do age more slowly than humans and have the ability to sing to the water to cause magical effects, some dangerous enough to sink ships. The mermaids (Queen’s) are ranked and chosen by how powerfully they can sing (manipulate the water).

Writing: The pacing of the story is pretty slow. The building up and causes of the war, in particular, involves a lot of different characters. Each character’s story has to evolve and grow until the point that the war begins. As the mermaids are aiming for a peaceful ending, they show a lot of restraint but the humans are less honourable.   The villain of this story is a truly horrible, abusive, and manipulative person who oversteps his boundaries.

Krista’s Rating: As this is the final book in the trilogy, I was expecting everything to come to a very fast-paced ending but the writing was slower than I anticipated. Yet even with a lot of down time, this is a series that kept me thinking long after I finished the books; the story still sticks with me.

 

Read Krista’s review of book one in the trilogy.

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Echo is the story of two lovers who are under a curse (the story will bear this out). One of them always loses the other, tragically. But the two of them learn to beat the curse: whenever one dies, the other time travels to the lost lover’s next (or past) reincarnation. The novel spans over a thousand years, to several different times and places; and it clearly illustrates the risks one will take, the lengths one will go, and the sacrifices one will make for true love.

The keywords that caught my attention with this book were curse, soul mates, and the story spanning over thousands of years. There were so many possibilities for how the story might develop.

The story starts out in the 460’s A.D., and Karissa has just appeared in Gaul on a mission to find her lost mate. We learn some historical background about what was happening at the time and in that area of the world. I really enjoy reading historical books and was getting my hopes up that this was leading to a very detailed and well-researched story with a mystery and romance at the core.

Unfortunately, I did not end up loving the book as much as I was hoping mainly due to the characters. Karissa didn’t seem to fit in this ancient world. What I mean is that she was very much a 21st century girl living in an ancient time and the two just did not mesh well. People were too patient with her inappropriate behaviour.

POV’s switched between Karissa and Adregin, and their names changed throughout the book as did the settings (time periods). However, I wanted information than I got ; for example, I never completely understood how the languages came so easily to them, or how they maintained their memories.

I believe that Echo would have benefited from pruning in some areas and expansion in others, but there were lots encouraging things about it, and some readers will find interest in the bigger picture ideas of reincarnation and the looping of the curse.

 

***For older readers

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Zoe has an unconventional pen pal–Mr. Stuart Harris, a Texas Death Row inmate and convicted murderer. But then again, Zoe has an unconventional story to tell. A story about how she fell for two boys, betrayed one of them, and killed the other.

Hidden away in her backyard shed in the middle of the night with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gives a voice to her heart and her fears after months of silence. Mr. Harris may never respond to Zoe’s letters, but at least somebody will know her story–somebody who knows what it’s like to kill a person you love. Only through her unusual confession can Zoe hope to atone for her mistakes that have torn lives apart, and work to put her own life back together again.

Rising literary star Annabel Pitcher pens a captivating second novel, rich with her distinctive balance between humor and heart. Annabel explores the themes of first love, guilt, and grief, introducing a character with a witty voice and true emotional resonance.

Hardcover, 261 pages

Published November 12th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Going into this story after reading the blurb, I was excited to jump into a mystery. The letter writing format of the storytelling was just like a diary format; Zoe chooses to share her thoughts about her daily life, and things that led up to the event.

Not only do we get to know Zoe, we also get to know her family, friends and love interests. She has had terrible event happen in her life, but she was also going through some turmoil at home. She takes advantage of her home situation to break rules and be more adventurous in her own life, especially romantically.

This story is completely contemporary, dealing with love and family at its core. Zoe is carrying a lot of guilt and sadness. The fact that she decides to pick a murderer she heard about in the paper to write her story to, is interesting, and she sometimes tries to find connections to the murderer’s situation and her own guilty conscience.

There is something very compelling about this story, yet I didn’t completely feel that it was the story I wanted given the synopsis and introduction. I did like the way the romance and family situations were handled. Both were very real situations especially the confusion and frustrations that can come along with falling in love.

I thought the book was well written, yet not as dark as I was hoping it would be. I do recommend this book, those who enjoy contemporary stories with family issues and love triangles.

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Joelene:

Cover

The cover markets the book really well. From the pastel blue background, swirly pink font, heart drawing and photographs, it’s easy to tell that this is a light YA romance set in the real world. I don’t like the cover personally, but that’s more to do with the fact that I never look out for this genre.

Characters

The protagonist is a shy fifteen-year-old called Penny Porter. The only time she feels authentic is when she’s writing her blog. The other characters are her friends, her frenemies, her family, and the people she meets when she goes to America.

Favourite

I didn’t really connect with anyone in this story. Some of them had moments of being okay – but only moments. Megan was probably my favourite, partially because she was so unapologetically demanding, nasty and confident; partially because she moved every bit of the plot in the story – she was the recurrent inciting incident – so as a character she worked.

Least Favourite

Penny. While Megan owns her awfulness, Penny seems to think that she’s a wonderful person. Despite the fact that she genuinely has no idea what’s going on in her best friend’s life and, in fact, forgets about him at significant moments without ever seeming to feel guilty about it. Oh, and she lies to him – about things that make no sense to lie about.

Beginning

Things aren’t going well for Penny. Her school-friend, Megan, is being crueller to her than usual. She keeps embarrassing herself in front of Ollie, the guy she has been crushing on but who is way out of her league (and possibly a little too in love with himself). At least she has her best friend, Elliot; and her blog.

Storyline

When Penny’s parents have the chance to fly them all to America, it may be the answer to all of Penny’s problems or her worst nightmare.

Ending

It’s a rocky journey, but the end delivers everything the cover promises. Light, fluffy romance galore.

Thoughts

I’m significantly outside of the target audience and, with this book at least, it shows. It wasn’t my thing. It felt a little like the author/s threw every romantic movie/book cliché ever in there and hoped that it would all work out. There were moments of genuine sweetness; Elliot helping Penny overcome her fears by teaching her about superhero alter egos was cute. Less cute is the fact that while Penny is the central character she initiates no action.

 

Quote

“…don’t you just love the way photos are able to freeze special moments in time forever?”

 

Bel:

 

Cover

I loved that Zoe and the publishers held a competition for her followers to add an image to the cover of her book, for both the US and the UK editions. Daisy Trodd’s picture of the Brighton Carousel is on the cover of the copy I own. Zoe’s personality comes through in the instagram type pictures and fairy lights. The font is bright and airy. The background is a pretty duck egg blue. Over all it is very relevant for the story inside and visibly fresh.

Characters

There are really no surprises to be found, bullies, cute guy, loving yet slightly distant parents, great best friend and our introverted leading lady.

Favourite

Elliot has to be my favourite because he’s what I’d want in a best friend.

Least Favourite

Ollie, oil isn’t as slippery as that sucker.

Beginning

Penny is making her way through life in high school and starts an anonymous blog to sort through her angst. Her parents are contracted to organise an event in the US.

Storyline

Penny, her best friend, Elliot, and her parents head to the US, and Penny meets Noah.

Ending

Expected, but still enjoyable.

Thoughts

I enjoyed this book for its light and airy feel. I like the journey of self discovery Penny goes on. The themes of cyber bullying and dealing with fame are covered and though both are quite vicious, I was able to find an abundance of positivity.

Quote

“OK, from now on can you please just assume that my response to anything you say is prefixed with a “WTF”!” ~ Elliot talking to Penny.

 

 Krista:

Cover

The cover of the book reminds me of a background image on what we may find today on a blog online. It fits the story perfectly.

Characters

Penny and Noah are the main characters, but we also get to get to know Elliot (Penny’s best friend) very well and he’s a great side character.

Favourite

Noah was my favorite character, his story is very touching. I felt he added a lot to the character growth of Penny. The story really wouldn’t be as thought provoking without him.

Least Favourite

Megan. There is always a mean girl and she fits the bill. Her actions are all selfish and she seems to relish in the drama.

Beginning

Penny decides to start an anonymous blog and a place that she would feel more comfortable writing her feelings. Anonymously.

Storyline

Penny is a quiet, self conscious girl who tends to stay out of the crowd; she’s insecure and only comfortable with her close family and best friend. They take a trip from the UK to the US as Penny’s mom gets a job assignment, and they are lucky enough to stay for a week or so over the Holiday season.

Ending

With the help and encouragement of Noah, Penny learns how to focus on what is important to her in life and become more self aware and positive.

Thoughts

I thought that this was a very cute story. It relayed a very important storyline of staying strong, positive and courageous when times get hard. Sure, it’s unlikely that any of us would go through the extreme publicity that Penny goes through in this story. But we all can relate to her story in some way; not only being unsure about yourself, but how staying positive on a daily basis is hard! Sometimes turning everything off is the best coping method, but no matter who the bullies or haters are, your personal willingness to persevere and communication is the key. Surrounding yourself with people who really want the best for you is best and staying as true to yourself as possible. These are the things that I walked away with from this story, and I am impressed with the way this book handled these hard subjects.

Quote

“Every time you post something online. You have a choice, you can either make it something that adds to the happiness levels in the world or you can make it something that takes away from them. I tried to add something by starting girl online and for a while it really seemed to be working. So next time you go to post a comment and update or share a link, ask yourself is this going to add to the happiness in the world, and if the answer is going to be no, please delete there is enough sadness in the world today, you don’t need to add to it.”

Discussion Topics:

Today the norm is social media. Online security, privacy and anonymity are all subjects up for discussion with people of all ages. In today’s world do you believe that subjects of online security and privacy should be taught at school?

Zoella makes no secret of her anxiety attacks and how she manages them, both in the book, in her YouTube videos and on her blog. Do you have anything special you do to beat the stress?

Do you think the book glossed over the cyber-bullying a little too much?

 

http://www.zoella.co.uk/

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published November 25th 2014 by Atria / Keywords Press (first published January 1st 2014)

ISBN 0141357274 (ISBN13: 9780141357270)

 

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Krista McKeeth reviews Altered by Gennifer Albin

 

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