Top Ten Tuesday {2} Books I ALMOST Put Down

Meme image from The Broke and The Bookish, host of Top Ten Tuesday

I've been meaning to do a TTT post for a few weeks now, and when I saw the topic for today I knew it was a perfect chance for me to participate!

Today I'm sharing the top ten books I almost put down... but didn't!

1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein:
   
   I had the HARDEST time with the first half of this book! I was so bored with all the airplane talk, and my blogger friends INSISTED that I stick with it. And I'm so glad I did because this ended up being my favourite 2012 release!
2. Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally:
   
   Some of my experiences growing up were similar to Kate's (the main character) and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It seemed like a book that might hit a little TOO close to home. But I ended up appreciating the story, and I think this is a particularly relevant contemporary.
3. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood:
   
   As much as I love the idea of merpeople, I have a harder time with modern stories about them. But Lies Beneath was such a pleasant surprise for me!
4. Venom by Fiona Paul:
   
   I wasn't sure about Venom because of the cover, and even the description didn't sound that different from other books- but I ended up loving Venom and found it to be very well done!
5. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski:
   
   Similar to my hesitate with Venom, The Winner's Curse wasn't a book I had planned on reading until I received a surprise copy. I decided to give it a shot and ended up LOVING it! It was much edgier than I anticipated and I loved that.
6. Losing It by Cora Carmack:
   
   This was my first "real" New Adult read and another one that I had no plans to read at first. I'm not a big fan of romance books in general, so I didn't think I'd like Losing It but it was actually a lot of fun and really sucked me in.
7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:
   
   Even though it's one of my favourite books now, I read the first book and almost didn't finish it because the first couple of chapters just seemed so silly to me - I honestly couldn't get past the name "Katniss"! 

And I can only think of 7 books - I rarely walk away from a book so there aren't too many like this for me! 

Review: Lies Beneath

Lies Beneath (Lies Beneath #1) by Anne Greenwood Brown
Release Date ~ June 12, 2012
Delacorte Books for Young Readers ~ Random House
ISBN13: 9780385742016
E-galley received from publisher via Net Galley

Goodreads Synopsis:
Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death. It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love--just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves. One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty.

I've been a fan of mermaids for years, but my favourites have typically been of the red-headed, overly curious, rebellious type. So when I picked up Lies Beneath only to encounter a cold-blooded killer merman, I started off a little bit hesitant about the book.

I wasn't expecting Anne to entrance me with this touching story, and to weave an intricate tale with some ugly truth bared for the whole world to see - and yet still find a way to identify with a character I never thought I'd relate to. That's so rare in fiction, and even rarer in real life,  that it was a real treat to read about in Lies Beneath.

1. These aren't the mermaids most of us are familiar with...:
   
   (Somewhat unfortunately) Ariel doesn't make an appearance. (Props to Anne for mentioning her though!) The merpeople in Lies Beneath are vicious killers. At first, I thought I wouldn't be able to identify with them because of this and was afraid I wouldn't feel a connection with the book as a result. But instead I found it fascinating to see that they had their limits - there were times when they drew the line and stood their ground and fought against what we assumed to be their nature. This was easily the mos tinteresting aspect of the book, because we get to see such a huge change and we're led to ask a lot of questions regarding nature vs nurture.
2. A feisty, strong love interest:
   
   I really didn't think I'd like Lily at first, but she grew on me SO quickly. I loved that she could dish it all back at Calder, and wasn't weak or whiny or oblivious. She totally keeps Calder on his toes all the time, refuses to back down, and makes some EXTREMELY selfless decisions.
3. Unpredictable twists & surprises:
   
   There was plenty of mysterious mythology and legends to hint at what was going on, but just enough to keep me guessing. And there were some truly unexpected turn of events, which were cleverly hidden from the reader (and for good reason).

My only real complaint was that I did feel like a few too many of the issues were fairly neatly wrapped up; and while that's mostly a good thing, I still like a little bit of realism in my books. It isn't that everything turned out perfectly, but it was a little too convenient for my taste.

And it admittedly did take me a little while to get used to reading from the perspective of a sea "monster" so used to killing. That can be a little bit hard to swallow at certain times.

But this was one beautifully written and thought out story that I easily devoured. Exaclty the kind of merpeople book I like to read (and I'm picky about them, too).

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