Lullaby by Amanda Hocking

About the book

Lullaby is the second book in the Watersong series by Amanda Hocking. The book was published by Tor on 6^th December 2012 and it is 356 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads.com)

Beautiful but deadly, their song won’t let her rest.

Gemma had to disappear with Penn, Lexi and Thea after a night of incredible violence on the island. She can still barely come to terms with her new affinity with the ocean – and the siren powers that go with it. Now she’s been transformed, Gemma has no choice but to leave all she loves behind. She swears she won’t lose her humanity, but the call of the sea is maddening and compulsive.

Harper won’t give up on her missing sister. The search draws her closer than she’d like to bohemian Daniel, but she could really use his help. They’d almost given up, until a small news item tells of a horrific murder in a nearby beach town, and Harper thinks she’s found the deadly group. But can Gemma’s curse be reversed – and what if she doesn’t want to come home?

What I thought

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Wake, and luckily I had the second book all ready and waiting to be read.

Lullaby begins right where Wake left off, with Gemma gone, having run away with the crazy sirens while sister Harper is left to pick up the pieces. It isn’t only Harper though because Gemma’s boyfriend Alex is worried sick and has no idea what to do. Together, along with Daniel (Harper’s love interest) they have to figure out what the hell is going on and what can be done about it. A large chunk of Lullaby is spent with Harper, Daniel and Alex doing research into sirens and the curse surrounding them. However, we don’t really get to find out anything extra than we did in the first book.

While not a dual narrative, chapters tend to alternate between where Harper is and where Gemma is. I really liked this way of telling the story because as the characters were separated, I wanted to know what was going on from all sides. I have to admit that I enjoyed the chapters surrounding Gemma though because they were generally more interesting and exciting – she is living with sirens after all. Gemma is learning how to be a siren but it’s hard for her. A siren isn’t something she had a choice about being and something she definitely doesn’t want to be.

Lullaby made me like both Harper and Gemma a whole lot more because I felt I got to know them much better in this book. While everything is about the sirens, certain situations meant that character traits and personalities shone through better than they did in Wake. The girls aren’t bad girls and while they both have their faults, they’re only trying to do what they think is best which was something I admired them both for. Harper was slightly boring and uptight in Wake but in this book, I felt that she let go a little more and it did make me like her more.

Lullaby ends with so many questions being unanswered but that sets the scene really well for book 3, Tidal, which I can’t wait to get my hands on now. This series is really different from any others I have read and while it’s slightly gross at times (if you’ve read it, you’ll know why) it has plenty of excitement and mystery as well as humour and some romance.