**REVIEW** Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown

It's been thirty days, two hours, and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she's counting. And when Calder does return, it's not quite the reunion Lily hoped for. Especially after she lets her father in on a huge secret: he, like Calder, is a merman. Obsessed with his new identity, Lily's dad monopolizes Calder's time as the two of them spend every day in the water, leaving Lily behind.

Then dead bodies start washing ashore. Calder blames his mermaid sisters, but Lily fears her father has embraced the merman's natural need to kill. As the body count grows, everyone is pointing fingers. Lily doesn't know what to believe—only that whoever's responsible is sure to strike again. . . . 

Release Date: March 12,2013

Published By:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Review Copy: Hardcover, 352 pages

*gifted by Evie from Bookish

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Review

  This was a bit of a shocker for me, because I enjoyed Lies Beneath so much I never even bothered to read the description for this one.  Needless to say that it shocked me when I realized it had gone from Calder's point of view being the main one to it being Lily.  When I realized this I worried, I worried that the change would ruin it all for me but once the panic subsided I realized it was working.   This was different from Lies Beneath but that made this story good in its own way.

  Lily in Deep Betrayal and Lily in Lies Beneath were like two completely different people for the first while.  The Lily that I loved was different, quirky and independent and the Lily in the start of this one was needy and focused on herself.  I was shocked at the transformation but I did sympathize with her a little but she doesn't stay that way throughout the entire novel.  She soon returned to the hard headed stubborn girl that I loved.  There is also the point that she was willing to consider all things, including the fact that her own father may be behind the killings.  The little bits of Lily's poetry thrown in strategically throughout this novel also added a little something personal that I enjoyed.

  The character development in Calder was huge.  Though it is still very apparent that he could be a killer merman still, he was becoming a little more human.  In the first novel he struggled to do the right thing and now he is fighting for the right thing.  Calder is more a part of Lily's family than he ever expected to be and struggles to balance helping Lily's father adjust and spending time with Lily.  I do enjoy this Calder as much as the first book Calder just in a different way.

  Although I did not really love Maris, I found myself kind of missing her this time around.  Though she is vicious it is just that she embraces her life as a mermaid so fully that I didn't realize how much that was to me.  With the happenings at the end of the last book I did expect more of the sisters but was wrong.  Maris did however bring up an interesting point in the novel: Marighdean Mara.  I did love the myth of Marighdean Mara that was brought to light, she is the mother of the Mer's and I found her story interesting and a good strong background.  

  Anne's writing continues to capture my attention, her vivid characters and story are a little of everything I like.  The start to this one was a little slower than the one before but that is because there is a new development and things were put in order.  Once everything was placed and the ball got rolling it just took off and I was sucked in.  I am however left wanting more this time because the end was a killer.  Waiting for the next book may be hard but I know that it will be worth it! 

Quotes

A part of me wished I'd told him right away, but how do you tell your father he's a merman?  Particularly with our family history for crazy.

His face darkened, and his eyes turned more menacing than I'd ever seen them before.  For the first time, I could see the bleakness of his soul.  It coiled and curled like smoke and eels in his darkening eyes.

Dad and Calder might not be able to find Maris to warn her about Jack, but I could.  Or at least, I was pretty sure I could if Calder would let me.  If I could find Maris, if I could reason with her that there was no more room for death, maybe no one else would have to die.

I watched him go, forcing myself not to ask Calder the questions that hung in the air between us: Was Dad's betrayal complete?  Had he left us for good?  I knew the answers.  To have Calder confirm them aloud would only make them more real.