Review: Submerged by Katie Hayoz

Posted November 10, 2015 by Lola in Fantasy, Historical, Review, Romance, Steampunk / 24 Comments

LolaReview

SubmergedSubmerged (The Clockwork Siren #2)
by Katie Hayoz

Blurb:
Lure it out. Catch it. Kill it.

Melusine Doré knows exactly how to handle monsters. Love, however, is another matter. Though she is doing her best to live her happily ever after, Melusine begins to doubt Levi’s devotion and worries the curse that once made her a siren will return.

When Melusine and Levi go hunt a beast down South, Melusine’s deepest fear becomes a reality as she finds herself in exactly the place where all her troubles began: home. There, Melusine must face the dark secrets and lies of her family’s past—and the very real possibility that she is more monster than maiden.

Novella number two in the Immersed series, Submerged by Katie Hayoz takes us from the muddy trenches of steampunk Chicago to the sticky swamps of Louisiana to the slippery side of love.

My Review:
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so once I heard about the sequel it didn’t take me long to grab my copy. Submerged is a great sequel, although it doesn’t quite live up the awesomeness that was the first book. It continues the story of Mel and Levi and a new adventure. They have to kill a creature in the swamps where Melusine grew up which means facing her past.

The story was interesting, we find some answers about Melusine her past and we learn more about the characters. The pace was done well and there are more new monsters to find, but it just lacked something that the first book did have. It was still a great book, don’t get me wrong and definitely worth the read, but I enjoyed it less than the first book. The book did keep my attention and flowed well and the plot was interesting. I liked the tidbits we learned of Melusine her past and her family and it all made more sense in this book as we learn the pieces we still missed after the first book.

One of the things that bothered me a bit was Melusine her jealousy and the added drama, yeah I understand why that played a part and Levi was being charming and nice to the other female, but it just got a bit too much focus. It felt like there were quite some scenes around that and while I know it had a purpose, I still wasn’t a fan of it. There is a bit of competition and animosity between the two females and I didn’t quite like it.

Melusine and Levi are still their awesome fighting selves, taking down monsters, but also being considerate about which monsters they killed. They aren’t heartless killer and only kill when they have to. I did feel their connection and romance a bit less in this book, which was a shame. Probably in part due to the whole jealousy issue that plays a role in this book. Some jumping to conclusions and that leaving less space for them to just be together.

This book definitely adds some interesting pieces of world building, some about the monsters they encounter n this book and some about Melusine her past and it added something to the series in those terms. We also get a new setting in this book namely the swamp instead of muddy Chicago. While I liked seeing a different setting I thought the Chicago history and setting was more interesting. In this book there is less focus on the setting.

To summarize: Submerged was a great sequel, although not as good as the first book. It continues the plot and we learn new things, mainly about Melusine and her past. However there was some more focus on another female and Melusine being jealous and it just didn’t quite do it for me. I did understand why the author put that part in the story, but I just didn’t like that part. I also felt the romance less as there is less focus on the romance and having them spent time together in this book. The world building adds some interesting pieces, but wasn’t as exciting as in the first book when we just got introduced to this world.

3-star

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon

Previous book in the series:
– Katie Hayoz – Immersed (The Clockwork Siren #1) – 4 stars

How does your enjoyment of the first book in a series influence your expectations and enjoyment of the sequel?

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24 responses to “Review: Submerged by Katie Hayoz

  1. Ooh, I haven’t actually read the first book in this series (please don’t hate me, I didn’t read the whole review in case of spoilers!), but you’ve got me interested in possibly reading the first book since, oddly enough, I recently decided I want to try a book about sirens.

    I think the first book does influence how I feel about the other books though because it gives me certain expectations, like you said. And of course if the first book was AMAZING, there’s, like, never any hope of the second book living up to it lol.
    Kristen Burns recently posted…Cover Characteristics: Book Covers featuring ButterfliesMy Profile

    • I usually try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but just like you I usualy don’t read reviews of later books in a series if I plan to read the series as sometimes spoilers for the first book slip in. So I can understand why you didn’t read the whole review. It’s a great series! Although the full focus isn’t on the sirens, there’s also focus on the historical, romance and steampunk elements, so there’s more than the sirens to the story. I do really like how the siren element is handled in this series and how it’s a bit darker than most mermaid/ siren stories.

      I enjoyed the first book a lot, so it just felt the sequel didn’t quite live up to my expectations, which is probably because my expectations were so high. That happens more often with sequels sadly.

    • It definitely was fun to see them in action again and get mroe back story about Melusine. And I liked how this book builds upon the world building and gives us more info. It was a great sequel, just not as good as the first book in my opinion. I hope you’ll enjoy this one!

    • It’s still a great series, alhough I thought the first book was better than this one I would still recommend it and am curious how the series continues.

    • I wouldn’t say it suffers from second book syndrome as it still is a good story and a good sequel, but it’s more like I had too high expectations I think. And it lacked a few of the things that I enjoyed about the first book like the budding romance, the awesome setting and finding out what Melusine is and why. I am looking forward to hear what you think of this one!
      Lola recently posted…Review: Submerged by Katie HayozMy Profile

    • It just felt that the first book was so amazing the second book couldn’t live up. I did enjoy this one, but I could’ve done without the jealousy aspect. I think I would’ve enjoyed it more then.

    • It’s a shame when that happens and the first book is so good and the later books don’t live up to it. I will continue this series as the second book was still good, but I had hoped it would’ve been as good as the first book.

    • I’ve been trying to read a few more books about Sirens and mermaids lately. I would recommend this series if you’re looking for a great siren series, I really liked how the author handled that aspct, although it isn’t the only focus in this book.
      Lola recently posted…Review: Submerged by Katie HayozMy Profile

    • Yes it’s been released a few weeks ago. It’s still a good sequel, even though it isn’t as strong as the first book. And I liked learning more about Melusine her past. I hope you’ll enjoy this one!

    • Maybe it was my own expectations that ruined it, the book takes place in a different seting and has a different focus than the previous one. There were things I still enjoyed, bit also some that I didn’t or that were in the first book and not here. I always hope sequel are as good as the first book, but am also hesistant that will like them less.

    • I hope you give this series a try! It’s a great series although the first encounter with this world was just so amazing, the seocnd book couldn’t replicate that feeling. I did enjoy learning more about the heroine’s past, it’s fun how we leanr more about her and her past in this book.

    • It’s a shame when a sequel isn’t as good as the first book, although I am still happy I read it. And the covers for this series are pretty indeed!

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