My Thoughts On: Forgotten Lyrics by Amanda Hocking

Forgotten Lyrics by Amanda Hocking
Series: Watersong #0.5
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin Publish Date: October 30, 2012
60 Pages/ebook
Source:  Author’s Website

Aggie is a mythological creature on a secret mission.  Lydia is a young woman from a magical family with no real powers of her own. And Daniel is a high school boy who’s made it his duty to protect his deeply troubled older brother.  Then one fateful night, their lives collide in a terrifying accident that changes them all forever. And beneath the surface, the ripple effects of the accident will have more impact than anyone could ever guess…changing not only their future, but the fate of an entire town. –(summary from Author’s Website)

My Thoughts:  I have been an Amanda Hocking fangirl since I have read the Trylle Trilogy and now since I have read Wake from this Watersong series. (I need to go and read her older stuff and I will, I promise.)

In Wake, Daniel lives alone on a boat down on the water. While initially it appeared that he was nothing but an annoyance to main character Gemma’s older sister Harper, the handsome Daniel proved himself to be a worthy friend and maybe-more by the end of the book. He also was a huge help to Gemma and Harper with some sticky situations and will hopefully return in the next book in a big role. I liked Daniel as a character. I enjoyed getting to know him in Wake and literally found myself wondering about why he lived on a boat, alone, down by the docks. When I saw that he was a major character in Forgotten Lyrics, I was pretty excited.

Forgotten Lyrics actually tells the story of how Daniel came to live in the tiny waterside town of Capri, which is the setting of Wake and presumably more of the Watersong series:

Daniel has underone a tragic and traumatic circumstance and as a result, he has crossed paths with some other very interesting people. There is Aggie – sister to sirens Penn and Thea – and I loved her. The story of the sirens is so fascinating in Wake, but I wish I could have spent a little more time with Aggie as her story is quite brief. Lydia is a wonderful character – in fact, I am hopeful that she will be a character in upcoming installments of this series because I believe she has a great story that is yet to be told. Lydia lives with her grandmother, Delia, who acts as some sort of bridge between humans and non-humans. In Forgotten Lyrics, Delia works to assist Aggie with an urgent request (related to Daniel) as the siren is supernaturally drawn to her location because of her special skills and abilities. 

Lydia has been watching her grandmother work in situations similar to this for years and is a great assistant to her. She plans on becoming a real apprentice one day after she finishes college. However, Lydia doubts that she will be as competent in the job as Delia because she doesn’t have that uncanny ability to sense supernatural things like Delia does. Her desire is there, though, and I think that this is what will make Lydia’s story great if Hocking chooses to tell it – particularly since there is so much siren-type activity in the area surrounding Capri. 

Fans of Amanda Hocking’s work will likely enjoy this short short-story/novella. It did not take me long to read it at all. Forgotten Lyrics takes place before Wake, but it does not matter which you read first! For only a couple more days, Amanda Hocking has this story available to read on her website for free (HERE) but of course it is available for purchase for e-readers if you prefer.