The Sirens opens with journalism student Lucy coming out of a violent dream to find that she has sleepwalked over to her ex lover’s dorm room and was choking him to death. She stops herself and flees to coastal town Comber Bay to her sister Jess’ apartment. Jess is missing however and Lucy has to piece together several mysteries. She uncovers the town’s dark history while dealing with her own water allergy and still having dreams of two girls, Mary and Eliza, in the 1800s. The story oscillates between the two time periods.

Emilia Hart interweaves the two storylines together beautifully. I felt so much for these women who are so resilient, but personally and especially felt for Lucy who is so isolated physically/mentally and struggling to find real connection. Five stars from me for the journey. Don’t skip the beginning historical note - it provides some valuable context on what happened in the 1800s. Thank you Emilia Hart for this amazing story and Netgalley for providing the e-arc.

Ever wake up from a nightmare, only to realize it’s just getting started?

Lucy woke up with her hands around her ex’s throat and is forced to bolt to her sister Jess’s coastal home in Australia!

As she digs into the town’s weird history—disappearing men, ghostly voices, and a baby found in a cave—she discovers secrets that stretch back centuries.

Jess’s teenage diary, set in 1999, offers some clues! Oh, and did I mention the twin sisters from 1800 who might be tied to it all?

I was hooked on this book, it blew me away.

I got completely lost in the world and couldn’t stop reading. The characters, the eerie setting, the connections across time—it all came together in the best way

If you love getting lost in a story where every chapter adds a new layer of intrigue, grab this book—you won’t be disappointed!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly easy to get sucked into. Loved the multiple point of views and timelines. I can’t wait to add this one to my library.

This was AMAZING. As a huge fan of Louisa Morgan books, this gave me that exact vibe. I love all the magical aspects, the timeline jumps and the multigenerational women stories always intrigue me. This was truly fantastic.

What a phenomenal book! This book just grabbed at all my heartstrings from the minute I started, and even my husband wanted to know the ending. It was so good!

IM OBSESSED. Sirens? Undersea lore? Mythology? Count me IN. Every time. Emilia Hart has solidified herself as an auto buy author for me after this book. I REALLY liked Weyward, but I LOVED The Sirens. Fans of Adrienne young and CJ Cooke will want to pick this up immediately.

I love everything Emilia writes! This book was amazing, loved all the characters! The plot of the book was so good- eager to keep reading!

I’ve been waiting for Emilia Hart’s next novel since I first read her stunning debut with Weyward (which is probably my most-recommended book).

Weyward aficionados will appreciate that Hart weaves together threads of stories from three generations of women and the mystery that binds them.

The elements of fantasy are enticing enough for lovers of the genre while not diving too deep into the (sea)weeds for non-fantasy readers.

Great book. Loved the multi person chapters and different time periods. Learning more about the convict ships that went to Australia was fun. Saw some of the “big reveals” coming but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.

This book was truly amazing. My heart ached and I had so many feelings. I truly hope this book finds its people. It’s a unique one.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of response from St. Martin's Press for the racist, Islamophobic, and queerphobic comments made by one of their employees I cannot review this title

This book. Some books make me happy and proud to be a woman. Some books make hate being a woman. And some books make me angry at men who make me hate being a woman. This book. This book does all three.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I enjoyed Weyward so was happy to receive an early copy of Hart’s second book. It had some familiar elements, but was still new and fresh. I really enjoyed the setting and the sea elements just as something I dont get to read all that often. I don’t always enjoy different timelines in the same story but here it was interesting how it all fit together.

The Sirens was a really interesting concept and I enjoyed how the book all came together in the end. This wasn’t my favorite read though because the main twists were fairly predictable from the start and I found myself waiting to just get to the end.

“She breathes in time with the sea.
In.
The waves crash against the rocks, frothing through the mouth of the cave. Icy on her toes, her shaking thighs.
Out.”

I have a confession to make - sometimes I read a book based on cover alone. I know, shocking… Last year, this was how I discovered author Emilia Hart. The cover of her debut novel, ‘Weyward’, was absolutely gorgeous and I couldn’t wait to attempt it on my nails. As it so happened, I also absolutely loved the story! It comes as no surprise that her second novel, ‘The Sirens’, is just as beautiful and equally as wonderful to read.

“The sea gives, but it also takes.”

This story, which focuses on two sets of sisters “separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea”, is magical, lyrical, and utterly captivating. I loved everything about it! Myths, magic, mystery, & lore. What more could you ask for?

“I should have known then that the dreams would come. They—the girls—are like sharks. They sense it when you’re weak.”

3 stars and here’s why:
i felt like the story lacked depth. it was a dense unmovable read for me like it was missing something.
it was obvious the girls origins from an early start and how their backgrounds would unfold. what did catch me off guard was the “epilogue” of the dad’s perspective all those years ago.

the sirens were interestingly painted (no pun intended as Jess painted them) but the way they weren’t fully mermaids but can be in water as long as they accept it fully & also live on land. the ending with the shipwreck made me tear up but i don’t think this genre is for me.

it felt a bit like historical fiction mixed with modern day mythical creatures

I think that the premise of this one was cool. Three timelines, 1800 a ship carrying Irish women prisoners bound for Australia. Current time, Lucy wakes up strangling her ex-lover and flees to her sisters place in New South Wales. The third timeline is about 20 years ago, as Lucy reads her sisters journal.

There was a lot I liked about this book. It was very interesting, especially the perspective of the female prisoners and learning that people can have a rare allergy to water. I also loved the main setting, the damp moody cliff house overlooking the sea and some mysterious caves.

What I didn’t like: Very slow plot pace. Also, just too many coincidences in the end wrapping up the story too neatly.

I just didn’t love this book as well as the authors previous novel Weyward, which totally blew me away.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

“The Sea gives, but it also takes”
Just like Emila’s debut novel Weyward, The Sirens has a different timelines aspect. We have Jess in 2019 who runs away to her sisters after almost killing her ex lover and finds her sister is missing and Mary and Eliza, two sisters who are torn away from their home and put on a ship for Australia. Both books have the same concept in a way, suffering as a woman in a world where men seem to dominate.
Although I thought this book was beautiful and enjoyed the characters I do feel in some way it was too much like Weyward . Sure we had different characters and a different magical aspect but I felt like because I read Weyward I knew what to expect for the outcome of the story. I will say I didn’t expect the one plot twist, that was a huge shocker for me. That added way more to the story because certain aspects of the journal started to make sense. I enjoyed all the characters, Lucy being my favourite. She just had something to her it's hard to explain, but everything about her I loved.
Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Sirens is one of my most anticipated 2025 books releases so I was very excited when I got the chance to read an early copy. I read and fell in love with Weyward earlier this year so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on more books by this author!

The Sirens was so good! I loved how the story all came together and how you learn everything as our characters are learning things.

Highly recommend adding this book to your 2025 tbr!

3.75 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

I read Weyward by Emilia Hart last fall and truly enjoyed it, so I was so excited to see another book by this author!

This was a beautifully written story about a long line of women who have all dealt with trauma in one form or another by simply being a vessel with a womb (aka being a woman in a world of men). Each of these women discover over time and in their own way, that they are drawn to the sea and that they have very peculiar reactions to water.

Like Weyward, this follows multiple women in different timelines that all find their stories connected. I felt like it was a little bit of a copy and paste from her first novel, but I also love the message that comes from these books.

I do also think that weaving multiple timelines/povs into a story seamlessly is no easy feat, and Emilia hart does it so well. Including part of one character’s pov being part of a diary.

I did also love the atmosphere of this story as well which kept my rating higher. There is something so magical about a story relating to the sea and the women who belong to it 🌀

I've been looking forward to reading The Sirens by Emilia Hart ever since I first heard about it earlier this year and I'm soooo happy to report that it did not disappoint! Actually, I think it exceeded my expectations! This book was the perfect mix of historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy all while being set in the real world.

I don't always love dual timelines, but this was done so well and added so much intrigue to the characters and how the past and present tied together. The historical fiction aspect comes from the POV of Mary, a girl being shipped on the Naiad alongside her sister, Eliza, and several other women to New South Wales in the 1800s. This is based on the true history of Britain sending convicts to create a new penal colony called New South Wales - Emilia has a great historical note with more information about this before the book begins! As readers we're given a front row seat to the cruelty Mary, Eliza and the other women faced aboard the Naiad on their way to New South Wales.

What's really interesting is that we were given some of these flashbacks through dreams that our main character Lucy (and eventually her older sister Jess) has. And while the story is mostly dual-POV, it's more like triple POV because we also get a POV from Jess through her diary from high school in the late 90s.

After fleeing university, Lucy goes to visit her sister in the coastal (fictional) town of Comber Bay in New South Wales - only to find her sister missing. She puts her journalism-student skills to the test to try and uncover the mystery of where her sister is, the strange disappearances of men in Comber Bay, and why the ocean seems to be calling her despite her aversion to water (water irritates her skin, causing it to itch and flake).

I was truly sucked into the story and was always eager to find out what happened next - whether it be from Mary's perspective or Lucy's. Our main cast of characters is full of strong women and we love to see it! What I wasn't expecting to see was the plot twists, but I am definitely not mad about it. This book kept me hanging onto every last word and I really had so much fun reading it!! Such an easy five stars for me and definitely a top contender for favorite of the year. And it pulled me out of the worst reading slump of all time! Bless!

Definitely pick this up when it comes out early next year! (especially all my ocean lovers)