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)