This was the first Emilia Hart book I’ve read (I will be reading Weyward ASAP). Emilia’s writing invokes many emotions. I really enjoyed this book. I love any story involving mermaids. This novel focused on 3 different periods in time and sisters. The earlier story time focuses on 2 twin Irish sisters that are imprisoned and sent on a convict ship to Australia. Their timeline follows their journey from Ireland to Australia and the other women who are prisoners on the ship with them. The second storyline follows Jess from 1982-1999 (I won’t give many details on her to avoid spoiling anything). And the third storyline is about Lucy and Jess who are sisters in 2019. The story follows Lucy the majority of the time. It is somewhat eerie in the first half, you don’t know exactly what is happening but can theorize what’s happening.

The epilogue also wrapped up the story beautifully and answered some of the questions I had on how all the characters and storylines were connected.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Publishers for this ARC! Can’t wait for the release in March 🧜‍♀️

I downloaded this book several weeks ago because I noticed it was by the same author who wrote Weyward which I had read however I did not read it immediately because I was afraid of too much fantasy But I discovered as I began to read the book that the fantasy and the realistic parts of the book are so tied together that it is very difficult to put-down. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it. Thank you Emilia for being so tenacious.

Emilia Hart’s "The Sirens" is an engaging tale about three generations of women dealing with their pasts and the pressures of society. The writing is beautiful, pulling you into a world where magic and reality mix seamlessly.

The characters are relatable and well-drawn, each facing their own challenges. While the story can sometimes slow down, the themes of empowerment and sisterhood are strong and resonate throughout.

Overall, "The Sirens" is a thought-provoking read that highlights resilience and the power of female bonds. It’s a worthwhile book for anyone who enjoys a mix of magic and real-life struggles.

My feedback is very simple; immediately add this book to your TBR list, mark your calendar for the publication date (March 4, 2025), buy it, read it and enjoy. The writing is simply magical. Most of Mary and Eliza’s story occurs in the dark hold of a ship, but the author manages to paint a picture that allows the reader to be a part of the horrible experience. Their is enough mystery in Lucy and Jess’s story to make you wonder, even though you can feel where the story is leading. I frequently skim through books when the writing becomes too descriptive and flowery, but I read every single sentence because they all mattered. I loved the authors first book, “Weyward” and this one is even better! I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley, this did not influence my opinion.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart is an intriguing novel set in two time periods. In 2019, Jess lives in an Australian coastal town where men have often gone missing and there’s tales of singing coming from the ocean. Lucy discovers her sister Jess is missing when she goes to visit her. Both of the young women have nightly dreams of being on a ship as if they have traveled back in time. Mary and Eliza are sisters from Ireland in 1800 who have been condemned to a convict ship to Australia. The conditions on the ship are deplorable and the story of their family is slowly unraveled while on the ship. I felt immersed in the interconnected stories of these women, the sisters from 2019 and the sisters from the 1800s.

I would recommend this book for fantasy and historical fiction fans. The convict ships that traveled to Australia often were carrying the people to their deaths, either from illness or shipwrecks. Their stories are not often told from a perspective that has you imagining yourself right there with them like this book. There are many layers to the themes of sisterhood, survival, family secrets, and women supporting each other in this novel.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This was an absolutely FANTASTIC read! I could not put it down! A wonderful story of love and sisterhood. I cried when it was over. "I haven't seen you this excited about a book in a long time"~my husband

This book was a little too slow moving for me. I really enjoyed weyward so I wanted to read this next book but I didn’t love it as much. I thought the story was interesting but it was just too slow moving for me

Just like with Weyward, this book is full of haunting prose and feminist messaging, and I loved it. She writes in a way that just sucks you right in and spits you out at the end. I loved this one. Go in blind and get lost in it!

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Sirens, by Emilia Hart, from St. Martin's Press/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Liked this second novel by Emilia Hart a lot more than I did her first one, Weyward, which was basically a retelling of the story of Lilith.

Spent a little bit noodling on why……and, honestly? I think it’s because I’m not as familiar with the story of the (supposedly mythological) Sirens as I am that of Our Lilith. And because, let’s face it: At some point, I, too, wanted to be a mermaid.

On a more serious note: I thought the telling of the story of convicts sent to Australia (then New South Wales) was done extremely well.

I do think there was some repetitive repeating of things again and again, repetitively, and that the book could have been helped greatly by a copy editor from Ye Olde School For Benevolent Dictators. But, by the same token, I really don’t think that I was the target market for this book. You’d need to subtract at least 30 years from my age, if not 40.

Oh Dear God In Heaven: I have been out of high school for 40 years.

[takes a moment]

Excuse me. I was verklempt.

Yeah, Future Kristi, go ahead and read the next one by this author. She seems to be getting better as she goes along.

DESCRIPTION
A spellbinding novel about sisters separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea, from the author of the runaway New York Times bestseller Weyward

2019: Lucy awakens from a dream to find her hands around her ex-lover’s throat. Horrified, she flees to her older sister’s house on the Australian coast, hoping she can help explain the strangely vivid nightmare that preceded the attack—but Jess is nowhere to be found.

As Lucy awaits her return, the rumors surrounding Jess’s strange small town start to emerge. Numerous men have gone missing at sea, spread over decades. A tiny baby was found hidden in a cave. And sailors tell of hearing women’s voices on the waves. Desperate for answers, Lucy finds and begins to read her sister’s adolescent diary.

1999: Jess is a lonely sixteen-year-old in a rural town in the middle of the continent. Diagnosed with a rare allergy to water, she has always felt different, until her young, charming art teacher takes an interest in her drawings, seeing a power and maturity in them—and in her—that no one else has.

1800: Twin sisters Mary and Eliza have been torn from their loving father in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship bound for Australia. For their entire lives, they’ve feared the ocean, as their mother tragically drowned when they were just girls. Yet as the boat bears them further and further from all they know, they begin to notice changes in their bodies that they can’t explain, and they feel the sea beginning to call to them…

A breathtaking tale of female resilience and the bonds of sisterhood across time and space, The Sirens captures the power of dreams, and the mystery and magic of the sea.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early read of this book!

THE SIRENS follows sets of women from different eras who are all connected by one place. In the present time, Lucy is running away from a personal situation at college, and is planning to crash at her sister, Jess’s house, even though the two have been out of touch recently. When she gets to the house, her sister is not there - but her phone and purse are.

Jess lives in a town off the Australia coast where several men have gone missing over the decades. It’s also the where a convict ship traveling from Ireland to Australia in the early 1800s crashed, with no survivors. In the alternating story, we follow sisters Mary and Eliza who were aboard that ship. The novel is part historical novel and part folklore, with some a little bit of mystery, some twists and turns, and a lot of strong sisters.

This is one of those books that sent me down a Google rabbit hole, wanting to know more about all of these fascinating topics. It's apparent from the writing that Hart is passionate about these topics herself.

Similarly, her passion for nature shines through again, focusing especially on the sea, with some cool bird facts mixed in from time to time.

After all of the revelations were made, I felt like there was a missed opportunity to really seal the connection between these women, but instead the connection was just severed as "they didn't need the connection anymore." I would love to have known more about how the connection began and how it will continue now that these women are visiting the sea, but instead we get an epilogue that, while very endearing, opens up more questions.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it as an intriguing, fun, and quick read.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart will haunt your dreams.
This seaweed-tangled story of two sisters in the 1800s in the Cove of Cork, Ireland, Mary and Eliza,
supernaturally intertwined with another set of sisters (?) Jessica and Lucy from Australia in 2019.
There is a delicate balance between the times and the happenings of the two centuries and Emilia Hart works her magic well.
The Sirens had very few slow spots in it for me, but it did have several hold-my-breath spots!
It is a solid 5 stars for the intrigue, imagination, and life-changing events told with respect and humanity.

This book had me sold on the cover alone, but the fact it was also by Emilia Hart, I immediately needed to read it. Weyward being one of my favorite books last year I knew this one would also be gold, but somehow I still was not prepared for the ride this book took me on. The exposition on this one is worth wading through to get to the heart of the story. I love how she wove these tales together was so beyond well done. I cannot stop thinking about the ending. So happy I got a chance to read this early from NetGalley, I cannot wait to buy this gorgeous book!

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC! OMG! Loved the writing style. I loved Weyward by this author, so I knew I would enjoy this one. Beautiful story!

I found this book difficult to get into at first. It was slow moving, and I could not connect with the characters. I went back to it and could not put it down. The mood is mysterious and magical, with a touch of horror, and you could feel the tension mounting. Each set of characters in the differing timelines experienced so much pain, emotionally as well as physically. I did not see the ending coming. Trigger warning: sexual assault, grooming.

This was a really well done story of multiple timelines. The way everything just came together made it such an enjoyable experience.

I am definitely not a writer but l am going to do my best because this book deserves it! I was lucky enough to get approved by NetGalley for an ARC of The Sirens by Emilia Hart and it was absolutely phenomenal. Definitely one of the best books I have read this year! I stayed up way past my bedtime (like 5am!) finishing it because I could not put it down. It's a historical fiction book that follows different females POV in the best way possible. It has sisterhood bond, strong female characters, historical instances that I had no clue about (and have already gone down a black hole learning more about) and so much more. I am so ready for the release of this book so I have more people to talk to about it! My book club will be happy to know I have already picked out what the book for March will be next year!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

The story started out strong, but fell flat for me in the end. The plot dragged and felt repetitive. The time hops left characters and relationships underdeveloped.

I adored Emilia Hart’s debut Weyward, and I’m so glad that a lot of people agreed. So Hart’s follow-up, The Sirens, was an absolute must-read for me.

Similar to Weyward, The Sirens juggles timelines. In 1800, sisters Mary and Eliza are aboard a convict ship to Australia, following a self-defense motivated injury to a man. As they make their nightmare journey, surrounded by other desperate women, they begin to notice strange things happening to their bodies.

Meanwhile, in 2019, following a terrifying sleep-walking incident, Lucy has fled her university to a remote part of New South Wales to stay with her sister, Jess. However, Jess is not there, the door is unlocked, and there are no clues as to where she has gone. Incidentally, the place where Jess lives is home to a number of mysterious disappearances of young men. As Lucy attempts to investigate this mystery, she also uncovers some shocking truths about her own family.

Much like Weyward, The Sirens kept me up way past my bedtime. As the myriad revelations unravel in Lucy’s timeline, I became deeply invested in the devastating storyline. Hart creates a strong sense of confined space in the 1800 timeline, conveying the absolute hell these poor women endured.

I don’t think I’m saying anything too surprising stating that the juxtaposition of the two timelines highlights how slow progress is in achieving full equal rights for women. The brutal treatment of the convicted women is not unheard of today, and the abuse of power in the present-day timeline is still depressingly rife.

The Sirens is another enjoyable read from Hart. From me, it is not quite as engaging as Weyward, but still a great novel.

after loving her novel weyward, i was incredibly excited about a new novel from her, and it was everything i wanted! a far departure from her first book in terms of vibes, i loved her storytelling in this book specifically and it seems as if her writing has only gotten better. i read this in one solid sitting, and i implore everyone whose enjoyed her work before (or is new) to go pick up this book!!!

I really really enjoyed this read! I’m so excited to have a few of my friends read this!! Will be ordering the physical to put on my trophy shelf! Cannot wait to have the physical in my hands!