Thank you to @netgallery for the ARC. One of the reasons I was excited was that I had recently read Emilia Hart’s Weyward which was a great read. The Sirens followed a similar format as there were three story lines converging to the end. While Eliza and Mary storyline was important in telling the story I feel that it would have been more interesting to get their mother’s story. I absolutely loved Jessica and Lucy’s story. Over all I felt there was something missing in the story and I think as I mentioned it was having the Mary & Eliza’s mothers story as part of the book. While you understood that their mother was a siren, I think her story would have helped with Mary and Eliza’s story more. The short “tale” of the parents meeting was just not enough for me. I really wanted to more. At the beginning of the story, you really only get Lucy’s side of things and I love how Jessica’s story was eventually woven through the diary and then through Jessica herself. If anyone has read Weyward they will love The Sirens. I know I did.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc! This was a gorgeous book that follows the lives of two sets of sisters - one set bound on a transport ship for Comber Bay, a convict colony in Australia, never to see their native Ireland again, the other finding each other in Comber Bay over a hundred years later. Comber Bay, a place where men seem to disappear, their bodies never found, nary an explanation to be had. But the latter can't stop dreaming about the former, can't stop dreaming about the water, about a remote cave, about a ship lost at sea. How long can they ignore the sirens call?

Emilia Hart does it again! I absolutely loved The Sirens. She does a great job of interweaving the different story lines, and even though I guessed some of the plot points, it was still such a joy to read.

I loved Weyward, but this just did not come together for me. The alternating point of view did not help with my confusion. I understand the ending and how it was supposed to align, but it didn't work. They never really resolve her college situation and just leave that hanging as well. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The way Emilia Hart writes female characters is absolute perfection. I fell in love with her writing in Weyward and was so excited to pick up Sirens. She did not disappoint. Sure there were some parts that lagged a bit, but they were few and far between. This book was both triumphant and heartbreaking. Emilia Hart has quickly become an auto-buy author for me. Another slam-dunk

I was happy and excited to read the book before it was release.... I like it but the most part that kept me hooked was lucy and jessica's story.... but when it comes to Mary's part i was a bit bored... but i still enjoy it 🙂

This book surprised me. I loved Wayward by Emilia Hart and was delighted to also be able to read an ARC of The Sirens. Told in dual timelines of two different sisters, yet perhaps somewhat connected. Historical, mythical, magical, romantic, this story had so many elements. Strong in the power of women, it was both heartbreaking and yet joyous. I found the characters and the story itself fascinating and it has stayed with me as I keep thinking about the connections between the characters, the historical significance, and the thoughts of "what if". . Little nuggets are sprinkled in to clue you into the surprises at the end. I think this would lend itself well to a book club discussion, with lots of aha moments. Many thanks to #netgalley #emiliahart #thesirens #st.martinspress for the opportunity to review and read this book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.
What a great book, it was fascinating on so.many levels.
Set in 1999, 2019 and 1800, it featured 4 women: 2 sets of sisters.
The two current ones were having problems connecting and the two in 1800 were heartbreaking. The voyage of the ship of female convicts was described in exquisite detail, it was was brutal and it broke my heart at times.
There was a connection between the two sets of sisters that was otherworldly and the ending was lovely.
Definitely recommended!

I really loved this book. It starts slow, but picks up fairly quickly. The varied POVs and going back and forth between the distant past, the not so distant past, and the present were mesmerizing. I loved the mixture of historical and mythological. This makes me excited to read other books from this author.

This is the author’s follow-up to Weyward so I was expecting good things.

It *is* good. Feminism, mermaids, folklore, fantasy…How can you go wrong?

There are two groups of sisters, bound by similar circumstances across time. One group’s tale is set in Cornwall, the other on a convict ship bound for Australia.

Injustice. Redemption.

A lovely book. Enjoy!

WOW! This book is amazing. I have not read anything by this author so I didn't know what to expect but it had so many great elements in it. Multiple narrators? Check. Multiple time periods? Check. A mystery? Check. A hint of fantasy (maybe)? Check. Strong female characters? Check check check check. Did I learn something about the world that I didn't know before? Check. Do I now believe in mermaids? Check.

The writing is amazing, I truly felt transported. Parts of the story are hard to read, but there is so much hope in this book. Just wonderful.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read The Sirens by Emilia Hart. I loved Weyward and was looking forward to reading The Sirens. I found this novel to be too heavy and lacking any joy at all. I'm a mood reader so it could have been just the wrong timing for me.
The writing is well done.

I rarely like books that are fantasy and mystical, but The Sirens were an exception. Hart's fantastic writing drew me to the story right away. I liked this one and think it will be a good book club selection. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

As a Emilia Hart fan, I loved The Sirens. The sisterhood element intertwined with the two time periods really allows you to feel like you know the characters! I would say this is a 4/5 star read for me. I wish there were a bit more themes of magical realism .

This book was hauntingly beautiful. I really enjoyed the prose and I thought the story was well-paced.

Emilia Hart knows how to write a book for the girls. A great blend of magical realism combined with messages of female empowerment in the face of very realistic challenges. Struggled a bit with the pacing during the first quarter or so, but it was fantastic once the storylines of the multiple characters really started coming together.

The Sirens
by Emilia Hart
Pub Date: Mar 04 2025

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.

I was very fortunate to obtain an ARC of The Sirens, and I enjoyed it immensely! First off, I'm definitely the target audience for such a book; I adore historical fiction, magical realism, and stories told through multiple time lines.

The story follows Lucy, who is trying to find her sister Jess, who seems to have disappeared from her new home without a trace (and without her car or cell phone). The main plot is interspersed with the tale of Mary and Eliza, who are twins aboard a convict ship from Ireland to Australia in the early 1800s.

While Lucy is searching for clues about Jess's whereabouts in 2019, she also begins to investigate the shipwreck of the Naiad, which she dreams about almost nightly.

The Sirens deals with some difficult topics, much like Hart's book Weyward did, so if you disliked the themes in Weyward then you may fail to enjoy The Sirens too. I personally liked The Sirens more. I think the characters are more compelling (I really liked Lucy's story and her growth) and have more depth. A big bonus for me was the stronger use of the magical/fantastical! Overall this was a very enjoyable book and my favorite read of August 2024.

ARC Review: If you came to this book from Weyward looking for similar vibes then you’ll definitely find them with a touch more on the eerie side. Although the release currently looks like March 2025 I’d suggest saving this book for a cozy fall read.
The Australia setting was newer to me and while it’s hard to be completely immersed in a story while trying to learn things that are otherwise “common knowledge” I did still find it interesting. Keeping the author’s Historical Note in mind throughout the story proved even more interesting and my mind kept drifting back to it throughout Lucy, Mary & Jess’s stories.
Similar to Weyward, The Sirens centers around strong women spread throughout history but interconnected through the magic of the universe (speaking true magic here - in my belief). Themes focus on the beautiful yet somewhat tragic power of women, not being believed/trusted in this world simply for our gender, and the power of the natural community women form when in close proximity.
This hangs at a 3 for me just because of the eeriness of the plot. I felt it took away from the impact of the underlying message in a way Weyward was able to maintain. I typically try not to compare unrelated books by the same author but these two were so dang similar it’s hard not to and it seems as if that was the authors intention anyway.
I’m very glad to have received this ARC at just the end of summer/beginning of autumn as it set the scene for an astounding and moving story. I was surprised at how fast I read through it, too. So definitely a quicker read but no less impactful!
Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this work early in exchange for my honest review.

The newest novel from Emilia Hart weaves together a brilliant story about four sisters separated by centuries and bound together by the sea and love.
This was an absolute joy to read and honestly, I can not wait to see what Emilia Hart continues to write! Easy 4.5 stars 🌟