Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

Emilia Hart has to be my all time favorite author, especially after this wonderful work of art I've read. Such a great book! I absolutely love the writing style so much, its perfect to tie everything together. This book is so beautifully written, fans of nautical stories will absolutely love it!

In 2019, Jess and Lucy are sisters that are so different but at the same time, so alike. Lucy ends up trying to hurt Ben, her ex, in her sleep. She had no idea why she started sleep walking, but she realizes what she's doing and flees in terror. She thinks her sister Jess in another town can help, since Lucy saw her sister sleep walk once before. Jess seems nowhere to be found when Lucy gets to her sisters house. A mystery about the town soon unravels itself and Lucy is hooked. Lucy soon realizes that her and her sister Jess have the same haunting nightmare about 2 sisters from Ireland that are being transported to Australia and much more in common. Each time the nightmare comes, Lucy is able to see a little bit more of what happens to the women.

Meanwhile, we have Mary and Eliza from 1800, who are convicts heading to Australia. They soon notice, in the prison deck of the ship, that their bodies keep changing. They fear the water because of how they're mom disappeared in the ocean and Mary just can't get over the fact that their mother had seemingly abandoned them but they soon find out why.

Highly recommend! Easily a 5 star read!!

First off, I loved this book! It seemlessly transitions from time periods and the connections? Magnificent. A beautiful and captivating novel. My only qualm is I want to know what happened with Lucy's assault charge and how that was handled, to me it seems like a loose end when it was the catalyst of the entire book. Besides that the book was absolutely perfect. A book I will definitely be recommending to others when it releases!

Enjoyed this so much! The title gives it away of course but finding their way to each other and forward is what every pair of sisters must do.

This was my first dip into historical magical realism, and let me tell you, I was INTO it. Not to mention, Ariel from the Little Mermaid, was my favorite Disney princess so I knew that a book about mermaids was going to be a big win. Not only mermaids but ships filled with prisoners, sinking ships, and heavier themes such as sexual assault. I don't know how she was able to weave the 1800s and 2019 with such ease, but she did.

Lucy is an 18 year old college freshman suffering from a rare skin disease. She meets a boy who makes her feel beautiful and she decides to send him some provocative pictures. Later, the pictures end up all over social media with the captions such as, "Gorgon and graveyard smash". One night, she slept walked right into the boys room and awoke to her strangling him. She had to leave college immediately and decided to go visit her sister in Conton Bay ( a town riddled with tragedy and stories of missing men). When Lucy arrives, her sister Jess, is no where to be found. Lucy begins to panic, but begins to find clues about her sisters new life. Her paintings (that have the same women that Lucy dreams about), journals (with some of her deepest darkest secrets), and similarities (a skin disease where they cannot touch water). Lucy continues to uncover more about her sister, and realizes that something odd is going on. How do they both suffer from the same rare skin disease, how do they both sleepwalk, how do they both dream of the same two sisters and Lucy won't stop until she uncovers the truth. The truth that they may be something other than mortal.

Mary and Eliza are prisoners on the Naiird ship. They were convicted of hurting a man (who was trying to sexually assault them) but of course they were the ones exiled. Them along with hundreds of other women, all "convicts" (aka protecting themselves) were shoved into the bottom of this vessel. The ship was taking them to be sold off as wives or domestic servants. Along their journey, Eliza and Mary revisit their past. They talk about their mother (who abandoned them), Eliza's blindness, and Mary's skin condition (yes she too cannot touch water). As their journey comes to an end, the ship crashes and Mary and Eliza find themselves transforming into something that they could have never imagined.

The link between these four woman was so fun to read. I loved seeing how despite centuries between them, they were cut from the same cloth.

It was a fun read and I definitely recommend. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Read if you like:
- Multi-timeline, multi-POV
- Magical realism worked into historical events
- Women-centred stories

The Sirens tells the story of twin sisters being transported on a convict ship from Ireland to what is now Australia in 1800 and how it relates to two sisters in the present day.

I had high hopes for this book after loving Emilia Hart’s debut, Weyward. However, this one fell short for me. The story itself is interesting and certainly unique, but I found it a little too weird and also, unfortunately, predictable. I correctly had the ending figured out a quarter of the way in. I also found the switch between timelines and POVs too jarring in this book, whereas in Weyward I found the same concept worked much better. Overall I would definitely recommend Weyward over this one.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC ebook. The Sirens releases March 4 2025.

Really enjoyed the jump between past and present timelines. The four women are on a journey of self discovery and how they fit into the world. It was enjoyable but felt bored at times.

The book encompasses three timelines, each offering a unique perspective on the lives of its female characters. In 2019, a sister, Lucy, plagued by nightmares, is searching for her missing sister, Jess. The seaside town has a legend of missing men and hearing women's voices on the waves. As Lucy reads Jess's adolescent diary, her fears blend with the town's dark secrets. In 1999, the timeline focused on Jess's younger years, and her rare allergy to water alienated her from others. She feels acceptance when her art teacher takes an interest in her, creating a complex and troublesome relationship. The last storyline is in the 1800s when twin sisters Mary and Eliza endure the hardships of a convict ship bound for Australia. The sea becomes a source of power and transformation in all three timelines. The author captures the tension of the supernatural as the characters wrestle with their own identities and the allure of the ocean. While the shifting timelines and layered narrative structure may require some patience from the reader, the story is a haunting blend of history and an example of the strength of women.

I received an ARC ebook for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press

I very much enjoyed Emilia Hart’s book ‘Weyward’ so I was excited to read ‘The Sirens’. I was not disappointed.
The stories of the two pairs of women are both clear and enjoyable and the way they come together is magical and beautiful to read. It leaves just enough to the reader’s imagination to embrace the mythical aspect of the book.
I will be recommending!

Mysterious and suspenseful. As with this author's other books, the story grabs you from the start, dragging you into the odd and eerie storyline- this time-jumping tale drags a little with the inner dialogue but still delivers a great read.

Lucy and her sister Jess’s story runs alongside that of Mary and Eliza, set centuries earlier. When Lucy begins sleepwalking, she remembers Jess did the same and heads to Comber Bay to find her. The bay is cloaked in mystery, with a convict shipwreck in its past and the recent disappearance of eight men. At first, Mary and Eliza’s tale aboard the convict ship feels disconnected, but the two timelines eventually merge in a surprising twist involving sirens and generational curses. While the concept of sirens and inherited conditions like aquagenic urticaria had potential, I found this book far less captivating than Weyward.

The Sirens is a stunning, heart-wrenching allegory for the experiences and traumas of “girlhood”. Hart masterfully uses the mythology of sirens—creatures both feared and desired—to explore the complexities of growing up female. As the sirens in this story struggle with their bodily transformations, they come into their power but simultaneously fear the judgment of those around them for simply being what they naturally are. It’s a powerful metaphor for the way women grapple with their ever-changing bodies and how society views them.

Hart doesn’t shy away from the difficult, often fraught, relationships between children and their parents, particularly the complexity of a daughter’s relationship with her father. The novel delves into how the actions of fathers—sometimes loving, other times distant or harmful—shape a woman’s understanding of her own worth. These father-daughter dynamics are subtle yet potent, and they speak to the lingering impact of paternal influence as women come of age and face the world.

At its core, The Sirens examines how the treatment we receive, especially from men, but also one another, often influences the value we place on ourselves. Hart deftly weaves these emotional and physical transformations into a broader commentary on how women often internalize the judgments of others, allowing them to dictate how they let themselves be treated. The sirens' journey becomes not only a reclaiming of their autonomy but also an emotional reckoning, where they must decide what their bodies—and their lives—are truly worth.
This story is deeply emotional, haunting, and ultimately empowering as the women united care for and strengthen each other. I felt so much as I read this one, as it spoke so eloquently to the complexities of what it is to be a woman. The only qualm for me was held within the epilogue, the entire story worked for me, until that point. I needed just a bit more from it, in order for it to all come full circle from that point. With that said, this story was still brilliant and speaks honestly to the silent battles fought within many women and the invisible burdens carried upon their shoulders, making The Sirens a story that will linger, lapping like distant waves at the edges of your consciousness, long after you turn the final page.

I plan to post my review to instagram soon, but then I will repost it it within 1-2 weeks of publication and I will add a review to Amazon. I have posted it to Goodreads as well.

Another captivating book from Emilia Hart, this time sharing the stories of two sets of sisters - Lucy & Jess in present day, and Mary & Eliza in the 1800s.

Lucy flees university after a traumatic event, and runs to her sister’s home in quiet Comber Bay, known to true crime fans like Lucy as a place where men have mysteriously gone missing throughout the years.
When she arrives, her sister is missing and the only clues are in the paintings and an old journal she’s left behind. The journal opens Lucy’s eyes to the life of her enigmatic sister, and her family. The paintings start to tell the tale of an 1800s shipwreck full of women prisoners, two of whom were Mary & Eliza.

Mary & Eliza are sent to the colonies as prisoners from their small Irish village, and their history informs their present on the journey to New South Wales.

The author weaves the stories of all of the sisters together in an entrancing way, and the reader uncovers mysteries along with the characters.

I really enjoyed this book, which is no surprise as Weyward was my favourite book of the year when it was released.

Thanks very much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Sirens is a dual-timeline tale filled with magical realism. I was invested in the characters and their outcomes. But the ending is somewhat predictable and the pacing is not consistent. There is incredible detail about some things and at other times I was left wondering how to fill the gaps. Finally, there are some incongruence between what the narrator tells you and what you’re shown… the author/narrator seems like an unreliable source. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book! 3.5 ⭐️s for me.

This book fell really flat for me. I was hoping to love it as much as I loved Weyward. Unfortunately that didn’t happen for me.


I felt as if they book dragged to get to what was happening and once it got going you can figure out the what’s going to possibly happen.
The pacing of this was a little weird and felt like sometimes it was fast paced but then would slow right down.


What I did enjoy about this was that there was spooky aspect to this. And the two different time lines one of the time lines is from. The 1800s and 2019.
The setting of the book was set up nicely. I could picture both times lines. I also really enjoyed the magical realism that it set.

Thank you to Netgally and St Martins Press for a copy of this ARC for an honest review

The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a beautifully written book about relationships between sisters and is a wonderful adult fairy tale-like story involving the sea.
The tale is told by three different characters, Lucy and Jess who are sisters in 2019 and Mary who is from Ireland 1800s and on a convict ship headed to Australia. Lucy finds herself in a situation where she is compelled to get to her sister, Jess in Australia. When Lucy gets there, she cannot find Jess, but she finds her journal. The journal is more than eye opening, and Lucy needs to find Jess more than ever. Mary’s story mostly takes place with her twin sister Eliza onboard a disgusting convict ship. The ending of this story binds it all together in an amazing way!
I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of fantasy. I would only say that you have to really comprehend what is going on to appreciate the ending! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Sirens is a solid follow up novel to Emilia Clarke’s fantastic debut, Wayward. I found some of the major plot points to be predictable, and it didn’t build quite like Wayward did. However, I still enjoyed the book’s spooky atmosphere and enjoyed popping between each woman’s perspective.

he Sirens by Emilia Hart is a captivating exploration of love, deception, and healing. Hart's writing style brings to mind a seamless blend of Paula Hawkins and Evie Woods, creating a narrative that's both suspenseful and richly emotive. This was my first Emilia Hart novel, but it certainly won’t be my last. Her ability to intertwine a poignant love story with layers of mystery is nothing short of beautiful. Highly recommended for fans of evocative storytelling with a touch of fantasy!

I absolutely adored Weyward and was hoping the author had another winner story, but Im sad to say this book just wasnt for me. There really was only one plot line for me, and it was fully predictable. I kept reading in the hopes that it would pick up and change my outcome, but it sadly did not. The writing was beautiful though! This feels more like a cozy read, but even then, thats been cautious. Im not sure if this is a book I would recommend.

THANK YOU to NetGalley for the ARC! ✨

I’ve just finished The Sirens by Emilia Hart, and I’m still caught in its spell. 🌊 This book masterfully intertwines myth, mystery, and the deep emotional journeys of three women connected by an ancient curse. Emilia Hart’s writing brings the magical allure of the sea to life, exploring themes of identity, destiny, and the haunting power of the past.

The way Hart brings Tír fo thuinn—“the land beneath the waves”—into the story felt so mystical and captivating. It’s as if the characters’ lives were submerged beneath their own personal waves, each of them seeking the strength to rise above and break free. Their connection to the ocean felt tangible, almost like the sea was its own character in the novel.

While the story left me enchanted, I walked away wanting to know more about the curse itself—how it truly came to be and its full depth. The mystery behind it was so gripping, but I found myself yearning for just a bit more history and explanation to fully understand its origins.

The ending left me with a sense of slán abhaile—a bittersweet goodbye, as if saying farewell to characters I had come to care for deeply. Though a few moments felt slower, this book’s beauty lies in its emotional richness and powerful connections.

This book centers around four distinct women. They would each have lives that revolve around the sea. It also takes place in 2019, 1999, and 1800. Across time and space, there comes a moment where sisterhood is tested. The book captures a lot of the moments of these women. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read the book and write a review.