The Sirens was an interesting yet difficult reading experience. I enjoy books that alternate between the past and present, making connections between the people of then and now. This particular story about two 'sisters' weaves into the story of two other sisters in the past who find themselves on a transport ship from Ireland to the penal colonies in Australia. Their journey is long and horrendous. They will be sent to a female factory where men can pick and choose them for any purpose.
As the story unfolds there is an element of the supernatural as well as the question of women's rights and place in a world controlled by men. I don't want to imply all the male characters in the story are bad or evil because they are not. So if you like the sort of tales with a bit of the mysterious where the past carries in to the future, you will enjoy The Sirens.

Thank You Emilia Hart and St Martin's for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC of 'The Sirens' by Emilia Hart.

This is a multi-timeline (1800, 1999, and 2019), lovely, and lyrical story of the suffering and resilience of women, spiritually and metaphysically connected across the centuries. A tight merging of the mythological, fantastical, and the historical.

The shifts between the different characters and timelines are elegantly handled and the writing is engaging, the pacing well done, it carries you along, while the various layers are unpeeled and revelations presented in a compelling way.

I notice Hart's first novel - 'Weyward' - is similarly structured so I'm looking forward to getting that one now.

DNF at about 50%, while I appreciated the atmosphere this was such a chore to read, I found it very slow and boring, and I couldn’t get emotionally attached to the characters.

ARC provided by NetGalley

This was a beautiful story about the truths of being a woman in this world. The past and present were woven together perfectly. Loved the characters and their bonds. Will definitely want to read more from this author. I could tell how much work went into this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!!
One thing about me is I get scared easily and this creeped me out for a good 60% of the book. It was so eerie and dark and cold. The author’s writing was definitely captivating and compelling. This was definitely a feminist tale and depicted resilient and strong women.

I will say that I didn’t expect this type of story with the premise. What disappointed me was how the entire plot is swept under the rug at the 98% mark. I was so disappointed by this. I wish the author would’ve went more into depth with that because it made all the nightmares and sleepwalking absolutely useless. I was just wondering why I spent the whole book reading about this when it’s barely mentioned at the end. It just felt convenient to end it that way.

The other problem I had was super subjective but the teacher thing I just couldn’t. I can’t go more into details without spoiling but it was very hard to look past that. It didn’t impact my rating but it impacted my enjoyment for sure.

And this is the first time this happens to me but the prologue completely ruined the book for me. It was going to be a 3✨ read but the prologue? … why ruin the relationship this way? It was just painful to read and I’m left feeling very bittersweet.

That being said, reading is subjective and those are just my thoughts!

While I thoroughly enjoyed "Weyward" by the same author, I found "The Sirens" to be merely satisfactory, which is reflected in my three-star rating. The pacing felt somewhat sluggish, and the incorporation of mermaid elements seemed to lean too heavily into the realm of fantasy for my taste. Nevertheless, it remains a well-crafted story overall.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC to read and review.

Good writing and an intriguing story but I felt something was lacking.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210411871

This book was next level amazing and I didn’t completely realize it until the very last page of the book! It had so many stories while and take that there, but I almost gave up on it a few times, but I’m really happy that I didn’t. It turned out to be a pretty fantastic story, and I loved all of the strong female characters, in the story, I’ve always been drawn to mermaids, especially sirens. This book was perfect!

I’ve never read anything by Emilia Hart that I didn’t enjoy. Her latest, The Sirens , was fabulous. Pick this one up.

This is the sophomore effort from Emilia Hart following last year’s debut novel, Weyward.

Like Weyward, this book focuses on women. Four of them, in fact. Jess and Lucy are our characters in the modern day, and Mary and Eliza’s story takes place in 1801.

After an unfortunate event at University, Lucy decides to run from trouble and ends up on her sister, Jess’ doorstep, who she hasn’t spoken to in a few years. When she arrives after a long journey, she finds her sister gone, with no clues as to where she may be.

As she stays in her sister’s home, she begins to research the story of eight missing men, as well as the story of a convict ship, the Naiad, that wrecked just off shore in the 1800s. She also finds her sister’s diary that holds secrets to both her and her sister’s pasts.

The alternate timeline takes place in 1801. Mary and Eliza are sisters and their story is told while alternating chapters with Lucy and Jess. They are aboard the Naiad on a long journey to Australia when the boat wrecks just off shore.

The book ends with the stories of Jess, Lucy, Mary, and Eliza joined together. While I felt as if some of the book was a bit slow in the middle, I thought the ending was well done and satisfying.

If you liked Weyward, you will like The Sirens. Personally, though The Sirens was very good, my favorite of the two is Weyward. Both have strong themes of family, womanhood, and love.

As always, thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

This is such a good read if you are looking for escapism. I found the first 40% quite slow and I almost gave up on it. But I was drawn to the beautiful, atmospheric tale that took place in 1800s. I would probably love the story of just that time period.
Overall enjoyable story. I love the author’s use of language and I was able to add some new words to my vocabulary.

Emilia Hart has a way of taking the darkest most triggering topics and weaving them into a beautiful tale of love and redemption with multiple POVs and timelines. The Sirens was a perfect example of that— mysterious, mythical, suspenseful, with feminism and the importance of sisterhood at the forefront.

The writing was poetic and thought provoking and the characters were intriguing— each harboring various secrets that kept me on the edge of my seat. Hart touches on colonization, forgotten history, misogyny, family drama, adoption, grooming, SA, prostitution, and domestic violence thoughtfully and emotionally with enough detail to really make you feel immersed in the story. I enjoyed the eerie atmosphere of ‘Australia’s Bermuda Triangle’, the whimsical feel of Cork in the 1800s, and the brutal depiction of life on the Niad before its sinking.

This book solidified my love for historical fiction and magical realism and put Emilia Hart on my growing list of auto-buy authors.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Marten’s Press for the ARC! ✨

Emilia Hart, who also wrote Weyward (gorgeous book cover) next venture brings us another multiple POV, multiple time-line story.

I enjoyed Weyward and was excited when I saw this available on Netgalley (thank you for the advanced copy). Part 1, was difficult to get into, I didn't understand what the story was doing. Before starting the book, I was familiar with the Mythology or lore of sirens and I think it's fair to say I am underwhelmed by this story. Parts are quite good, but it takes a long time to get to its point. It all makes sense by the end, but I feel the story could have benefited by having the knowledge at the end, at the beginning instead of going along the self discovery journey as blindly as the characters do.

When I finished reading Emilia Hart's debut novel Weyward, I knew I was going to keep an eye out for her next book, no matter what it was about. Earlier this year when she announced her second book and that it was called The Sirens, my excitement was off the charts. I couldn't wait to read it!

And now that I have read it, I can say with confidence that I was not letdown. Similar to Weyward, The Sirens brings women's issues to the forefront. What Mary, Eliza, Jess and Lucy all went through often brought me to the verge of tears. The connection to real life history was also both heartbreaking and fascinating.

Hart has once again crafted an immersive, hauntingly enchanting tale woven with magic and myth that is deeply enriched with the power of women.

I so look forward to reading more from this fantastic author!

Told in alternating timelines between two sisters, Mary and Eliza in the past and Jess and Lucy in present day. This is a fascinating story about the relationship between sisters, about figuring out the past of Jess and Lucy, why do men disappear from Comber Bay and why the sea calls to all the sisters.

I found the relationship between both sets of sisters very engaging. Mary and Eliza are from the 1800 and the brutality of their situation is told in sad and realistic details. Lucy is also going through a situation and wants the advice and support of her sister to figure out what to do next. This story is gripping, the details are engaging, the twist at the end I didn’t see coming. Don’t miss out on this read by Emilia Hart

"Sirens" is an engaging, epic feminist fantasy tale revolving around four women who are on a journey to discover their uniqueness in a world where equality is a myth, and where they must find their own place by embracing their differences and brilliance in the face of chauvinism.

The story begins in 2019, introducing us to Lucy, an 18-year-old journalism student who has been cyberbullied by her secret boyfriend, who shared an intimate photo of her on social media (though he insists he didn’t), turning her into the laughingstock of her school. Reporting the issue to the school authorities doesn’t help, as the boy she blames has influential parents. One morning, Lucy finds herself sleepwalking and choking him in her sleep, which makes her fear she may destroy everything she has worked so hard for. Seeking refuge, she drives to her estranged older sister Jess’ house in Comper Bay, along the Australian coast—a haunted place where numerous men have mysteriously gone missing at sea over the decades. When Lucy arrives, she finds the door open, her sister gone in a hurry, her phone left behind, and signs of a male visitor before she disappeared.

Lucy connects with Jess’ neighbors, but none of them seem to have any useful information about her sister’s whereabouts, and surprisingly, they didn’t even know Jess had a sister. While Lucy waits for Jess to return, she begins having recurring nightmares of two sisters on a ship fighting for their lives, and her sleepwalking becomes more intense. As she digs deeper into her past, she starts uncovering why her sister distanced herself from the family and missed Lucy’s recent birthday.

When Lucy discovers her sister’s diary hidden in the house, she has no idea that her life is about to change forever.

Jess’ diary takes us back to 1999 when she lived with their parents in a rural town. Struggling to connect with others due to a rare skin condition, aquagenic urticaria, which makes water a danger to her, Jess finds solace in her art, with the support of Max, a fellow outcast, and her 24-year-old art teacher, who gives her private lessons. As she learns more about her condition, Jess begins to suspect her parents are hiding secrets about her illness that she must uncover.

Meanwhile, the narrative shifts to the 1800s, introducing us to Mary and Eliza, twin sisters from Ireland who are sent to Australia as convicts aboard a ship for criminals. They fear the ocean, as their mother tragically drowned when they were young. As the sisters sail farther from home, suffering from thirst, hunger, and the harsh conditions of the ship, they begin to notice strange transformations in their bodies, as though the sea itself is calling to them, turning them into something else entirely.

The stories of these four women converge as the past and present collide, helping them embrace their future. Sirens is a powerful story of women's empowerment, richly woven with fantasy and a reimagining of real historical events in Australia. The vivid character development and intriguing plot make for an immersive and rewarding read, especially for fans of the author’s previous work, Weyward. It’s a beautiful journey through different timelines and a chance to empathize with powerful heroines on their paths of self-discovery.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this epic journey's digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

It took a bit to get into the story, but what an intriguing story it became, with some really interesting twists and turns.

Since Weyward is one of my favorite books of all time, I had high expectations for The Sirens.

This book was a perfect blend of historical fiction, mystery, and magical realism. The characters were well developed and flushed out, and I adored the dual timeline with alternating perspectives to keep me engaged from start to finish.

However, this book’s pacing is what made me a bit frustrated. It felt like a roller coaster where, in one moment, it would be a slow burn just for it to quickly speed up, just to slow right back down. It threw me quite a bit and took me out of the story on occasion.

The story of Mary and Eliza was heartbreaking, and Jess & Lucy’s struggles were beautifully composed. Overall, it’s still a uniquely breathtaking story and a solid read that I believe readers of all genres will admire.

This is such a beautifully written historical fiction novel centering around women convict ships in the 1800s, but intersecting with the present AND mythology! Hart’s writing is beautiful and thorough and is so vivid. The sense of place is strong here and we have a lot of dark, intense, gritty imagery. There is also a very female-first theme which is similar to Weyward. The beginning is very slow going and it took about 60% for the novel to really get moving, but once it did I couldn’t stop reading! I really enjoyed this beautiful novel!

Emilia Hart's The Sirens is many things. It is a time-bending tale of family and sisterhood that extends beyond what we know as reality. It explores how the sea connects us all to our past and to our future. It reminds us that those who came before us will always watch over us. These threads, along with many others, are all woven together seamlessly throughout this book. The pacing carried along at a great pace, I never ran into boredom or disinterest. There are so many secrets hidden within the pages which leaves much room to be surprised. Even though there were a few reveals that I had an inkling of, they still added great value to the overall plot. The majority of the principle characters were fleshed out very well and each provided great insight to the story and the motives of the characters.
The one thing I struggled with was the fact that I wish we could have gotten more of the past timeline. It was so magical that I almost would have preferred an entire book dedicated to that story. The present timeline did have a lot of great mystery elements and added a lot of twists, but the past timeline was so atmospheric, I feel as though Hart's writing style matches that time period more, as opposed to the current timeline. Overall, this was an engaging and mystical tale that anyone who appreciates the sea as a being a living thing will appreciate.
(3.5/5)