The Sirens was one of my most anticipated reads this year. Told through 3 different timelines, part mythical, part historical fiction, part mystery novel with twists that I didn’t expect. Like Weyward, there was a strong focus on bonds between women and rising up against abuse. Emilia Hart’s writing is beautiful, dark, and haunting. I’m excited to see what she tackles next.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I was so looking forward to this as Weyward is one of my favorite books but I felt this one was a slower paced read for me that didn't grab me as much. Emilia Hart's story telling is still beautiful but having multiple povs centuries apart was a bit confusing at times.

Many thanks to Netgally for the ARC.

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its sense of place. Hart’s descriptions of the Australian coastline are vivid and atmospheric, making the ocean feel like a living, breathing character. The contemporary storyline follows Lucy, a woman searching for her missing sister while grappling with eerie local legends and unsettling dreams. The historical narrative, following Mary and Eliza on their convict ship journey, is equally gripping, offering a heartbreaking yet powerful depiction of survival and transformation.

While the novel is rich in atmosphere and beautifully written, i did find the pacing slow in places, particularly in the modern sections. However, the payoff is worth it, as Hart masterfully ties both narratives together in a way that feels both inevitable and deeply satisfying.

3.5 stars. Weyward by Emilia Hart was one of my favorite reads in 2025 so The Sirens was an instant-request for me and I was very much looking forward to it. I struggled with the audiobook so I switched to a digital copy and didn't find much improvement. I didn't find anything necessarily *wrong* with this book; I just found that I was less invested and definitely not engrossed as I was with Weyward. Hart has a wonderful way with prose and depicting real-life human struggles. I think many will fall in love with this book, but it just ultimately fell into the "just okay" category for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy. The Sirens hits shelves on April 1, 2025.

Having read and enjoyed Emilia Hart’s “Weyward” I was looking forward to reading her new one, entitled “The Sirens.” The book is set primarily in three eras – 1800, 1999, and 2019. It is told through the viewpoints of Lucy (2019), her sister, Jess (1999), and Mary (1800).

In 2019, Lucy awakens one morning to find her hands around the throat of her ex-lover at school/university. Knowing there will be consequences for what she’s done, but not wanting to face them quite yet, she drives to her older sister, Jess’s home on the Australian coast. When she arrives, her sister is not around.

While Lucy waits for her return, she stumbles across Jess’s diary that is set in 1999. She also begins researching the disappearances of numerous men over the years in her sister’s town, along with the rumors of what happened to them.

As the book continues, it becomes clear that both Lucy and Jess have been dreaming about twin sisters from 1800, named Mary and Eliza. The two sisters were forced on a convict ship bound for Australia from Ireland.

Overall, this book didn’t quite work for me. I enjoyed the writing style, and answers were given, but the ending fell apart for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

(Actual: 2.75⭐, rounded up) Unfortunately, while I DID finish this book.... it just wasn't for me. I enjoyed the author's previous work, WEYWARD, but ultimately had a very difficult time getting into this one despite it's interesting premise. I just couldn't connect with any of the characters at all, and further had issues with some of the content and questionable relationships this book promoted. While this book wasn't for me, I'm sure it will still find its audience amongst others, so I also do not plan on discounting Hart as an author just yet. I still greatly appreciate this opportunity and am willing to give whatever work Hart comes out with next a shot!

This was my first “I couldn’t put this down” book that I read this year! I was so invested right away with this enchanting story about two young women in Australia and also a mysterious shipwreck of prisoners over 100 years before. I recommend this for a perfect beach read! I read it in the winter and I can still feel the sea spray just thinking about the insatiable excitement this heart pounding mystery made me feel!
Thank you so much to the publishers for giving me a galley in exchange for my honest review. It has in no way affected my opinion.

I had such a hard time getting into this one. I heard so many great things about Weyward that i was ACHING to dive into this one before everyone else got to. Alas, i was disappointed. The plot felt non-existent, and was dragged out for quite literally eternity. The two paralell stories running at the same time in different POV's were extremely confusing and not well done in my opinion. Most of the time i was just fighting for my life to make sense of what was going on. I felt zero connection to any of the characters and overall this book was just not for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sirens by Emilia Hart

When I read Weyward in 2023, I knew I would read whatever Emilia Hart did next, and I requested this ARC as soon as possible, and then I waited to read it because Mood Reader. I was still excited for it, but I was waiting for the right time.

The thing is that this book was really hard to get into. It starts slow and without a lot of dialogue. Most of the book is without dialogue until the second half. So, we’re just being pulled along through the lives of these characters. And I didn’t hate the writing, I actually really like the way Emilia Hart writes, but once I noticed the lack of dialogue I was focused in on it.

This book also is topic heavy with women’s wrongs being a focus. As in wrongs done to women and how they have to survive. However, the ending does make up for some of that, and it did make it worth it. Really, I liked the second half of the book a lot. Although, I might have been partially influenced by the book I finished before this and how women were portrayed in it.

I also feel very bad for the mother of the sisters in this book. She got a lot of hate and other things I cannot say, and I do t think she ever did anything wrong. So, the last chapter is very much I am trying to ignore it.

I liked learning a little about this time of history and people being sent away. I had to go look at a map because I was thinking it was a straighter shot from England down to Australia. No. It absolutely is not. The women in this book and who they represent were so brave for going through this.

Has anyone ever done the CAWPILE rating system? I did it with this one after I decided four stars, and it matched up with a low 4 stars, and that’s about how I feel on this book.

This published April 1st and I think will be good for historical fiction and magical realism people. As well as those fans of women led stories.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC!

As an avid reader who also loves the ocean with a deep and abiding love, I knew that The Sirens would move to the top of my TBR pile. It did not disappoint. It’s clear that Emilia Hart did her homework in researching for this story and she painted a compelling (and often eery) picture of Comber’s Bay. I appreciated the strong theme of female empowerment and friendships/relationships throughout the entire story. I wish the final chapter had answered a few of the lingering questions I have, but that’s just my personal preference. Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am one of the few who have not yet read Wayward but I have heard wonderful things, so when I heard there was another book by this author I immediately wanted to read it. What an interesting read! I really enjoyed the author’s way of weaving stories of the Mer people with the lives of two sisters in modern times. It started just a little slow, setting the tone of the story, but pieces slowly slipped into place and I was not able to put it down after the halfway point.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the digital ARC,

I really enjoyed this book. Emilia Hart knows how to write strong and complicated characters and vivid imagery. I have no problems imagining the scenes playing out before me, even when they are set in a time and place that I’ve never been. I absolutely love that about her story telling.

There are multiple timelines and POV’s going on in this book and I liked all of them equally, which is a big plus for me. I think my only real complaint with this one was the pacing did seem off at times, there were moments during Lucy’s POV that felt like they dragged a bit in the beginning. Somewhere around the half way mark things picked up and I ended up zooming through it.

🎧Barrie Kreinik did a great job narrating this story. She transitions beautifully between characters and really captured each character perfectly. I could honestly listen to her talk all day!

Read if you like:
💬Multiple POV
⏳Multiple timelines
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒Family drama
✨Magical realism
💪🏼Strong women

Set in two time periods The Sirens is a tale about women, sisters, the sea, and the secrets that binds them together. From the beautiful cover to the magical writing I was captivated by this book right away. Each time period has a "sister" storyline that's filled with drama and heartbreak. I would read the 1800's storyline with Mary and Eliza being help prisoner on a ship at sea and these are my favourite characters and then flip to the current storyline of Lucy and Jess and change my mind. Each storyline is complex and addresses how these dealt with major life events together as sisters but also as women. I really enjoyed the story and was so happy that when I went to look up the author realized that I had read Emilia's other book Weyward last year! Another book with another beautiful cover written about strong women. These books are so beautiful they need to be displayed in my book room!

I really wanted to love this book, unfortunately while the prose itself was lovely, I felt nothing for the actual story. Lucy's chapters in particular felt a bit rambling to me, and the long podcast passages at the start got tedious, as did the all the newspaper articles and Jess's journal. This story seems to be pitched as "feminist," but for me to crept a bit into "trauma porn" territory. Just putting every female character through hell doesn't make something feminist.

I think the writing did a great job of conveying tone and setting, and I think there will definitely be a lot of people who will enjoy this, but overall the story just didn't hook me at all.

I absolutely loved Emilia Hart’s Weyward for its rich atmosphere and powerful exploration of women’s resilience, so I was excited to pick up The Sirens. While the premise was intriguing and the writing had Hart’s signature lyrical quality, I found myself unable to finish it. The pacing felt a bit slow, and I struggled to connect with the characters as deeply as I did in Weyward. That said, I can still appreciate the haunting, atmospheric style she brings to her storytelling—this one just didn’t fully click for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Emilia Hart novel so I cannot compare this to her other works. Nonetheless, I immensely enjoyed this book. The timeline goes between the past and present and was a mix of historical mystery and magical realism. I enjoyed the writing and the pacing so it was easy for me to get through the story but not to say that it was a light read. It was already so emotional during the first quarter of the book and it kept me intrigued. Because of this I would like to read other books from Emilia Hart.

A feminist fantastical tale of women connected across the ages. A novel about finding yourself, and loving who you are. Eliza & Mary, twin sisters are interconnected with mother and daughter Jess and Lucy over a series of dreams that tells the story of Mary and Eliza’s life, while at the same time helping Jess and Lucy find their place in the world, and helping them understand and embrace who they were meant to be. A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying me with this digital arc!

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️
An interesting read!
Not a book I'd normally read.
Will have to check out "Weyward" next

Emilia Hart has a beautiful writing style and a wonderful way of weaving together dual timelines and history into her stories. However I struggled with the pacing of the story and the emotional interest in the main characters from both present and past. The history begins the story was intriguing but I did not feel that it was portrayed well throughout the story. The history of naids was also woven throughout both timelines but believe it could have been explored in a more intricate way especially for Mary and Eliza. Hart showcases women's resilience and the strength of sisterhood but overall this story fell a little flat for me.

An intriguing story about two sets of history living centuries apart. Some of the book rambles a bit with Lucy's story but the book has a creepy, eerie feeling to it. Definitely a good vacation read.

3.5 stars