Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this early copy for review.
While not my usual genre, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was 100% invented in the outcome. I will be recommending to everyone.

I haven't had the pleasure of reading Weyward yet, but I've heard such good things. So when I saw that Emilia Hart had a new release, I jumped at the chance. The Sirens tells the stories of two sets of sisters separated between hundreds of years. It's a blend of historical fiction, mystery, and magical realism. Emilia really captures the theme of female empowerment and resilience. The story is atmospheric and I really appreciated the re-imagining of real historical events in Australia. I read this shortly after I returned from a 2 week vacation in Australia and felt like it was perfect timing. I will definitely be adding Weyward to my TBR!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Emilia Hart’s writing, the beautiful way she manages to bring bits of magic into modern day, while also weaving in stories from the past always keeps me coming back for more. While the Sirens does have a little bit of a spooky vibe, it ultimately is a beautiful story of sisterhood and women finding their true selves in a world that is not always kind to them. I really enjoyed following Lucy, Jess, Mary, and Eliza through time and definitely recommend fans of Weyward give the Sirens a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC!

I was so excited to see a new book by Emilia Hart, after loving Weyward, and I honestly preferred this one! I love the undercurrent of feminine rage throughout it. The characters were so well developed and I loved how they were all connected. The author perfectly blended elements of fantasy and reality.

The story is set in two timelines. The first timeline follows Lucy and her sister, Jess, in modern day Australia, where Lucy has had to flee from university to Jess’ house, to find Jess not there. The other follows Mary and Eliza, to sisters on a 1800s convict ship, bound for Australia.

I received the audio version and was blown away. The narrator is excellent. Her reading was so distinct between the two timelines - it’s hard to believe it’s only one narrator.

I haven't read Weyward yet (it's on my neverending tbr), but I have heard great things so I was excited at the opportunity to read this one! I love a good dual timeline, and this story has an excellent mystery laced throughout the story. Her characters and their stories are so compelling, I couldn't put this down! I love the way Hart connected everything. Her writing is so beautiful, I can't believe I slept on reading her!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a memorizing and beautifully written novel. The way that Hart writes about heartbreak and trauma and the roads that we take to redemption is exactly the kind of stories I need in my life. Add a little dash of magic and mystery and *chefs kiss* . I liked Lucy and thought that she was endearing and relatable, she had so many things working against her with her medical condition and the things that started happening to her that she couldn't explain or understand. Then of course throw in a condescending "golden can do no wrong" boy in the mix and I was sucked in and ready to go to bat for her. When she shows up to her sisters is when the story takes that fantastical twist that Hart does so well. So many things made this such a fun read, between the main story line, the ship, and the diary it was three stories all perfectly woven together. And all three felt fleshed out enough that none seemed incomplete by the end. I could not put this down and every time I thought I knew what was going on or where the connections were I was thrown back into left field. The mystery parts of this book are fantastic and the feminine rage revenge angle played out perfectly. The Sirens now lives next door to Weyward rent free in my head and I cannot wait to see what is next for Hart.

This is a multi timeline fantasy, beginning with a heart breaking prologue. 2019, with Lucy fleeing her life after an unfortunate event at college. She runs to her estranged sister’s home in the coast, only to find her sister Jessica missing when she arrives and a local mystery where men have been disappearing over a period of years. While sifting through her sister’s life, she stumbles across a diary that transports readers to 1999 when Jessica is a a teenager. Interspersed with these timelines, we also get flashbacks to the 1800’s where another set of sisters are being transported on a ship for criminals. The three timelines weave together to produce the mystical answer to all of the questions.

I found the first half of the book to be very slow going. Lucy does a lot of moping about, getting nowhere and in general feeling sorry for herself. Until she discovers Jessica’s diary, she seems to be spinning out indefinitely. The book began to pick up once the puzzle pieces were revealed and as the three timelines began producing answers. Jessica’s diary timeline is much more enjoyable than reading from Lucy’s perspective. I did enjoy the mystical aspect in the end, when it was all coming together. All in all, I liked the book, but it is not one that I would reread. The cover is beautiful however!
I do have a copy of the authors first book, Weyward, lingering in my TBR stack. I do think I’ll be moving it up to read soon because I did like the author’s writing style.

Thanks to Emilia Hart, St Martins Press and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Sirens is a captivating tale centered on Lucy, a young woman whose reality begins to unravel after a traumatic experience, until details from vivid dreams of two sisters from the 1800s guide her toward the truth. This is a beautifully written, genre-bending story that blends magical realism, historical fiction, and a bit of mystery into a fascinating feminist tale. The pacing is painfully slow, but the characters and plot kept me intrigued enough to keep going, and by the end, I was grateful I stuck with it.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Libro.fm and Emilia Hart for the ARC and ALC of this novel.

I was drawn into the story right away and loved the back and forth between, Lucy, Jess's Diary, Mary, and Eliza. I was able to switch back and forth between the ARC and the ALC and enjoyed both reading and listening. I am a huge fan of magical realism and loved how it was incorporated into a story of a 17th century women's slave ship journeying to Australia as well as into a story of modern-day women. Over 200 years separate them but they still need to protect themselves from the same type of men.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for access to an early egalley of The Siren by Emilia Hart.

Sleepwalking. Violent outbursts. Dreams of strange waters.

The Siren is a slow-burn mystery intended for those who don’t mind an open-ending. A family saga told over multiple timelines about the bond between sisters and female resilience.

Each character is stunningly dimensional and the story discusses many hard topics very poignantly. I would have liked a bit faster pace, and for things to be wrapped up a little neater, but I enjoyed my time with the story.

I am honestly blown away by this book.

The story telling is unmatched. The characters were some of the best I've ever read.

The history portions of this showed that the author took great time and paid attention to the history of the women in this story. A multiple POV story that was not confusing and made sense with the timeline and the connection between all the characters.

I cried. I cried to the connection I felt with these characters and to know that the things that were written in this book were truly experienced by those women or is experienced by women today.

What a beautiful work of art. I can't wait to read more from Emilia Hart.

I was really drawn to Melody's character in the book and thought, because of her name and the title being Sirens, she would have played a bigger part in the story. I didn't grasp how big the age difference is between Jess and Lucy until the end. I dont know if that's because I wasn't paying attention or if it's purposely vague. Also, I wish Max had been more present in the story, but maybe it ends the way it does with room for a sequel?
The historical portion and the current timeline just felt disjointed to me.

The Sirens is an eerie tale of mermaids and female rage and empowerment. Emilia Hart does an incredible job of weaving the timelines of 3 different women together beautifully. All of these women unsure of who they are, trying to figure it out, and all 3 of these women wronged by men in their lives and have to face punishment and ridicule while the men get to walk away cleanly.

"When she sought help through the proper channels, the procedures, no one gave her a gold star or thanked her for asking nicely. Instead, the wanted her to keep being nice, to put Ben's feelings — HIS reputation, HIS future — above her own. ... (She doubted anyone had implored been to think of HER future.)"

This book had me captivated from the beginning and kept me drawn in until the end, just like a siren song. Watching the stories of Mary, Jess, and Lucy unravel and reveal mysteries to solve was an incredibly fun way to tell this story.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an early copy of this stunning book!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of The Sirens in exchange for an honest review.

Coming off of the success of Weyward, I could not wait to get my hands on Emilia Hart’s second book, The Sirens. I went into The Sirens pretty blind, as I did not pay much attention to the book description prior to requesting. After finishing the book, in hindsight, The Sirens is likely not a book I would have selected on my own if it had not been for my positive viewpoint of Emilia’s first novel. That being said, The Sirens is especially well written and plotted out, even though the subject matter isn’t necessarily to my liking. I will say, this book moves incredibly slow until you get about 60% of the way through, then it starts picking up and carrying the reader through chapter after chapter. I will say, the uphill struggle to get there was rough, but I read the last half of the book in one sitting just to see how the entire story ended up being interwoven upon itself.

Seeing as this story hops between three viewpoints across time, it was incredibly well written and easy to follow, which is not an easy task with such an intricate plot line. I’ve seen other authors attempt these multiple viewpoints across a timeline and many times it ends up messy and disorganized, which The Sirens certainly is not, and for that I have to say ‘Well done.’

I will continue to enjoy Emilia Hart novels as her writing is stunning, however, The Sirens just fell a little short of of my expectations, especially after coming off of Weyward, which I really enjoyed. 3.5 out of 5 stars in my imperfect opinion.

4 ⭐️

“Freed from her prior inhibitions—from the compulsion to be nice, to be a good girl—she’d become something she could never have imagined being. She’d become… dangerous.”

Sirens by Emilia Hart is a captivating dual-timeline mystery that follows two sets of sisters—one in 1800, exiled on a convict ship to Australia, and one in 2019, haunted by the past. In the present, Lucy pieces together the eerie events surrounding her birth, her sister’s disappearance, and the strange pull of the ocean. As she digs deeper, she realizes that maybe they’re all not quite… human.

I love a good siren/mermaid story, so I was hooked from the start! By the halfway mark, my theories were flying, and I couldn’t help but share them with anyone who would listen. Emilia Hart weaves an intricate mystery, dropping just enough clues to keep you guessing. I wish I could share my annotations because my notes were full of AHA!! I knew it!! moments.

One of the most fascinating twists was the unique take on sirens—the girls in 2019 have a rare condition (aquagenic urticaria), causing their skin to change upon contact with water. They fear it, avoid it… yet, they’re inexplicably drawn to it, often sleepwalking into pools or baths in the middle of the night. The entire time, I was practically yelling, Just go into the water already!!

Despite the 200-year gap, the storylines felt deeply connected, intertwining history and myth in a way that never felt disjointed. The parallels between the sisters—both physically and mentally—were striking. Dual timelines can sometimes feel uneven, but here, they complemented each other beautifully.

If you love atmospheric mysteries with historical elements, a touch of the supernatural, and a unique take on sirens, this one is definitely worth picking up!

♡ Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review

The Sirens was a unique story on women’s empowerment, rage and sometimes the need for vengeance. The story follows two sets of sisters in different periods of history and how they are trying to figure out where they belong in the world. The book brings to light the inequality of being a woman and the importance of women helping/protecting women. The power of dreams and the mystery and magic of the ocean is weaved throughout the story and the author talks about so many colors and textures, it really brings scenes throughout the book to life.
I really enjoyed reading this book and the story it told about what these sisters must embrace and overcome to learn who they are and what they must do to take over the mantle of those before them. I enjoyed the fantasy elements and the real historical events of Australia in the book
Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martins Press for an eARC of this book!

I really enjoyed Weyward so I was very excited to receive and ARC of The Sirens. I am a big fan of dual timelines and was fully submerged in both storylines. I enjoyed this story so much and loved the ending. Great read!

Emilia Hart has such a way with her words! It truly is a gift. Her lyrical and immersive writing is some of my favorite I have read to date, and I will continue to genuinely look forward to whatever story she gives us next.

The Sirens was a hit for me. All the elements I loved in Weyward were in these pages, wrapped up in a new story that drew me in deeply. We have strong feminist themes, beautiful magical realism, dual timelines with real elements of history, and a mystery that kept me on my toes the whole time. Honestly, the reveals sprinkled throughout this book slapped. I audibly gasped more than once. Overall, this was a gripping, dark, and beautiful story that I continue to think about long after I have finished it.

I’m already looking forward to finding out what she is working on next!

Pick this one up if you like:

-Strong feminist themes
-Enjoyed Weyward (her previous work)
-Mermaids and Sirens
-Genre mashups!
-Dual timeline
-True historical elements sprinkled throughout
-Immersive writing

There are things that could have been more polished in this story; such as more explanation of the magical elements and more development for our main characters, but what this story might lack was made up for in what it does well: descriptive writing that let me truly experience the setting with all my senses.
It’s unfortunately a rare thing for me to find an author who can so throughly transport me into the story and I know other readers will appreciate the experience as much as I did.
I can’t wait to grab anything else Hart writes. She has a new fan.

Thank you so much St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my advance copy!

I received this ARC from netgalley. The writing in this book is very compelling and it draws you in. I really love the idea behind this book and the building in of the dreams for Lucy however I felt the ending fell a bit flat for me. I loved the inclusion of Mary’s POV and felt it was super important to the story and she was one of the characters I was most interested in reading about. I did really like the way that the author draws on the female experience and includes it in her writing and the book. Overall it’s a good book and I would recommend others to read it even though it fell flat for me at the end.