Super different than what I usually read! It wasn’t my favorite, but I did finish the book and was interested to see how it ended!

3.5 rounded up

Emilia Hart is a true talent. She is a gorgeous writer of truly creative stories. Her debut, Weyward, was one of my favorite books of 2023 and if you haven't read this incredible novel, you should!

Hart's newest, The Sirens, is much of what would be expected: ingenious story, tales woven together through time, and fantastical elements. As a mystery, this story is slightly more subdued and predictable. And if you compare The Sirens to Weyward, I think you come away with a story that is a little less compelling and rich. But all in all, this story is dark, moody, and pretty entertaining.

Thank you to #netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the free review copy.

Emilia Hart is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. Her combining of history, myth, feminism, and complicated families make for such a rich read. I was not sure about this at first, I sometimes struggle with a really young protagonist, but the character development was so good that I bought in right away. I also liked that even though I figured out one major twist fairly early, I really had no idea about the final piece of the puzzle right up to the end. There was so much to this mystery, and to this family that it kept me fascinated right up to the end. I also thought the history of women in Australia was so interesting. This will make a great book club pick.

I was really taken with the idea of this story, and it was very intriguing though I had a few problems while reading it. The jumping between all the different characters made it very difficult to really connect with any one character. I definitely saw the one plot twist coming quite quickly, but I really enjoyed the historical side of things with Mary and Eliza. I think there were just too many changing stories that made it hard to really grasp my attention.

Sirens tells the story of sisters from the past and the present. The story centers around Lucy who finds herself in trouble after she attacks a young man in his sleep. She is confused and wants her sister, Jess. She drives to her house but Jess has disappeared, leaving her phone and keys behind. Lucy begins to unravel Jess’s secrets when she finds her diary. When she sleeps she dreams of other sisters from another time. Mary and Eliza were on a convict ship from Ireland that wrecked near the coast by Jess’s home in the 1800’s. The past and present collide as Lucy discovers the connections between them.

This was a good story, I liked the format and the way the story was told. I loved the historical aspect and focus on the the strength of sisterhood.
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3,5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review .

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars, rounded up

Thank you for this ARC! I was so excited to receive it, and really tried to finish this one by its pub day. I blame Mary and Eliza for not making it in time.

I really liked this book. It was an enjoyable read. The writing was descriptive and atmospheric. The house was (almost, not quite) a character. The thing is, I was still disappointed because all of the elements were there for me to love it - but I didn’t. Magical realism? I love that. Plenty of mystery that never bordered on scary? Yes please. Dual timelines with multiple viewpoints? Usually my jam. In The Sirens however, everything was not quite as satisfying as I wanted them to be. The breadcrumbs for the mysteries in the story were quite large, so I had two of the big ones figured out very early on (did not have the one left entirely for the epilogue solved - which was actually sort of annoying that it was left until the very end, but not as annoying as leaving it unresolved I guess). And the Mary/Eliza timeline from the past was a struggle for me since nothing really ever happened. I kept falling asleep when I’d hit their chapters. It was really only useful for propelling the Lucy storyline, until the very end when… stuff happened that we already knew was going to happen. Oh well. The magical realism was solid, but it’s hard to go wrong with mermaids.

Would I recommend this book? Sure. Mermaids are always fun. Will I remember to recommend it a year from now? Unfortunately, probably not unless someone asks for something specific from it which triggers my memory.

I was so excited to receive an ARC after reading Weyward by this author, which I absolutely loved. Unfortunately The Sirens left a lot to be desired and was mostly an unenjoyable experience for me.

I found the plot to be slow and tedious, with such heavy foreshadowing that all of the plot devices and twists were painfully obvious. Many of the themes were superficial and lacking cohesion—ultimately creating a dull and anticlimactic ending. The epilogue in particular felt out of left field and changed my entire opinion of the book (negatively).

Overall, I would recommend skipping this one unless you’re like, really into mermaids or something?

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a beautifully written novel that weaves together three timelines, exploring sisterhood, resilience, and hidden histories. From a modern-day woman searching for her missing sister, to Irish twins on a convict ship in 1800, and a mysterious baby found in 1982, each story is rich with emotion and intrigue. Hart’s lyrical writing and haunting atmosphere make this a powerful and memorable read.

I probably wouldn't have finished this book if it wasn't in audiobook format. I received a Netgalley ARC for the ebook but every time I picked it up, I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps moody mermaid historical revenge drama is too understated to be engaging in print form for me. As for the story itself, it pulls together interesting historical and fantastical elements, with a tepid side of feminist outrage. The big reveals are pretty obvious for miles before the so-called investigative protagonists take forever to figure out. For something that is both historical fiction and fantasy, I wish it had delved deep into either or both, instead of being an oblique tease throughout. It read more like magical realism even though there were ACTUAL mermaids involved. But whenever it came to fleshing out that element, the worldbuilding simply gave up at the moment of transformation. I could've looked past that if the narrative had taken a step back from Lucy and Jess treading the same grounds and actually fleshed out life in the town touched by mysterious disappearances and mermaid songs through the ages, outside of literal infodumps in the form of a mediocre podcast. The narrator did a lot of heavy lifting in terms of giving the narrative any emotional depth, and her switching between Irish and Australian accents was kind of masterful. So check it out if you're into atmospheric intrigue but don't look for much subtlety or depth.

I really enjoyed this authors previous work so I was excited to see what they wrote next. This was such a great story about sisters. Epic, heartbreaking. Wonderful writing.

Honestly, went in to this completely blind. (I was mainly drawn to the cover and the title of this book.) To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement.‘The Sirens’ is filled with magical realism, female resilience, and sisterhood.

The storyline was a little blizzard and followed a dual timeline with multiple POV’s. The beginning is a little slow to start and the ending felt rushed but Emilia Hart had a way of writing that kept me captivated until the end. The way she connects everything is done really well and she does a nice job of creating mystery with an ominous and eerie/haunting tone. I loved the unravelling of family secrets and the lore. The way she tied up loose ends that I didn’t even fully register were there, especially in the epilogue.

It took me longer to finish then it normally would have. Considering, it is a little darker than what I normally gravitate towards, I was still not disappointed. A solid 4 star read ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Emilia Hart for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! ◡̈

I was a huge fan of Weyward by Emilia Hart so I was very excited for The Sirens. This is another tale of empowered women that shows love can span time and distance and not diminish. Like with Weyward, Emilia weaves a tale that leaves you wanting more while incorporating bits of folklore, fairytales, and mysteries.

I absolutely adored this book! It was an easy 5 stars for me for so many reasons but mainly because of the complexity of the characters. I loved the “sister” dynamics, the who-done-it aspect, the mixing of historical meets fantasy meets thriller. Emilia Hart does it again!!!

Emilia Hart has written a haunting story in The Sirens. It is a dual timeline tale, one dating back to 1800, featuring two sisters who are being transported as convicts from Ireland to Australia. The other takes place in 2019 in Australia, also about two sisters, and, as you may imagine, is connected somehow to the tale from 1800. I loved this book with its mix of historical fiction and magical realism.

The author says, in her acknowledgements, “Fundamentally, this novel is about the ability of water - and sisterhood - to heal and transform.”

We get chapters from Mary’s POV in 1800. She feels responsible for her sister, Eliza, who is blind. They are being transported for attacking a man (who was attacking one of them). The details of their long journey at sea are disturbingly realistic. They make friends with many of the other women who are, quite literally, in the same boat.

The chapters in 2019 are from Lucy’s POV. She’s in a journalism program but is prone to sleepwalking and attacked a male student while sleepwalking. Lucy flees to her much older sister’s house in Comber Bay. The town has seen a high number of disappearances, all men, over the years, and is also the site where a convict ship once went down, with many lives lost. But when Lucy gets to Jess’s house, she finds haunting artwork of two sisters, but Jess. We do get Jess’s story from some diary entries that Lucy finds, and it’s eye-opening.

There’s a feel of mystery and foreboding through the entire story - what is special about the twin sisters in 1800, why did their mother disappear years before, why does Lucy dream about these sisters, where did Jess go, what is Jess hiding, what draws all of them to the sea, and more?

There are quite a few creepy and/or vicious men in this story, so be aware of that.

I confess that I was much more invested in the historical sisters than in the modern-day pair. In fact, I didn’t care for Lucy at all.

I mostly listened to the audiobook version. As usual, Barrie Kreinik does a fabulous job with all the voices and accents.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to St Martin's Press for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.
Did you read Weyward? It was magical and beautiful and an absolutely amazing debut novel. Of course I wanted to read Hart's newest book the moment I could.
This is fantastical story that is steeped in the deep history of Australia and the convict ships that brought women to the colonies. We learn about the women factories where men could come pick out servants or wives as they would cattle. The history of the colonies is built on the backs of women who were exiled from their homes and forced to build up a nation on stolen land. It's heartbreaking on so many levels.
Sisters Jessica and Lucy are telling their own sides of a story that we find is also entangled with twin sisters Mary and Eliza who were placed on a convict ship and exiled from their home in Ireland to head to Australia. The sister share a mysterious secret which also trickles down to Jessica and Lucy and all the women are connected to each other.
The descriptions of the land and ocean were so beautiful. I was also lucky enough to get a copy of the audiobook and the narration by Barrie Kreinik is incredibly gorgeous. The way she is able to carry these women’s voices with accents and cadence allowing us to fall into the narrative and bathe in the gorgeous storyline is absolutely incredible.
The Sirens is now available for purchase from your local bookseller or can be found at your public library

Perfect for fans of The Lost Apothecary, and of course Hart's 2023 debut Weyward, The Sirens is a feminist magical realism dual-timeline novel set on the coast of Australia. For the most part, I enjoyed this book- the coastal setting was the perfect foreboding and ruthless atmosphere for this novel. However, the plot was a little wack. It took a long time to get my bearings and hooked by the story at the beginning, which is sometimes normal, but the resolution of the book's overarching conflict (where the hell is Jess) was toeing the line of silly in its improbability. Most of the dramatic reveals were foreshadowed to death, so no surprises in this one. All that said, I was engaged throughout and didn't hate it. The Sirens gets four OK stars from me.
I would certainly not dissuade anyone from reading this, especially fans of magical realism, the sea, and women subverting the patriarchy. Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Sirens, which is available now.

I found The Sirens to be an intriguing and atmospheric read, rich with mystery and threaded with a haunting sense of connection across generations. The writing is lyrical, and the oceanic setting adds a beautiful, sometimes eerie backdrop to a story centered on sisterhood and resilience.

That said, I didn’t find it quite as gripping as the author’s first novel, Weyward. This one took a little longer to draw me in, and the pacing at the beginning felt slower. Still, once the threads between the different timelines started to come together, I was hooked. The book’s blend of folklore, history, and psychological suspense makes it a unique and memorable read.

If you enjoy stories about the sea, female strength, and intergenerational mystery, it’s definitely worth picking up.

This is such a great book for summer coming up. I loved how much the ocean was in this and how each of the characters were drawn to it. The writing and setting was beautiful as always.

This novel was atmospheric with really strong female characters. I enjoyed the author's writing style and the unique storyline. The story kept me interested throughout. recommended if you enjoy dual timelines and stories that have magical qualities. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

This was my first book from Emilia Hart, though Wayward has been on my TBR for a while. I was quite intrigued by The Sirens' book description, about sisterhood and female resistance, which is why I was really excited to get lucky enough to receive a copy on NetGalley. Overall, I think it was quite an interesting novel, and I find Emilia Hart's writing to be quite captivating. Yet, I do think that this is the kind of book for me that make it or break it depending on the mood I'm in.
Let me explain. The book basically follows 3 timelines, through Lucy more current storyline, Mary's story in the 1800s, and Jess's diary giving us a glimpse into what happened in 1999. And because of that it can feel like there's not much happening, which in turn, can make it really hard to really get into the story. And this is even more so true, because it does sometimes like the story itself is secondary to the message Hart is trying to convey through the book. It didn't feel like a book that was driven by the plot. so much as being about the characters discovery, and this can sometimes be challenging to get into. Yet at the same time, it feels like there wasn't as much depth as I would have liked. Let's just say, I do have some mixed feelings, looking back into the book.
In the end, I enjoyed reading The Sirens, but I don't think it would be the kind of book I would go and reread. It does make me want to give Wayward a shot, because there was something quite enjoyable about Emilia Hart's writing, and I do want to read more from her.