This book was so moving and intriguing! I loved the small mystery element and the fantastical parts. I especially loved the feminist view of the story. I couldn’t put the book down!

A traumatic sleepwalking incident sends Lucy in search of her sister, only to discover Jess has disappeared and her family has been keeping secrets.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this arc of The Sirens by Emilia Hart. The pacing of this story felt a bit too slow for my taste, and I found myself struggling to stay engaged. While Hart's writing remains impressive, I had difficulty connecting with the way the plot unfolded, as well as with the pacing and the development of the characters. Although this particular book didn’t resonate with me, I can see how it might appeal to other readers. The mysteries are carefully unraveled, and by the end, everything comes together, which could be satisfying for those who enjoy a more deliberate pace and intricate plotting.

The Sirens is an epic feminist tale that intertwines the lives of sisters separated by centuries yet united by mysterious, unbreakable bonds. Through the intertwined journeys of Lucy Jess, Mary and Eliza, Emilia Hart crafts a narrative that culminates in the atmospheric and evocative setting of New South Wales, Australia—where both the town and its surrounding waters play pivotal roles.

Much like her previous novel, Weyward, Hart uses magical realism to create a narrative that is deeply rooted in reality while being enriched with myth, folklore, and fable. The novel invites readers into a world where the lines between the tangible and the fantastical blur—drawing inspiration from classic mythology, such as the Greek siren myth in which a half-woman, half-bird creature lures sailors to their doom with an irresistible, haunting song. For me, delving into the traditional siren lore—and uncovering the history of British convict ships that once transported prisoners to Australia in the late 1700s and early 1800s—was important to understanding the connections between the dual timelines and the two sets of sisters.

Eerie, dark, and broody, Hart spins a compelling tale of heritage, identity, strength, and transformation. While the story starts off slowly, but the story gains clarity and momentum midway through as more is revealed about Jess, ultimately allowing the reader to connect the dots between all four women. The Sirens is unlike anything I have ever read—a richly layered, thought-provoking work that lingers long after the final page is turned.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a beautifully crafted, spellbinding tale of sisterhood, resilience, and the mysterious pull of the sea. Spanning centuries and interwoven timelines, Lucy, Jess, and the twin sisters Mary and Eliza captivated me with their gripping stories. The rich historical backdrop and touch of magic made every page immersive. Hart masterfully balances mystery, heartbreak, and hope, delivering a tale that lingers long after the final chapter. Fans of historical fiction with enchanting twists will absolutely adore this masterpiece. I couldn’t put it down!

I did enjoy this but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read Emilia Hart's first book Weyward. Both of these stories explore very similar themes in very similar story formats so much of that I felt I was rereading Weyward. I did enjoy the mystery and mood of this one, as well as the setting.

I was hoping for a big more magic I suppose in the Siren aspect but I might have been expecting too much considering this is not labeled as fantasy.

There was a surprising amount of twists and turns throughout the novel, which kept me more invested in the narrative, but to be honest I could see most of the twists coming.

Regardless, I think there is an important story here. I love female rage, I love dark mermaid-y stories, a love a historical element. So overall, there were a lot of aspects I enjoyed. I just overall think Weyward did it better.

4.5 stars!

The Sirens is the sophomore novel from Emilia Hart, whose debut was Weyward. It's rare that I like the second novel of an up-and-coming author more, but this was the case for The Sirens. Perhaps it is because I am more into mermaids than witches, but I found this novel to be very well done.

Hart took on the formidable task of combining elements of historical fiction, mystery, and magical realism to craft a compelling tale of the bond of sisterhood. The book is so complex that it is a bit hard to concisely describe. There are three timelines:
1) The early 1800s, in which sisters unjustly convicted of a crime are banished to the isle of Australia
2) Present day, in which a female college student (Lucy) is grappling with the aftermath of mistreatment by a male peer, so she flees to her sister's (Jess) house on the coast of Australia
3) Flashbacks to Jess' life when she was in high school

I particularly enjoyed the historical fiction aspect of the novel. While I know that Australia was an island for the British to send their convicts, it was really interesting to learn more about this practice, particularly from the perspective of females who were deemed criminals due to the patriarchy. I appreciated how Hart weaved together this story line with the future characters. Overall, I highly recommend you place this book on your must-read list for 2025!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC to review in exchange for m my honest opinion.

Emilia Hart manages to do a good job of combining historical fiction, folklore, mystery and magical realism into a well crafted, suspenseful story. The Sirens relies on the two pronged storyline approach. The present day concerns Lucy, a student who leaves her university under a cloud of suspicion and heads to her older sister’s seaside home in New South Wales. But when she gets there, her sister is nowhere to be found. Her sister’s new hometown has its own sense of suspense - 8 men who have gone missing over the past few decades and an ancient shipwreck that cost 100 female convicts their lives. The historical story concerns two of those convicts, sent from Ireland in 1800 to Australia.
There was a great sense of underlying tension in both storylines. This was the rare book where I was equally invested in both stories. Both stories deal with the power men hold over women and how women find ways to wrest back some autonomy.
All four of the main characters were richly drawn and fully developed.
I was fascinated to learn there was such a thing as an allergy to water. Called aquagenic urticaria and it causes hives, swelling and itching.
There’s a large dose of magical realism entwined in both storylines. This is often a problem for me but it worked well here because of the links to so much folklore.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

✨Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review✨

The Sirens is a unique blend of historical fiction, magical realism, and mystery that shows us readers the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood and the resilience of women in a story that spans across centuries.

The first thing that struck me was the quality of the writing. Emilia Hart has a way with words that completely enthralled me from the beginning. This is a story that emphasizes the bond of sisterhood, the strength of women, and a hope for a better future, and Emilia Hart was able to convey this and more in her exquisite writing. You can also tell that a lot of care and attention to detail went into this novel. Between the historical research of Australia, convict ships, and Irish mythology, I felt that this was a well researched novel.

The blend of magical realism, historical fiction, and mystery was quite unique! We jump between 1800 and 2019. In the 1800 timeline, we follow two sisters journeying to Australia from Ireland on a convict ship. Meanwhile in 2019, we learn that our FMC Lucy - a university student studying journalism - is sleepwalking and dealing with these vivid dreams that appear to be a window into the past. While the plot was slower paced, it didn’t take me out of the story. I was so interested in learning about everything - the sisters and their perilous journey to Australia aboard the convict ship, following Lucy as she searches for answers as well as her missing sister, learning more about Lucy’s sister Jess and her past, discovering the mysteries that haunt Comber’s Bay, finding out more about Lucy and Jess’ skin condition... There were so many mysteries to solve and I loved the fact that we took the long way to get to these answers.

While this novel shares some parallels with Weyward, the reading experiences between these two novels are completely different. The way Emilia Hart has blended history, fantasy, and mystery in this novel is quite unique when compared to Weyward. I personally enjoyed The Sirens more than Weyward, and feel like Emilia Hart has grown as an author since writing Weyward.

🧜🏽‍♀️ Historical Fiction
🧜🏽‍♀️ Magical Realism
🧜🏽‍♀️ Multiple Timelines
🧜🏽‍♀️ Mystery
🧜🏽‍♀️ Irish Mythology

I really enjoyed Weyward so I was excited to read this.

Pros: really beautiful imagery and prose and the same bonds across generations theme I loved in Weyward.

Cons: the story was mostly predictable and the final twist at the end felt very randomly tacked on? I wish the lore of sirens had also been explored more. Are they immortal? Is Mary and Eliza’s mother still alive? Was their mother actually in love with their father or was it a captured selkie situation?

Overall I think still worth a read if you enjoyed Weyward and I would still recommend the book, but it wasn’t quite as tight of a story as Weyward. I would definitely still pick up whatever the author puts out next though!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC!

Another great novel by Emilia Hart, this time focused on three generations of women who are drawn to and transformed by the sea. Are they outsiders with silvery skin and tragic destinies, or are they something more natural and powerful than they could imagine?

The novel alternates chapter by chapter between three general POVs: Mary, a convict being transported with her sister from Ireland to New South Wales in 1800; Jess, a teenager in 1999 who is ill at ease in her unusual body; and Lucy, Jess's sister, who is fleeing after committing a violent act while sleepwalking.

I figured out 90% of the plot--including the final twist--within the first 100 pages. I can imagine that's the reason some readers have mentioned that it felt slow or dragged; for the rest of the novel, I was waiting for characters to catch up to what I'd already figured out.

Even as I watched the plot unfold as I predicted, I enjoyed every minute of this and was hard-pressed to put the book down once I started reading. Emilia Hart has an engrossing writing style, and the characters were more interesting for their flaws.

This book is perfect for those who enjoy historical fiction, magical realism, and stories about resilient women.

Yet again, Emilia Hart has written a story that masterfully blends past with present, telling three stories that are beautiful and haunting. In the present, Lucy finds herself fleeing university to find solace in guidance in her sister, Jess. After the discovery of her journal, we are gifted with Jesss story as well, lending color and detail to the narrative of Lucy's present. In the distant past, sisters Mary and Eliza have been convicted and sentenced to exile. As Hart slowly reveals each story line's mystery, I found myself wishing I could fast forward time to finish the book so I could see the end result. I don't want to give too much away, but I had almost as much fun guessing and being proven wrong as I did finally seeing the finished metaphorical painting. I cannot recommend this book enough!

3.5

Thank you Net Galley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Lucy, college student, who is a target of cyber bullying at the hands of her secret boyfriend.
An incident takes place, causing Lucy to flee and reach out to her sister whom she hasn't seen in a few years.
Lucy arrives at her sister's place, only to discover that she is nowhere to be found. During Lucy's time at her sister's place,
she begins to uncover many truths to the life she thought she knew.

This was a bit of a slow burn, with not too much going on. Lots of talking, and description but not a lot of action.
The story came back to life for me when the plot twist hit (HOW did I not see that coming?!) which upped my 3 stars to 3.5

I really wanted to LOVE this book as I did with Weyward but unfortunately
this did not live up to that hype. I did enjoy it though, and the story did have me hooked waiting for more.

I'm gonna be honest, this book just wasn't for me. I loved Weyward especially the magicial realism aspect of it, but I just couldn't get into this book.

The story starts in the present, in 2019, and follows Lucy who has to leave school for reasons I will not spoil. She thinks the best place to go is to her estranged sister's coastal house. When she arrives she finds her sister missing and searches for clues to figure out where she may have gone.

We also follow Mary and Eliza who are from the 1800s and who were arrested and charged for a crime. They were being transported via boat to Australia and we follow their journey there.

Finally, we follow Jess, Lucy's sister. We get to see some journal entries written by her through Lucy's eyes and then we get to follow Jess through what actually happened when she went missing.

I thought the writing was well done for the most part. There were some parts that were so drawn out I found myself rereading pages because I realized I had zoned out and couldn't keep focused. There were also some parts that were just referenced and I found them confusing at times as it wasn't clear to the actual facts of what was happening. The writing was super descriptive and she did do well with the atmosphere writing but it just wasn't enough for me.

The story felt slow and I was not able to connect with any of the characters. I also didn't enjoy the magical realism, and im not really sure why, it just didn't work for me. I also found it challenging following the timelines and the specific dates when it was taking place.

I thought the solution or the plot twist or whatever you want to call it was very anticlimactic. I thought the ending wrapped up way too fast and I would've liked to follow the characters a bit longer.

I just wasn't a fan overall, but willing to give the author another chance for her next book.


Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3/5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC copy. This book will be published on April 1st, 2025

Are you kidding me right now?

This woman KNOWS how to write a book! This had me gripped from beginning to end.

This book is full of sisterhood, lore, adventure, emotion, and mystery. You will not be able to put this one down. I loved her first book but maybe this is my favorite??
Yes yes yes!!

Thank you to St. Martens Press for the ability to read this ARC: my review and opinions are all my own.

W🤩W! I didn’t want to put this down from the first page! I love the tragically beautiful connection between women, violence from men, and the bond women create together to protect one another. I loved the sirens song, the use of male aggression in so many forms, and the unity that the women have to fight back. From a ship filled with prisoners headed to Australia to artists trying to unleash their mysterious dreams, it is a mysterious, plot-filled, character-loving book.

I also loved the structural choice of journal writing, the flashbacks to the boat, and present time narrative voice shifts: all three added to the puzzle of what would connect them all. The way the setting takes place at the cave and home on the water is incredibly complex, using it as a way to connect all of the characters and plot. The symbolism of water and sisterhood is outstanding. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was really looking forward to this novel, as Weyward was a beautifully written novel and I enjoyed it very much. I love the author's ability to tie in strong female relationships and healing.

However, this story fell flat for me. I felt that for the first 80% of the story, I found it difficult to connect with the characters. I felt there was no urgency, nothing to keep me hooked, and it took me way longer to read than I imagined. While the premise of the book, two present day characters with flashbacks to two flashback characters was a pleasure to read, I do feel like there are some plot holes that could have been better fleshed out.


I look forward to the author's next work, as I do think she has a writing style that I thoroughly enjoy. This book in particular was just not for me.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart was such a beautiful and powerful read. At its heart, this is a story about women—our struggles, our resilience, and the way we hold each other up when the world tries to tear us down. It felt like a love letter to sisterhood, showing how we can be each other’s protectors, even in the darkest moments.

I wasn’t expecting some of the twists in this story. There were times when I thought I had things figured out, only to second-guess myself, which made me even more eager to keep reading. It’s one of those books that pulls you in and doesn’t let go.

What I loved most were the female characters. Each of them had their own battles to fight, their own hardships to overcome, and yet their strength and love for one another kept them going. Their struggles felt real—some were the kind we carry with us forever, and others were the kind that, once we let go, set us free. That theme of endurance, of finding freedom through the bonds we build with each other, really stuck with me.

This book wasn’t just a great story—it was moving, empowering, and beautifully written. If you love books that celebrate the power of women and the strength we find in each other, The Sirens is one you don’t want to miss.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I loved Weyward and was excited to see what came next from Emilia Hart. While this did have the magical realism feeling that I soooo enjoyed, it just didn’t hit the same. The pacing felt very slow for about 75% of the book. I really enjoyed the dueling timelines and the emotions coming from our female leads. I just wish it didn’t drag on until we finally found out some answers.