This was an interesting book, an imaginative story of sisters, set in two different timelines. It includes elements of fantasy, which was unexpected.
I did, on occasion, find it a little confusing in its treatment of the sisters, and their uniqueness, and wasn’t immediately clear on what was happening with them. There were several twists to the story a more of their lives was revealed, which kept my interest.
This book is worth reading for its unusual storyline.

This was an intriguing read. Set in two time frames, it follows the journeys of two sets of sisters. For Lucy in the present day, the actions of her boyfriend and subsequent humiliation leads her to seek out her sister. Then there is the unfolding of Jess's story. The two Irish sisters and the mythology of the sea works well, set against the brutality of the convict ship. What emerges is a powerful story of female courage and sisterhood in the face of male mistreatment. There were powerful themes in this book and it was a world that I thoroughly enjoyed visiting. Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read and review this book.

I can deeply appreciate the authors descriptive language in this book. Emilia Hart can truly paint a picture. However I can also admit this is unfortunately not my kind of book.
The author presents a somewhat brutal introduction that just felt very out of place. This scene is featured in the very short prologue as a “hook” but rather this had me reeling back in horror. Overall this introduction didn’t feel well thought out and I think the author should have expanded on this more at the start for better context and intrigue to pull her audience in. After this it just felt like the author was throwing constant shock value at her audience. You barely had time to get over the first hurdle and you have more thrown at you. If the author was aiming for fast paced I’d have to say this only felt overwhelming.

With thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this eARC, as soon as I saw it, I had hoped that I would be allowed to read it, and I am eternally grateful.

The Sirens, second novel to Australian Author Emilia Hart, not only backs up what Weyward did, but commits to it ten-fold. A little bit of magic interlaced with the strength of women in the face of abuse and male power.

We start with Lucy, youngest sister and budding journalism student who wakes up to find herself choking a boy she had recently been intimate and cyber bullied by. Not able to find assistance from the uni’s welfare officer, she turns to her sister, Jess, running away to the house she had just brought in Comber bay. When she arrives, she finds her sister gone and starts to connect with the locals to try and figure out where she gone – a hard mystery to crack when she hasn’t seen her sister and spoken to her little, in the last year. A distance has formed between them and Lucy isn’t sure why.

In the midst of this mystery, we are transported back in time twice, through her sister's high school journal where Lucy finds out more and more about her sister's life before she was born, and also through the dreams that both sisters have experienced of the 1800’s upon a convict ship, heading from Ireland to Australia.

The Sirens is a story of discovery, family, love, bonds and feminine power. It is laced with secrets, songs and history, woven together with the story of the two girls Jess and Lucy, and twin sisters Eliza and Mary and their connection to and their fear of water.

It is richly written, an immersive read that you will find you have no sooner started it, that you have quickly finished it.