Lucy and Jess are sisters, Jess has an allergy to water and is a very lonely teen who finds comfort in an art teacher who sees something special in her. After years of estrangement Lucy needs her now adult sister and runs to her house only to find it abandoned. Two other sisters, Mary and Eliza lived in the 1800s and were sent to the criminal colony Australia after they broke the law and for some reason Lucy continues to dream of them. All of these stories intertwine and tell a tale of sisterhood through the ages.

I love a good female focused story but this one just missed the mark for me. I take a certain amount of responsibility because I listened to much of it and I think I would have been less confused with the three timelines and multiple POVs if I had read more rather than listened. That being said I still couldn’t connect with any of the characters or the story. I think this author may be an acquired taste because I know so many people who loved this one as well as Weyward, her last book, while neither really worked for me. I think this one is a matter of taste.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC to review

Historical fantasy is a subgenre I love, because we not only get fictionalized stories based on real types of events that can lead to some great research deep dives after reading, but the bits of magic bring the stories alive that much more. This book has two (plus another through diary entries) timelines and perspectives. One tells the story of female convicts, most of whom committed crimes of necessity to survive, being transported to Australia from Ireland in the year 1800. One tells the story of a journalism student in 2019, who flees to her sister’s remote coastal home after a series of events that rock her life. The third is a series of diary entries from around the year 2000. All three of the timelines deal with women whose lives have been dramatically impacted by awful men, and the stories weave together as the stories progress.

The setting is very atmospheric in the past and present timelines. The reader can feel the exhaustion and confusion and fear of the women trapped in the darkness of the ship’s prisoner deck. The wildness of the sea. The pangs of hunger and constant thirst. The worry about whether they will make it through the journey and the anxiety about what will happen after that if they do.

The present timeline takes place in a rundown house on the cliff in a town known for people going missing, lost to the sea. Our protagonist arrives to find the house empty, having no idea where her sister has gone and whether she’s okay. There is a sense of urgency as the timelines start to converge, as she tries to solve the mystery of her sister’s whereabouts and figure out what secrets her family has been keeping.

The book feels like a blend of historical fantasy and contemporary mystery, with a dash of magical realism and true crime. I loved the complicated family dynamics in all of the storylines, as well as the female empowerment in the face of terrible patriarchal elements. Overall I enjoyed this one and will continue to look forward to other books by this author.

I went back and forth between the ebook and the audio for this one, and I enjoyed both! The narrator, Barrie Kreinik, did both the Australian and the Irish accents. To an untrained ear, I was so impressed with her ability to do both accents - I can’t speak from the perspective of someone who naturally speaks either, though. Thanks so much to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced book!

Emilia Hart’s The Sirens captivated me from start to finish and made me a lifelong fan of her writing. This was my first book by Hart, and I now understand why everyone recommends her. The intertwining stories of strong, complex women across centuries were beautifully told, and I couldn’t stop listening.

The audiobook, which I highly recommend, was expertly narrated, with each character’s voice and emotions vividly brought to life. The transitions between the different time periods—2019, 1999, and 1800—were seamless, making it easy to stay immersed in the story even as the setting and characters shifted.

The plot itself was spellbinding. The mystery of Lucy’s nightmare and her search for answers in her sister Jess’s diary kept me on the edge of my seat. The suspense was expertly woven into the narrative, especially as the eerie and haunting connection to the sea unfolded.

What really stood out to me was the powerful theme of sisterhood and the resilience of these women across different time periods. The sea, almost a character in itself, calls to them in ways that are both mysterious and magical. Hart’s writing beautifully explores the strength of bonds that can transcend time and space, creating an unforgettable narrative.

Overall, The Sirens is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and magical realism, and I’m so glad I got the chance to experience this audiobook. I’ll definitely be seeking out more of Hart’s work in the future.

ARC REVIEW: the sirens by emilia hart 🧜🏻‍♀️ an extraordinary novel that captures the sheer power of sisterhood and the indefinable magic of the sea 🌊

despite everything going on in both timelines & pov’s, I can comfortably call this a character driven novel ⚓ the sirens takes awhile to get going but it very much falls into the 'finding out who you are' trope while navigating the relationships and themes of family, family secrets, female friendships and sisterhood.

I really enjoyed the imaginative writing, immersing me as if I was the one listening for singing sirens off of my cliffside home. this book combines mystery, fantasy, magical realism, and history, making this a story for many people 🪸

I wish the ending left us with a sense of purpose- perhaps more emotional value or depth would have benefited the story. I just had a hard time connecting with any of the four sisters so nothing truly *hit home* for me! 🐠 can’t end this review without saying that this cover is everything!!

thank you macmillan audio for the advanced audio 🐚 3 stars!

This felt a bit long to me and I don't know that I would have finished the ARC without also having the ALC. Switching up to the audio helped a lot, as I loved the narrator.
I did think the stories of Lucy and Jess and Comer Bay were interesting and mysterious, but since I'm not a huge historical fiction fan, I could have done without the Mary and Eliza parts. That's probably just me, and I think people who do like historical fiction will enjoy it.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the ALC!

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced review copy of this audiobook.

This dual timeline story has a narrative richness enhanced by mythic and historical elements. In the 21st century, despite an age gap of 14 years, sisters Jess and Lucy are very close. Jess is an artist, while Lucy is studying criminology in university. In the late 19th century, Irish sisters Mary and Eliza are being raised by their father in a starving and oppressed Ireland. They are among the many unfortunate and unlucky women, usually driven by hunger, ‘transported’ to the penal colonies of their English overlords. The women, many just girls, are crowded onto unsafe and unsanitary prison boats, forced to work like slaves, scarcely fed, frequently beaten and just as frequently raped. Many die on route, from illness, starvation or beatings.

The stories of these four sisters continue in parallel lines through the book’s first half. Both stories are beautifully told, both with the younger sisters’ point of view dominating. There is no comparison between the privileged lives of Jess and Lucy and the wretched suffering of Eliza and Mary. But the contemporary sisters’ lives have also been scarred by sexual abuse and dark family secrets that sustain intergenerational trauma.

There is also literally an elemental connection that links them with the sea, both life giving and life destroying. They have a rare, incurable condition that is essentially an allergy to water, giving them an iridescent rash that resembles fish scales and leaves parts of their bodies permanently marked. Meanwhile, on the ship, the women’s bodies are also mysteriously transforming. Their dreams seemingly bleed into each other’s.

I won’t go any further into the various mysteries, except to say that the two stories, and the long-held secrets of Jess and Lucy’s family, do eventually come together. And the men who have hurt them get what they deserve.

Emilia Hart’s brilliant writing goes a long way toward appeasing my occasional frustration in trying to understand the hints and clues, which I often didn’t see on first reference. The audiobook I listened to benefited from the narration of Barrie Kreinik, who capably captured both the Australian and the Irish voices of the past.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook.

Emilia Hart writes beautiful haunting novels. I loved the dual timeline. The narrator was lovely to listen to. Not as good as Weyward, but still enjoyable.

Haunting. Dual timeline, full of lore and unexplained circumstances, this story is worthy of a read/listen! Two sisters on a prison ship bound for New South Wales are connected through time and dreams to two sisters in 2019. Shipwrecks, disappearances, abuse, and redemption all play a part in twining their stories together. This is women’s fiction combined with speculative fiction and I loved it,

Emilia Hart follows her extraordinary debut with a story just as beautiful and haunting. The Sirens captured the vibrancy of women and the incredible strength we find within ourselves. Lucy, Jess, and Mary are all women who have been wronged by men, but they fight for themselves and learn to harness the injustice to build themselves into strong women. I loved the different female relationships Emilia demonstrated in this story, from motherhood and sisterhood in various forms, and--to a lesser extent--female friendships. And her use of the mythology of the sirens was a perfect representation of women coming into their own, transforming into what they were always meant to be outside the constraints of male domination. I also appreciated that she used mythology drawn more from Irish lore than Greek. It was refreshing.

Throughout the book, Emilia presents many different types of men, some worse than others, and others good, decent men. At the same time, she gives us strong women that are still flawed. They are not perfect, not infallible. What I appreciate most, though, is that even with good men and flawed women, it is the women who are the heroes. They save each other and save themselves.

As far as Emilia's writing goes, I find it absolutely lovely. It is lyrical and vivid. She paints a picture of sights and sounds and smells that takes the reader straight on board the Naiad ship and to the cliffs of New South Wales.

So why didn't I give this five stars? The epilogue. I was wildly disappointed by the epilogue. It answered a very important question that I needed answered, but I hated the way in which it was answered. It changed my views entirely of two of the characters. I think, though, this is probably a very strong opinion of mine, and I am sure most people will not care, so take my words with a grain of salt. Overall, it was a fantastic book that I definitely recommend!

Suspended from university for an assault she committed while sleepwalking, Lucy has nowhere to turn—except to her estranged sister, Jess. Once close, the two have drifted apart, but now Lucy arrives at Jess’s home hoping to reconnect and get away from school without letting her parents know what she did. Instead, she finds an empty house, a cat left behind, and signs of a hasty departure. Jess is missing, her belongings abandoned just days before a major art exhibition, and Lucy senses the lingering presence of an unknown man. As days pass with no sign of Jess, Lucy searches for clues and stumbles upon her sister’s diary from 20 years earlier. Through its pages, she discovers that she and Jess share more than just blood—they both have a rare skin condition, an allergy to water, and a recurring dream that seems to hold deeper meaning.

Spanning hundreds of years, The Sirens weaves together three perspectives: Lucy in the present, Jess in the past, and two Irish sisters aboard a convict ship bound for Australia in the 1800s. The novel is steeped in folklore and magic, with an eerie undercurrent of mystery. At its core, it is a story of female resilience and strength—women protecting one another in a world where men are the ones who go missing.

Having never read this author before, I can’t compare The Sirens to her previous work, but I found it to be a compelling and atmospheric read. I also appreciated the historical context woven into the narrative. However, too many loose ends were left unresolved, which left me feeling unsatisfied. Additionally, while the audiobook narrator did a spectacular job, the siren song was haunting—almost too unsettling for my liking.

Overall, The Sirens is beautifully written, with chilling prose that lingers long after the final page. Though it left me with lingering questions, its eerie atmosphere and powerful themes will stay with me for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for a chance to review this book.

If you've read Weyward by Emilia and enjoyed the writing style, you'll love this one! The Sirens is told from three different POVs, all from different time periods: 1800, 1999, and 2019. As the story goes on, the timelines all start to piece together.

I loved Weyward, so I was expecting a lot from this, but I found it sadly underwhelming. The story wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the 1999 and 2019 storyline between Jess and Lucy. The 1800s POV just wasn't for me. I constantly found myself zoning out through the first 40% of the audiobook. I kept losing interest and almost considered DNFing, but I needed to know what happened to Jess and Lucy. Once their story picked up, I was able to fly through.

🎧Looking back, I do think I would have enjoyed this more as a physical read. The narrator had a very soothing voice, which may have been the cause for zoning out on long drives home from work.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the gifted copy!

𝐀𝐝𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐁𝐑 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞..
🌊Multiple timelines/POVs
🧜🏼‍♀️Magical realism
🌊Stories about sisterhood
🧜🏼‍♀️Mermaid folklores

Please remember, reading is subjective, it's okay to have a different opinion🖤

I thought this story was super original and really interesting!! I loved the mystery of finding out who each of our characters were and how the history of the area mattered. The prose was intricate and delightful, and I appreciated the social norms and issues this book talked about and challenged. Additionally, i loved the mythical and magical realism Emilia Hart delivered.

I was really excited to read The Sirens. I loved Weyward so much. Emilia Hart has a way with having the most beautiful covers. But I just could not get into this one. I gave it to half way and just could not go on further.


Thanks to NetGalley and McMillan Audio for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for a honest review.

I sat with this a few days after finishing this book before writing a review because when I finished, I just wasn't sure what to think. The problem is, I still don't! This is a unique story; I've never read anything like it. Jess and Lucy are plagued with the same dreams of a pair of sisters, traveling on a prison ship to Australia in the 1800s. Lucy faces trouble at school and runs away from it to seek advice and comfort from Jess. The problem is, Jess is missing. Sounds like a fascinating story, right? Elements of it were!! And at times I thought I really loved this book. It's magical realism, mystery, family drama, and historical fiction all rolled into one! Those are all my favorite genres. However, there were plot points that were never explained and there were points of the book that dragged.

Thanks to NetGalley for early access to this book.

'The Sirens' by Emilia Hart focuses on the bonds of sisterhood. I really enjoyed the relationships between Jess and Lucy and between Mary and Eliza. While these women were separated by centuries, they share commonality in the love they shared. I also enjoyed the siren folklore of Comber Bay. The narration was great throughout the novel. A solid work of women's fiction. This is the first book I read by Hart, but it won't be my last. 4 stars.

I'm rounding up. This was a 3.5 for me. The storyline was intriguing and compelling. I love historical fiction that brings past injustices to women to light. I was slightly disappointed in the ending as it did not quite satisfy my curiosity, but I would recommend. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the advance audiobook.,

The Sirens is an apt name for this novel. Having taught The Odyssey for years, I imagined I would like this retelling, and mostly I did. The historical timeline is fantastic. Two Irish sisters are shipped to New South Wales aboard a convict ship destined for a future they do not want. The conditions were terrible beneath the ship deck and the other prisoners’ stories remind readers how little authority women had over their lives. In a book about sisterhood, I would have liked more of Mary and Eliza’s backstory.

The modern timeline was a little messier and hard to connect to. We learn about sisters Jess and Lucy and how both exploited by males, who cared little about their well-being. Lucy with a fellow student who cyber bullied her into fleeing her university, and Jess with a teacher who took advantage of her insecurities as a young adolescent. In Comper Bay on the Australian coast these sisters finally find the refuge they’ve been seeking. It is in this timeline while reading a diary the narrative periodically shifts to 1999 to explain more of Jess’s story. I understand this addition as it provides background, but the other contrived mystery about eight missing men in this small town did little to add to the plot. This part of the plot would have been better served up as a small addition towards the end. For the most part it only muddled the story.

Though the writing was beautiful, the buildup to the resolution is a long journey and a little hard to follow at times. Like most novels the last quarter picked up the pace and did a solid job of wrapping all the timelines together. One must have a healthy appreciation for the mystical to enjoy this nautical tale of female resilience.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and of course the author Emilia Hart for the advanced copy of the audiobook. The Sirens is out on April 1st. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 rounded down. An atmospheric, moody, and mysterious novel that follows 2 sets of 2 women in the early 1900s, 1999, and present day. I love how Emilia Hart weaves multiple timelines, POVs, and stories into an intricate web full of familial ties, resilience, and women empowerment (also a bit of rage). Once I picked it up, I had a hard time putting it down! I did not like this book as much as I did Weyward (her first novel), this one was somewhat lacking in the plot department. I think so much time was spent on layering the different POVs and making everything come together that the main storyline with Lucy was a bit boring and seemed to be mostly used to "discover" different pieces of the puzzle. Overall I loved this book! I want to live on a quaint cliffside cottage and be left alone to make my art! Such a vibe.

This book covers a myriad of dark topics, but the specific topics are a bit of a spoiler, so please read with caution.

Trigger Warnings: infant abandonment, self harm, suicidal ideation, grooming of a child/teen by an authority figure and satutory rape (briefly on page), imprisonment and neglect (past timeline), starvation and dehydration (past timeline), death by drowning and whipping (past timeline)

In 2019, the primary setting is on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, where two sisters, Lucy and Jess, are searching for answers from the past...
In 1800, the secondary setting is on a convict ship traveling from Ireland to Australia, where twin sisters Mary and Eliza begin to notice unexplainable changes to their bodies as they get further and further out to sea...
The Sirens is a genre blend of Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, and Mystery, and Hart takes it up a notch by sprinkling in a fair amount of Family Drama to tie everything together. This audio version is narrated by Barrie Kreinik, who is flawless in her regional accents and inflection.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e-arc.*

After thoroughly enjoying Weyward last year, I was looking forward to this next release by Emilia Hart. Although a bit of a letdown in comparison, I did enjoy the read overall. I just wasn't as engaged with the characters. The plot was interesting, although predictable at times, but there was something lacking that hindered me from connecting on a more personal level. One thing I did truly enjoy was the progression of the multilinear storylines. There was inded a comfortable feeling of satisfaction as each storyline converged to create a multigenerational family history.
The parent/teacher relationship aided in the disconnect for me. The early descriptors led me to believe the teacher was of one appearance but later in the storyline painted an uglier (physical) picture. Maybe that was the point. Maybe it was a way to lend credibility to the ugly, grooming aspect of a predator and the surprise closure that the character needed to move on. If that is the case, then kudos, I understood the assignment! Overall, I am enjoying Emilia Hart's work and I look forward to her next literary endeavors.