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.

I first fell in love with the book cover of The Sirens by Emilia Hart. I enjoyed this slow burn story that touched on Greek mythology and Australian history. I appreciated the author’s note about the history that inspired the book. The story was centered around two sisters in a dual timeline. The novel had all my favorite elements of mystery and magical realism. If you enjoy reading about secrets, sisterhood and female resilience, be sure you pick this one up.

I enjoyed the audio for this novel which was narrated by Barrie Kreinik. I listened at 1.5x speed. This is my second book she has narrated that I have listened to. Barrie narrated Migrations by Charlotte McConaughey which was also well done!

3.5⭐️ rounded up for audio narration
Historical Magical Realism • Dual Timeline
Expected Publication • 1 April 2025

Thank you @stmartinspress & @macmillan.audio for the ARC & ALC. ♡

*ೃ༄*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Blend family secrets, mysterious disappearances, convict ships sailing for Australia from Ireland, and female resilience.

⚓ I enjoyed the atmosphere and the setting on the shores of a remote Australia coastal town. This one had a slow start and took over half of the book to hook me.

Lucy and Jess are sisters in present day, while Mary and Eliza are twins in 1800s Ireland. In the style of The Lost Apothecary, these will converge as justice is served outside of the law, with a flair of magical realism.

I appreciated the twists, but I wish I connected more with any of the four sisters & the plot.

🎧 Narrator Barrie Kreinik has a wonderful range bringing to life multiple accents of the British isles + Australia, fun listening experience including sea shanties! 🇦🇺🇮🇪

TW: Sexual Assault, Murder, Infidelity (off page)

Emilia Hart has done it again! While Weyward is still my favorite of the two books, I loved The Sirens. Nobody gets so many visceral emotions from me like Emilia Hart. Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of the audiobook. It was a particularly good read and the narrators were great!

I loved Weyward when it was published and high hopes for Emelia Hart's latest novel The Sirens. Unfortunately, it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

The story weaves Irish myth with a murder mystery and a sister's mysterious disappearance offering strong feminist themes. I enjoyed the past timeline with Mary and Eliza who have been forced onto a convict ship bound from Ireland to Australia. But the present setting from Lucy and Jess's perspectives was less engaging and far too predictable. Overall, it didn't have the emotional resonance that I expected.

I was approved for the audiobook and the arc of this book and I really loved listening and reading this before bed. I am a sucker for mermaid media and this really itched the spot. I do think it is a slow burn but it kept me interested the whole time and I never found this boring. I loved the setting and the switching of the location and time periods between all the girls. I found that it gave a lot of depth to the story and made it very intriguing. I really loved the readers accents and how she sang the songs. It really was immersive and I liked that better than if it was just read flattly.

I normally fly through audio books and for some reason this book was not for me. It took me almost three weeks to listen to this novel. It did not keep my attention and I found the entire premise to be odd and disjointed. I’m not sure what I expected, but this wasn’t it. Even the narrator began to irritate me. I’m not sure if it was her accent or what, but I began to notice an emphasis on the s sound in her speech that reminded me of a snake hissing. Overall, I was not impressed and found myself disappointed based on the blurb. If I had not received an arc, this would have ended up in my DNF pile.

🐚 Sirens by Emilia Hart 🐚
Pub Date: April 1, 2025

In Sirens, we travel between three time periods and three sets of characters.
In 2019 we meet Lucy, who is expelled from Uni when she starts to sleep walk and lucid dream endangering someone’s life in the process. She flees to her sister’s home off the coast of Australia to seek advice, but when Lucy arrives, her sister is no where to be found. The search for her sister uncovers strange lore about this small town that seem a little too familiar to Lucy and the eerie dreams that brought her there.
In 1999 we meet Jess, a reclusive 16yr old who finds comfort in drawing. When her art teacher starts to pay extra attention to Jess’s skills, she begins to trust him and feels less alone.
In 1800, twins Mary and Eliza are taken from their father in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship heading for Australia. Their whole lives have been filled with fear of the sea, since their mother’s sudden and tragic death by drowning.

Their stories intertwine with one another as each of these women are, in one way or another, called to the sea.

Sirens is Hart’s second novel and it is apparent from the start the story structure and layout mirrors her debut. I personally found it to be very comforting, as that plot structure is what I enjoyed most about Weyward. I was happy to see it duplicated in Sirens.

I was completely transported by this story. I love mermaid lore and realized after finishing this book that I need more of it in my life! Hart is so descriptive in her writing style, making it so easy to get lost in these worlds. The narrator, Berrie Kreinik did an amazing job bringing these characters to life. Both Irish and Austrian accents were flawless. Highly recommend!

Thank you to @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the audio ARC of this book!

3.75. This book does feel like classic Emilia Hart. In her follow-up to her powerful debut (Weyward), she gives us another set of interwoven lives of women, but this time with a mystery at the heart of it. We don’t get to know how the women are connected until the end but the journey she takes us on is emotional and well thought out.

Overall, I thought the story was well plotted, with exception to the first 20-30%. The first 1/3 of the book opens with a conflict/challenge for one of the women that just doesn’t get properly addressed despite the anxiety and depth of set-up in the intro of the book. I can see why some of the reviews are mixed as some readers are dissatisfied with “plot holes”. I don’t think it was a plot hole per se but I definitely think the resolution could have been more comprehensive and satisfying.

This was a solid read that I enjoyed, but not quite as satisfying as her debut.

P.S. if you listen to audio the narrator sings to you!!

I really like this author. I really liked this book about Sister’s reuniting. It’s a fantasy which I like. Characters excellent. Thank you, NetGalley and publisher for providing this advanced

This was a really interesting mix of contemporary and historical fiction with some magical realism added in. The beginning of the book really had me hooked, what with Lucy waking up with her hands around the neck of a guy, having no idea how she'd ended up in his room. When she ran away from campus, afraid she'd get in trouble for attacking him, I could understand her dilemma as most people would find sleepwalking a little hard to believe, especially as she revealed more of her history with Ben (a history which made me want to punch Ben, her friend Em, and all the administrators at the university but especially the woman who told Lucy that she should "ruin Ben's future". ugh). There were a few times towards the middle that the book felt like it dragged a bit, especially once Lucy found Jess's diary. It just seemed odd to me that she didn't power through reading that super quickly wanting to know what had happened to Jess (especially given that she had suspicions as soon as Jess's crush on her teacher was revealed), but then I really wanted her to power through it because I wanted Lucy to figure out the truth about herself as well (which I thought was fairly easy to figure out but then I grew up watching countless Lifetime movies and maybe Lucy didn't). I did enjoy the twist behind the mystery of the disappearances in Comber Bay, especially the epilogue at the end that explained the baby that was found. And the historical portion of the book was well done and made me both want to know more while also not wanting to hear more about the women's deplorable conditions, especially knowing what would happen in the end. However, I did find the ending a bit rushed, though there was some decent payoff at the end thanks to the ultimate demise of one character. And the final reveals were a nice twist that I did not expect.
I really enjoyed the narrator. She did a fantastic job switching between characters and between the dual POVs and had such a beautiful singing voice when the folk song parts came up. I would definitely love to listen to more audiobooks that she narrates.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me early access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 34%. Ugh it pains me to write this because this cover is STUNNING and the writing is beautiful and so atmospheric. But this is just not the story for me.

The audiobook seems like it would be wonderful for someone who would enjoy this story. The accent of the narrator is so calming and really fits the magic of the story.

Unfortunately, though, I just could not get my mind into the story. It was not holding my interest despite multiple attempts to restart it. I do believe those that love mermaids, magical stories, and the ocean may enjoy this much more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and the author for the complimentary ARC and ALC.

4.5 stars
This book was such a gem! I love feminist retellings of Greek myths. This was a modern day tale of Scylla & Charybdis, with a glimpse back to a previous time that tied things all together. I liked the contemporary timeline as we learn about Lucy’s situation, past and present, after she flees to find her sister after disturbing events at university. What’s going on with their family’s weird situations? How is this connected to the Irish family transported to Australia in the 1800s? When Lucy finds her missing sister’s journal, more questions arise but many answers are found. Everything ties together so well in the end that I rank this among the top of the modern day retellings I’ve read!
*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance audiobook copy

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an advance listener copy of The Sirens by Emilia Hart in exchange for my honest review. This audiobook, set to be released on April 1st, held significant anticipation for me as a reader who greatly enjoyed Hart's previous work, Weyward, and I was particularly intrigued by the novel's exploration of mermaid lore.

The Sirens intricately weaves together the stories of two sets of sisters across time: Lucy and Jess in 2019, and Mary and Eliza in the 1800s. The present-day sisters embark on a journey to uncover the mysteries surrounding their historical counterparts.

I must commend the author on the evident depth of research undertaken for this novel. The thoughtful acknowledgement at the beginning, expressing respect for the Indigenous Aboriginal peoples, was particularly impactful and contributed to a broader learning experience within the narrative. Additionally, Barrie Kreinik's narration was truly impressive, showcasing a remarkable ability to deliver a diverse range of authentic-sounding accents.

The initial portion of the book established a surprisingly eerie atmosphere, and the novel's unique and fascinating reimagining of the traditional siren narrative left me with a palpable sense of unease and anxiety. This flip on familiar tropes was a compelling aspect of the reading experience.

Ultimately, while the book offered many engaging elements, the central plot twist prompted a reevaluation of the novel's overall purpose, which proved somewhat frustrating. However, readers who appreciated the atmospheric storytelling of Weyward or the emotionally resonant narratives of Kristin Hannah will likely find themselves captivated by The Sirens. Overall, I am rating this book four out of five stars

This is my second Emilia Hart book and again she does a great job of showing the strength of women. The story felt a bit rushed and made it a little more difficult to relate to all the characters unlike in her other novel, but I did enjoy the writing.

🎧Barrie Kreinik did a great job narrating this story. She really captures each character perfectly.

Thanks to the author @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. Emilia Hart knows how to write strong and complicated characters and vivid imagery. I have no problems imagining the scenes playing out before me, even when they are set in a time and place that I’ve never been. I absolutely love that about her story telling.

There are multiple timelines and POV’s going on in this book and I liked all of them equally, which is a big plus for me. I think my only real complaint with this one was the pacing did seem off at times, there were moments during Lucy’s POV that felt like they dragged a bit in the beginning. Somewhere around the half way mark things picked up and I ended up zooming through it.

🎧Barrie Kreinik did a great job narrating this story. She transitions beautifully between characters and really captured each character perfectly. I could honestly listen to her talk all day!

Hart has again given me characters and a story to love and ponder over. The historical part of this book is one I have not read about before and intrigues me. The fictional part is captivating with the duel timelines being seamlessly knit together.
The trauma and feminist aspects might turn many off. Please research trigger warnings before reading. Life is messy and hard in so many ways. The ending isn’t necessarily ‘happily ever after’ but still satisfying.