Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Barrie Kreinik does a great job narrating this story and I recommend the audiobook if that is of interest.

I was excited to read this story as I loved Weyward. However, I found that I did not enjoy this one as much.

The good: I enjoyed the characters and found them relatable. also like themes of female rage stemming from male violence or chauvinistic attitudes. I did like the magical realism as well. The writing is fast paced and flows. I really enjoyed the historical chapters much more than the current timeline. I found the facts, history and content to be more interesting.

The not so good: This book seemed a bit unbalanced in that there was much more going on in the historical part than the present day chapters. The overall story is predicable and felt similar to Weyward. It seemed to drag a bit as well.

This is still a good book for fans of magical realism and feminine rage against men. It was an ok read for me.

I was really excited to get an early copy of The Sirens, as I enjoyed the author's last book, Weyward so much. Unfortunately this one fell flat for me. The story was told in a similar way to Weyward in that it was told from two timelines in alternating chapters. I really enjoyed the start of the book, but as I read on there were a lot of things that were confusing to me, and I didn't really feel like the end was tied up nicely. The plot twists were predictable, and the story seemed very slow.
On a positive note, the writing is gorgeous, and the narrator did a fantastic job, but this book was just not for me.

I loved Weyward so I was beyond excited to read this one. And if I'm going to be perfectly honest, I was a bit worried that it wouldn't hit me the same way Weyward did. I shouldn't have worried. Siren's brings all of the feminist revenge and redemption that we loved from Weyward. With multiple POV and timeline, the story is expertly woven with the twists perfectly placed. Highly recommend!

“She wanted to be the one speaking into the microphone, unraveling a story like a spool of knotted thread. She wanted to be the one to fight injustice with the only weapon that matters - the truth.”

Following up a hit debut novel seems like an insurmountable task. All the themes I loved in Hart’s extraordinary novel Weyward were exactly what I also enjoyed about her new work, The Sirens. The sophomore effort maintains similar feminist threads with renewed emotion and amped up fantasy.

Two timelines each focus on sets of sisters, fighting for and protecting one another.
1800 - Mary and Eliza are wrongfully accused and sent from Ireland to Australia on a convict ship where their survival and their futures are absolutely not guaranteed.
2019 - Lucy and Jess haven’t spoken in some time but they are both in trouble. Lucy finds herself in a compromised position at university and flees to a small cottage on the coast of New South Wales where she believes her sister resides. There she discovers a treasure trove of artwork, a diary and a coastal cave; home to secrets, regret and murder spanning centuries.

Readers who are able to suspend disbelief will be swept away by the lyrical prose and stellar descriptions of the people and the places of a world I know little about. Barrie Kreinik is excellent narrating the audio version with blended dialects and a massive timeline gap and she does it with artistry and subtlety.

Many thanks to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart was easily one of my most anticipated reads of 2025. I was so delighted to have received access to the audio arc from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. If you enjoyed Hart's debut book, Weyward, you're going to LOVE The Sirens. The Sirens was everything I needed it to be and more. I can't help but admire the growth in Hart's talent! I am looking forward to any future works they publish!

The Sirens tells the stories of four different women across the span of centuries. In 2019, Lucy awakens one morning with her hands wrapped around the neck of a boy who wronged her. Terrified, she runs away from college to her sister's house on the coast only to find that Jess is missing, leaving behind a diary and her artwork. In 1999, Jess is a lonely teenager diagnosed with a rare water allergy, which only makes her feel like more of an outcast. She tries to understand the world and her strange dreams through her art. Lucy and Jess are connected by their haunting dreams of two other sisters, Mary and Eliza, who were sent to Australia on a convict ship in 1800. All of these women's lives are interwoven through their dreams, diaries, and memories in a really interesting way.

Overall I liked the book. I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narrator did a good job with the voices of the characters, so no complaints there. I think that I just wish that there had been more of the book, like maybe the issues that each character had could have been explored more or the disappearances in Comper Bay could have been a bit more developed. Splitting the story across the three perspectives might have thinned out their individual stories a bit too much for me and I never felt like I could fully connect with the characters. The writing was beautiful, though, and I found the setting to be really well developed. This will be a great one for people who enjoy atmospheric stories with elements of magical realism in them.

A beautiful book that kept calling me back to it. I listened to the audio and the narrator singing the songs was haunting and exactly how you’d expect a siren sound to be like. The jacket copy seemed a little misleading. It makes it seem like the story is about the same set of sisters centuries apart and it’s not that. Or if it is, it wasn’t clear. A little irritating how long it took Lucy to figure out some things while this reader was yelling “you haven’t figured it out yet?! It’s been obvious since the beginning!” But she eventually got there, albeit with a rather unremarkable moment or journey to that information.
The ending was wrapped up in a little bow- which while nice felt a little rushed and inauthentic to the rest of the book.

Overall, a great book and I really enjoyed it.

The Sirens is a speculative fiction story about two pairs of sisters centuries apart, but are tied together by the sea. The story follows 3 points of view: Lucy, Jess, and Mary and Eliza. Lucy suffers from a rare condition- aquagenic urticaria. She is allergic to water, which causes her skin to rash easily and burn when she has contact with water. After finding herself in a sticky situation at college, she decides to run away to her sister’s house until everything blows over. Once at her sister’s house, she finds that Jess has disappeared and waits for her to come back. During this time, she becomes plagued with dark dreams that have caused her to sleepwalk. She also finds an old Journal of Jess’s and begins to read- finding that her sister has had similar dreams and issues with sleepwalking. The three stories- Lucy in present time, Jess in the 90s as a teen, and these vivid dreams of Mary and Eliza-Irish women deemed criminals- make such a riveting tale of mystery, magic, and family.

I was a little worried at first to find that there were three different storylines going on at the same time. However, the pacing was well done and it never was jolting to jump between. There always felt like a smooth transition from past to present. I really enjoyed learning a little about how many of the women that were labeled as criminals in Ireland and their horrific voyage to Australia as prisoners on a ship. And I learned more about the skin condition of aquagenic urticaria.

Everyone needs to listen to this audiobook simply for the narrator. Barrie Kreinik did an absolutely amazing job with this one. Her flawless transition between an Irish accent and an Australian accent was effortless. There also is a moment in the book where she sings and I rewound it so many times just to listen. 5/5 performance.

I did figure out about 95% of the plot twist fairly early on. However, the epilogue picked me up and threw me out a window. And even though I did guess the majority of the story, it still was an enjoyable read and something that I would want to have on my own shelf.

Anyone that loves magical realism, strong female characters, family bonds, and listening to a beautiful singer (with the audiobook!) please read this!

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to read/listen to this book early!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance audiobook
This audiobook was excellent. I really enjoyed the story I look forward to reading more from this author

When that sweet Australian accent hit my ears, it was a siren's call!

Emilia Hart creates a fictional coastal town set in New South Wales to tell a story of magical realism inspired by true history. Lucy is having vivid dreams of two female convicts facing deportation to Australia in the 1800s. Every night, she experiences a new piece of their story - their life in Ireland, the night they were arrested, their perilous journey by sea. When Lucy needs to escape her own life, she runs away to her sister's home in Comber's bay. Except Jess is no where to be found. And in her home, Lucy finds research that matches her dreams.

Barrie Kreinik does both Australian and Irish accents impeccably from the perspective of the sisters in the past and present. Let the names and dates float over you instead of trying to cling to timelines. Everything ties together in the end in a way that is intriguing yet sensible. The twists are built in masterfully to feel like you have earned each secret instead of being blindsided. The tone shifts from suspense to women's lit but with the forward momentum of a fantasy novel. The magical realism and family secrets really lift the subject matter. I loved the end result.

I would strongly recommend picking up the audiobook because the narration really sets the scene and moves you between the past and present so easily. This is the first book I've read from the author and now, knowing their style, I will definitely read their backlog.

You've really got to hand it to Emilia Hart: The way she writes magic and fantasy mixed with history while capturing the trauma women have experienced throughout their generations is impeccable.
This one picked up for within the first few chapters and was thoroughly enjoyable throughout. I was so curious how the stories would come together and how sirens would fit in. It was so seamless. I swear the way this author writes is pure perfection. Which is high praise for someone who doesn't tend to read this genre. But I'm so thankful I dove in with Emilia. She's an auto buy authof for sure.

Also ten out of ten for the narrator. She did well capturing the voices of the characters.

Thank you Macmillan for inviting me to review The Sirens from Emilia Hart. I loved the storytelling here, Hart's signature sense of hidden worlds/identities, of mysticism and layered interconnecting stories, is the star of this story as is the excellent narration from Barrie Kreinik. I loved how the story came together and explored a variation of coming of age, the emergence of the Siren and the Siren's call, and the way the plot remained complex but easy to follow as twists and shifts in story were revealed.

Emilia Hart continues her theme of the impact of generational trauma inflicted upon women is this tale of magical realism tracing the past and present of one family.

I really enjoyed the dual timeline and magic realism of this book. I did not expect the twists of this book at all and really enjoyed it throughout.

As someone who read and really enjoy “Weyward”… this is better.

Or at least more up my alley. I’m personally very partial to a fantasy story and this leans more heavily into the elements of magical realism. You’ll see plenty of similarities in theme and style choices. The prose is again gorgeous-multiple timelines creating parallel stories, weaving the folklore and historical aspects with modern day, female focused plotlines. All the things that were so well loved about Weyward - done again with a different
mythology to draw from.

Very much will be recommending this.

I loved this! I was unsure for the first couple of chapters but I fell in love with this book. The characters were wonderful and I loved the multiple povs. The mysteries at the center of this book also really brought it all together. I saw the twist coming but that didn't change my enjoyment of this at all. Overall this book was amazing!

OMG WHAT A READ!!! Jess and Lucy have always had an odd skin condition, after seeking multiple specialists there have never been any answers. it isn't until lucy is in college that she starts sleeping walking again and having strange dreams of 2 sisters on a ship a long time ago. after an incident while sleeping walking lucy is forced to flee to cliffhouse- her sister house. when she arrives to her sister house she is nowhere to be found with her phone and keys left behind. lucy is forced to uncover the truth of who they really are and the dreams could be more than just dreams. this one is definitely different from weyward but i absolutely ate this one up!!!

I love books told through two timelines. Sirens is told from the perspective of Lucy, a modern day college student, who joins the story after trying to strangle her boyfriend in her sleep. Lucy flees and goes to see her sister, Jess, who appears to be missing. The other timeline is told from Mary's perspective in 1800. Mary and her sister Eliza are criminals on a transport ship that sinks at sea. The setting, an island where eight men have mysteriously disappeared but were lured to their deaths by a siren's song. A siren's coming of age tale, if you will, filled with mystery, and mysticism. This book had plenty of twists and turns and while not scary, per se, it had some moments where I caught myself not breathing. This is the first book I've read by Emilia Hart and I was impressed. The narrator was fantastic and engaging. Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Net Galley for an advanced copy- very much appreciated!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

“Mary wondered if the captain could hear it: the beauty being made of his prison.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another feminist magical realism delight from Emilia Hart. I found The Sirens to be gripping and I didn’t want to stop listening.

Also, this may be my favorite cover art in recent history.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a gorgeous book. Artistically, lyrically, and emotionally, this book will take you on a deeply feminist journey. Following three women who have a special connection with the sea, you will be transported to the coast of Australia.

Follow two sets of sisters, separated by hundreds of years, as they navigate the cruelties of life and find strength in their bonds. I loved this book, and while the reveals were not that surprising to me, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of book. If you've read Weyward, her first book, you'll enjoy this one too! 5 Stars for sure!