The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a beautifully atmospheric read, blending mythology with real-world mysteries that kept me hooked from the first page. The writing feels effortless and flows with a gentle rhythm, drawing you deeper into a coastal world full of secrets and unforgettable characters.

Hart weaves together folklore and modern life in a way that feels both haunting and completely grounded. Each character brings something unique, and the sirens themselves are portrayed with a fresh, complex depth that makes them feel genuinely real.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the chance to get lost in this captivating story—I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a touch of magic woven into the everyday.

This book was truly captivating and immersive, set in different timelines. The story was enchanting and mysterious with several twists that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

I really loved this book! Beautiful prose, powerful themes, eerie atmosphere, and multi timeline POVs of strong women- all thoroughly soaked in sea water and feminine rage. If you love elements of lit fic, mystery, history and fantasy then this is the read for you!

Men have been going missing from a seaside town for generations - ever since a ship wreck on the coast that claimed the lives of women convicts being sent to Australia from Ireland. Lucy is haunted by vivid dreams about two sisters on a convict ship and the calling of the sea. After leaving uni due to waking up with her hands around her ex boyfriend’s throat (valid), she runs to her sister for help just to realise Jess is missing. Now it’s time for Lucy to unravel the the murky secrets of her family’s past and investigate the strange disappearances of men off the NSW coast, while battling a strange scaly skin condition that only seems to be getting worse.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins Australia and Emilia Hart for an advance digital copy of this beautiful book!

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 received an Advanced Reading Copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own, many thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers.

Emilia Hart has created a fascinating novel that blends historical fiction with elements of folklore and the supernatural. The book alternates between two timelines, one of the 1800s and modern times, connecting the lives of two Irish convict women, twin sisters, Mary and Eliza; Jess and Lucy, in modern times. This structure allows the novel to explore themes of survival, resilience, and the power of sisterhood across centuries.

In the 1800s, Mary and Eliza are subjected to a brutal life as prisoners, but they share a mysterious connection that manifests through certain physical characteristics and an innate resilience. These women possess features reminiscent of mythical sirens or mermaids, especially their captivating voices and pale, ichthyosis-like skin. The story draws parallels between their experiences of entrapment and hardship with the lives of Jess and Lucy, who share Mary's and Eliza's similar physical conditions. They have their own demons, suggesting that the bonds and struggles of these women transcend time.

The suffering of Mary and Eliza and their fellow women convicts being held in the hold of the ship, live in hell. This area below deck, in the lower part of the vessel, is cramped, dark, and poorly ventilated. Conditions are harsh, with this section of the ship designed to keep the women confined for the duration of the long journey. Food and water are a scarce commodity, starvation is imminent.

2019, Jess has become distant to Lucy for which is a mystery to her. She tries to puzzle through her past reactions to her much older sister to try and understand how this attitude has come about. Unbeknown to her Jess is dealing with emotional stress and her own dark secret which has recently loomed at her head on. Lucy heads out to where Jess had moved to, their parents' old home, a clifftop ramshackled house. She has panicked at a recent event when she was discovered involuntarily trying to do harm to her former boyfriend. She has lost her anchor in life, finding Jess may help in restoring her well being while at the same time hopefully answer some of her questions regarding their physicality so different from their parents.

The novel delves into European folklore, particularly the myth of the sirens or mermaids, beings that are magical, beautiful, and often tragic. These mythical creatures are known for their prophetic powers, connection to music, and alluring, sometimes dangerous, nature. In Sirens, the folklore of these beings serves as a metaphor for the power and danger inherent in women's voices and the consequences of being misunderstood or demonised in patriarchal societies. The book is both an historical adventure and a meditation on identity, oppression, and the magic that lies within.

In 1788 twin sisters, Mary and Eliza, are convicts on board a ship transporting them from England to the colony of New South Wales. They are packed in with other female convicts under appalling conditions, fearful of what fate awaits them.

In Australia in 2019 Lucy has just graduated from high school and is going to visit her older sister, Jess, an artist who has bought back the former family home in Comber Bay on the New South Wales south coast. Famously, a convict ship sank when it hit the rocks outside Comber Bay in 1788; over the years there has also been the disappearance, presumed drowned, of a number of men.

Lucy and Jess both suffer from an allergy to water which leaves their skin tender and flakey and has brought them both anguish and vulnerability. Jess has secrets that Lucy has yet to learn and which unfold dramatically over the course of the book.

Both Jess and Lucy have strong, subconscious connections to the tragic twins, which come to them in dreams, although neither of them is aware that the other is experiencing the same thing. The story of the convict ship is woven vividly through the story and it is sad and shocking. I discovered recently that one of my ancestors was a female convict transported to Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) and it is pretty unbearable to think of what she must have suffered in order for me to exist in this beautiful country. She married a male convict and I hope they had some measure of comfort together as they or possibly their children moved to New South Wales (I’ll have to check with the family historian).

Emilia Hart’s intriguing, atmospheric story is going to stay with me for a long time, as I am sure it will for all of its readers.

Published by Harper Collins Australia