I originally started this book in April and just couldn’t get into it . But I also didn’t want to DNF because I loved the author’s previous book. I was finally able to get an audio copy from the library and I’m really glad I did. This is a fairly slow paced novel but it definitely has a very interesting story - well two really . Part of the story takes place on a woman’s convict ship headed to Australia in 1801 ( not something I had read about or had any knowledge of) and the other part is a modern day story of a girl searching for her missing sister and who is also haunted by nightmares of the two girls on the convict ship 🚢 … history, family drama , mystery and magical realism all rolled into one great story

My rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

1.5 stars

B.O.R.I.N.G.

Gosh, I hate when a book lulls me to sleep and sucks all the positive energy I have for reading traditionally published books. This book did exactly that. It was so hard for me to finish. It completely dampened my desire to pick up another book.

The premise sounded cool. Women from different timelines connected by some sort of magic and history? Yes please. But nope. The execution was so bland. The pacing was slow as hell. The writing kept trying to be deep and poetic, but instead of feeling emotional or powerful, it just felt flat and vague. I kept waiting for something to hit me. Something to make me feel. But nothing ever did.

All the characters, I swear their voices all felt the same. I kept forgetting whose chapter I was even reading. It’s like I was being told I should care, but I just didn’t. There was no punch. Just vibes. And not the good kind.

It’s been weeks, and in between trying to finish this, I’ve read like 3,000+ pages worth of fanfics 😭😭 I want to come back so bad, but I don’t know why my latest traditionally published reads keep disappointing me.

Please read another dazzling review for this before deciding!!

Note : Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me this ARC

After a disturbing altercation with her ex-boyfriend, Lucy flees to her sister Jess' house for comfort. However, when she arrives, her sister is missing. Where is Jess and why?

The story alternates between the past and the present. In 1800, sisters Mary and Eliza are on board a convict ship after being banished from Ireland to Australia. In 2019, while waiting for Jess to return, Lucy researches the strange things that have happened in the town, including a shipwreck, numerous missing men, an abandoned baby, and women’s voices coming from the sea. What is the connection between the two sets of sisters? And how are they all affected by aquagenic urticaria, an extremely rare type of raised, itchy hives triggered by contact with water?

This was an interesting, mythical/Irish folk lore tale about two pairs of sisters who have been mistreated by men and long to be free.

"There's something about this place, something different. It keeps its women safe."

While I enjoyed the historic aspects and the very feminist sirens in this story, the fantasy portion was a bit too odd for my taste. For these reasons, Weyward (5 stars) remains my favorite by this author. Last but not least, this story reminded me of Shark Heart (3 stars).

Location: Comber Bay (fictional town), Australia and Cove of Cork, Ireland

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really struggled to get into this book. The pacing was painfully slow, and it never managed to pull me in or hook my interest. I found it difficult to connect with the characters, especially the main character, whose actions felt inconsistent and, frankly, irritating at times. The use of multiple POVs and timelines added complexity but didn’t help the story flow. Not even the audiobook could keep me hooked; I found my mind wandering constantly and had to rewind several times. Overall, this one just didn’t resonate with me.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy.

The premise of The Sirens was very promising, but the execution fell a bit flat for me. I was looking forward to the mermaid lore, and would’ve liked more about the sirens luring men in! I didn’t particularly understand some of the characters’ motivations which left me feeling disconnected from them. I felt like there were some crucial pieces of the story that were swept over, and the ending left me with more questions instead of answering the ones I already had.

I did love how atmospheric this story felt - Hart does an incredible job of making you feel like you can taste the salty air and hear the waves crashing. The setting was the strongest part of this story for me, and made for a great book to read at the beach!

3.5 stars, not as strong as her debut but this book drew me in from the start. I liked the multiple povs and timelines. I had always heard about how Australia was colonized but I didn’t know about the female stories and I learned about it in this book.

With a shocking opening, with main character Lucy attempting to strangle her ex-boyfriend then escaping to her older sister Jess' place to hide, this second book by Emilia Hart demonstrates that it is full of strong emotions, mystery, and darkness.

Using three timelines, one set in 1800, the others in 1999 and 2019, Hart keeps us guessing about the connection between the sisters in 1800s and the sisters in 1999 and 2019.

1800: Mary and Eliza are transported to Australia aboard a convict ship for some unknown crime. They suffer, along with several other women, on the long and arduous journey.

1999: Jess is sixteen-years old, lonely, artistic, and suffering from a strange allergy to water. She feels disconnected from her parents, and her schoolmates, but an art teacher gives her a boost of confidence when he sees something unusual and special in her drawings.

In 2019: After rushing to Jess' place for safety and anonymity, Lucy begins to discover Jess had all sorts of secrets. Lucy also learns about the history of the town Jess lives in, and how an abandoned baby was found there years earlier, and that there have been many stories for over a century by sailors, who have claimed they have heard women's voices in the ocean.

Lucy also begins to discover the secrets that have always been at the heart of her family., much to her sadness and anger.

I felt totally immersed in this story from the get-go. The descriptions of the hardships within the convict ship hold are claustrophobic and nightmarish. Then, Lucy's family's dynamics and secrets are corrosive and well drawn, causing Luch and Jess much pain.

While this got off to a slightly slower start than the author's "Weyward", I thoroughly enjoyed this story, which I both read and listened to. I'm familiar with voice actor Barrie Kreinik's work, and she does a great job voicing all the characters and accents and emotions.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for these ARCs in exchange for my review.

"The Sirens" by Emilia Hart was an interesting premise. Mystery, mermaids, what more could you ask for?

It just felt like a bit of a let down in that I wasn't able to connect to the book emotionally as is kind of expected with women's fiction.

I do think there is an audience out there that will enjoy this book. I did like it, I just couldn't love it.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for selecting me for this ARC.

I LOVED THIS! I liked Weyward and was excited to read this one as well. This author has an amazing way with words and did an incredible job of weaving a complex and dynamic story. I really enjoyed it! Thank you for the ARC!

Historical mystery, very atmospheric. Hart’s prose is absolutely stunning, loved the dual timelines and perspectives. Adored Weyward and The Sirens held up beautifully!

In The Sirens, Emilia Hart casts a net of enchantment that snares the heart and refuses to let go. This sophomore novel, following the siren call of her debut Weyward, is a tidal surge of storytelling—part historical lament, part contemporary mystery, all woven with the gossamer threads of magical realism. Set across three timelines—1800, 1999, and 2019—on the rugged Australian coast, Hart’s tale follows two pairs of sisters, Mary and Eliza, and Jess and Lucy, bound by the sea’s secrets and the resilience of womanhood. It’s a symphony of sorrow and strength, sung in prose as luminous as moonlight on water.

In 1800, twin sisters Mary and Eliza, torn from Ireland’s embrace, endure the brutal confines of a convict ship bound for Australia. The ocean, once a terror after their mother’s drowning, begins to whisper to them, stirring inexplicable changes in their bodies. Meanwhile, in 2019, Lucy flees a nightmarish act—her hands around an ex-lover’s throat—to her sister Jess’s cliffside home, only to find Jess vanished. Reading Jess’s 1999 diary, Lucy uncovers echoes of their shared water allergy and haunting dreams that mirror the twins’ plight. Hart’s narrative dances between these eras, each wave of prose crashing with purpose, revealing a tapestry of sisterhood, trauma, and mythical defiance.

Hart’s pen is a sextant, charting the depths of female experience with precision. The sirens—less seductresses, more avenging spirits—embody the rage and redemption of women wronged by history’s heavy hand. Mary and Eliza’s shipboard horrors pulse with dread, while Jess and Lucy’s modern struggles, including a predatory teacher’s shadow, resonate with chilling relevance. Yet, Hart never lets despair drown hope; her characters are buoys of resilience, their bonds as unbreakable as the sea is vast. The Australian coast, with its caves and shipwrecks, becomes a character itself, its briny breath infusing every page with eerie allure.

If there’s a snag in this net, it’s the occasional drift in pacing, particularly in the modern timeline, where Lucy’s sleuthing feels more passive than her ambition suggests. The fantastical elements, while beguiling, sometimes linger too lightly, leaving readers craving a deeper plunge into the siren’s lore. Yet these are mere ripples in an otherwise mesmerizing tide.

The Sirens is a haunting hymn to sisterhood, a reminder that women’s voices—whether human or mythical—can shatter even the sturdiest patriarchal chains. Hart has crafted a novel that sings, weeps, and roars, leaving readers adrift in its wake, listening for the sea’s next call.

If you loved Weyward or enjoy stories where nature, magic, and women get their revenge, this is your next obsession. It’s hypnotic tale of freedom, fury, and Women standing against the men who harm them

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Sirens by Emilia Hart.
The Sirens is a novel containing elements of magical realism. Character driven female character, and descriptive setting make this story come to life. At times the pacing is off and the book seemed to drag. At times the character was too emotionally stuck and just needed to make changes to make her life what she wanted it to be instead of wallowing in the past. The story is told in multiple time periods, and Hart does a good job keeping the reader aware of the character and time.

I enjoy Emilia Hart’s writing and absolutely loved Weyward. The Sirens, unfortunately wa almost a DNF for me. Told through multiple perspectives, I found it difficult to connect to the characters. If you enjoy books that focus on sisters, secrets, and female friendships this might be worth a read, but I think Weyward was more entertaining and more interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I really wanted to love this book. A blend of magical elements and thriller vibes? That sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, The Sirens just didn’t work for me, and I ended up putting it down fairly early.

The first few chapters were incredibly disorienting. I started with the audiobook, but quickly realized I wasn’t following anything. Thinking maybe I’d missed something in the narration, I switched to the physical book. Sadly, it didn’t help. The story was still confusing, the worldbuilding unclear, and I had no sense of where the plot was going or why I should care.

Worse, I couldn’t connect with the main character, Lucy. Her voice didn’t click with me, and without a compelling protagonist to hold onto, I had no motivation to keep reading. I know some readers push through in hopes a story improves later, especially with ARCs, but I’m not one of them. If a book can’t hook me in the beginning, I usually take that as a sign.

I wish I had more to say, but I didn’t get far enough into the story to form deeper thoughts. The one highlight? The cover is stunning. It’s what drew me in to begin with.

Unfortunately, the inside didn’t live up to the outside. I can’t personally recommend The Sirens, but if you love a slow start and can power through confusing openings, it might land better for you than it did for me.

Unlike most other reviews I've seen for The Sirens, I actually liked it more than Weyward. I was intrigued by Mary and Eliza's story in the past and most of Lucy's story in the present. The parts that were supposed to be Jess's diary didn't really read like a diary, but I guess that was the only way for Lucy to gain information since these characters aren't big on regular communication. Jess's story was frustrating. While I felt bad for what she went through as a teenager, she made some questionable choices as an adult. There were a few things that I felt needed more explanation with the ending, and the very last part was a bit disappointing. Overall it was an entertaining story that was less disturbing and more hopeful than Weyward.

After loving her debut, Weyward, I went into this one with very high expectations. While I did enjoy reading this book and appreciated the premise, I ultimately wanted more. It seemed too much in the modern/real world for the fantastic realism to … feel real. The characters weren’t very likable and the twist/ending was odd and left me feeling so unsettled. I’m looking forward to reading more from Hart, but just not a fan of this one.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t get into this book the way I wanted to. I’ll try again when I’m in a different reading mood!

I could not get into the plot. The premise seemed super intriguing but the pacing was very slow and inconsistent. I appreciated the style of narration in the main timeline, but the secondary timeline felt random.

I was very excited about the opportunity to read this book because I thoroughly enjoyed Weyward. This book also has three distinct perspectives, each set in its own time period. Each of the narrators is searching for purpose and belonging and must undergo trials and tribulations during her journey.

Jess is the main narrator, as her story is set in the modern day. She faces disciplinary actions at university for something she doesn’t remember happening, and then the mystery deepens when she can’t find her older sister. The other pair of sisters—convicts bound for transportation to Australia from 1800—provide an added layer of depth to the story.

I loved this book so much because the characters were easy to empathize with and despite the three different eras, they were all relatable. On that note, the stories are all connected, so there was also a sense of mystery to discover how and why everything fits together. Many of the chapters end with little cliffhangers, but that didn’t bother me because the switch in perspective meant a new opportunity to find more clues.

I would absolutely recommend The Sirens. This book features incredible three women’s journeys of survival and empowerment in a cruel world. Hart has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I am already looking forward to her next book.


I received a digital ARC of this book from St. Martin’s/NetGalley.