I liked this book. The story begins as one of a younger sister, Lucy, who travels across the country to seek out her older sister, Jess, during a time of great personal stress. Instead of finding her sister, however, Lucy stumbles upon artwork and a mystery.

The artwork features characters from Lucy's dreams-- two sisters who were deported to Australia from Ireland two hundred years earlier. Lucy starts to question how she and Jess are sharing the same dreams. Who are the figures in their visions and why are they revealing themselves to the girls? The mystery is about the place that Jess has decided to make her home. Jess lives in a town where a variety of men have gone missing. No one knows what has happened to them, but it seems likely that something is lurking and watching. Are these missing men somehow related to the fact that Jess is also currently missing? In order to learn more about both of these items, Lucy begins learning more about the history of the area and the lonesome life her sister has lived to this point.

I found this book to be totally readable. Like Weyward, it was a strong feminist read, but it was still enjoyable. I will say that I didn't really think about the storyline unless I was reading the book, but it still was interesting enough to keep me going. I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

After absolutely loving Weyward, I was over the moon to get an advanced reader’s copy of The Sirens!! Emilia Hart once again delivers a story centered on powerful, complex women — this time with a mesmerizing connection to the sea. 🌊

The novel follows three timelines:

In 2019, Lucy wakes from a nightmare to find her hands around her ex-lover’s throat. Fleeing to her sister Jess’s coastal home for answers, she finds Jess missing … and unsettling rumors about the town’s history of vanished men and eerie voices at sea. Desperate, Lucy turns to Jess’s old diary.

In 1999, teenage Jess, isolated by a rare water allergy, finds solace and dangerous attention from her art teacher, who sees something powerful in her.

In 1800, twin sisters Mary and Eliza, torn from their home in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship to Australia, begin to feel strange changes within them - and an undeniable pull from the sea.

Three timelines intertwine in a haunting tale of sisterhood, power, and the ocean’s mysterious call.

While Weyward remains my favorite, The Sirens still captivated me with its lyrical writing, atmospheric setting, and powerful women. I gave this one a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐️!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this!

This was an interesting blend of genres; magical realism in the form of sirens, dreams of another time period pushing it towards historical fiction, and the mysteries of why Lucy woke up strangling her boyfriend and where her sister Jess has gone missing to. It was not my typical pick, but I still found it intriguing. Some parts felt like the meant to be reveals that I had figured out too early, but there were still some things I didn’t see coming. If you’re into women getting revenge on bad men plus some interesting family dynamics and secrets, this is for you.

I’m the daughter of a marine biologist who grew up by the ocean but left home at 17 and has been landlocked and longing ever since. When I tell you that this book fully encapsulates the sea, I do not say it lightly. From the very first page I was riveted and by midway through, I completely neglected my family because I couldn’t stop reading. In the tub. Because it was the closest I could get to the sea. Seriously. This is a tale of women and the complicated and sometimes scary men in their lives. Of secrets and dreams and imperfections, and of love. Most importantly of love. The thing that I cannot get over was the atmosphere of everything aquatic and salty and misty and damp and wet, swirling with blues and shades of aquamarine, with tinges of rotting wood and brine and mold and algae. I don’t know how the author mastered this sensory experience so completely, but I’m expecting my own gills to pop through any minute. This is not a book to be missed. Five completely astounded stars.

Thank you Net Galley for this Advance Reader Copy.

A 4.5 star read that was just so beautiful and impactful and emotional, I'm still thinking about it.

Author Hart came across my radar with her debut Weyward a few years ago. I have long been fascinated with mermaid and sirens, and was beyond ecstatic when an earc/arc from St. Martin's Press was sent to me. I saved this book to immerse myself in when I went on vacation, and it did not disappoint.

The story jumps between sister Lucy and Jess in the present day (2019) and sisters Mary and Eliza in the past. Lucy has done something she can't explain, so she runs to Jess, only to find her missing with clues to what may have happened. In interwoven chapters, Mary tells of her travels with Eliza and other women via a prisoner ship with less than stellar odds of actually making it to its destination.

Other than that, I don't want to give too much of this spellbinding story away. I loved the way Hart crafted the story with historical fiction, multiple timelines, multiple POVs, with themes of motherhood and sisterhood and a little bit of female rage. Most of all I loved the magical realism aspect to the story, where you have to extend your belief in just the right way I love to when I'm reading and losing myself in a book. I cannot rave about this book enough. Loved loved loved.

A beautiful story of sisters told in two timelines. I enjoyed the elements of historical fiction and magical realism interwoven into the story.

The Sirens is a story of longing, deep family secrets, and the search for self.

Lucy, who suffers from a rare skin condition, wakes one night with her hands around the neck of one of her college roommates, a man she was recently betrayed by. The vivid nightmares and the sleepwalking caused her to flee in a panic to her sister's house, hours away from the college and the awful act she'd unintentionally committed. She hadn't seen Jess in over a year and finds the beach house vacant when she arrives. Many questions stir as she takes in the house, the paintings recently finished, and the way it appears as though she left in a hurry. Lucy searches for answers among her sister's things and finds her teenage diary, which provides more insight into Lucy's life than she was prepared for.

The timeline goes back over 200 years where we learn about twin sisters on a convict ship destined for Australia. Their lives are rife with loss, and the inhumanity they're exposed to on the ship is devastating. As time progresses, they begin to notice changes in themselves and realize maybe the ocean that swallowed their mother isn't something to fear after all.

I quite enjoy the way Hart writes. She has this incredible ability to describe a scene like it's playing out in front of you. It's immersive, and it's easy to get lost in the beauty of her words. I felt drawn into the story from the start and was anxious to find out how the various timelines were linked together. I did, however, struggle when the timeline followed Jess during her teen years because the language didn't change. It didn't read like actual diary entries, which took away from their impact.

Though this book is a bit outside of what I normally read, I did enjoy it as a whole. I read about 60% of the book before things clicked into place, and I was impressed by Hart's ability to make the obvious a little harder to see initially. This one leans more to the side of fantasy than Weyward, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

4 Stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC copy of this novel!

3.5/5 ⭐️

On the whole I enjoyed this book, I liked how unexpectedly creepy it was at times, the family mystery, and the historical fantasy. I liked when a book goes between timelines as you try to figure out how they connect, and I think this did that well.

I do think it was a bit meandering at times, with stretches of not a ton happening, which is fine if you’re expecting a slower paced book.

What really hampered things for me was the epilogue, which has never happened to me before. Before that point, I was coming away thinking the theme was family both found and made and the strength of those bonds. But then the epilogue kind of turned that on its head, and left me wondering if the point was only about the sisterhood of women and that all men are inherently bad. Which don’t get me wrong, I love a healthy dose of feminine rage and vengeance and most of it in this book was very deserved. But the epilogue just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall though I did have a good time with this book, although it was more of a slow-paced mystery than I’d expected.

Thanks to the publisher for the early copy.

Emilia Hart did it again! Weyward is one of my favorite books so this was highly anticipated for me. I absolutely love the way she incorporates historical and magical realism elements into her stories. I have never read a book about the convict ships sent to Australia and it was heartbreaking. I loved the dual timelines and storylines of the two pairs of sisters. While, I figured out a couple of the twists in advance, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story. If you love reading about resilience of women, I highly recommend! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the eARC!

The Sirens is a tale of female empowerment and sisterhood throughout centuries.

Emilia Hart is a wonderful, evocative writer and I felt very drawn to this story but I found it to be very thematically similar to Weyward. I had hoped for something a little different, instead of replacing witches with mermaids. I had also hoped for a bit more of the mermaid/sirens to be featured. Maybe if the epilogue had been told by the siren it would have felt more complete.

I did enjoy reading this though and the storytelling was lovely.

Such a beautiful cover!! And anything to do with multigenerational drama and add in sirens/mermaids!?! Yes please! Such an atmospheric read as well! I would love to hear this on audio as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I read Weyward by Emilia Hart back in 2023 and really enjoyed it! I was excited to see what she would do next.

The Sirens is a great mix of history and female frustrations coming to head. All the women in the story are bonded together to survive a world that is too often cruel to them.

I think the book will pull in readers of historical fiction and fantasy as there are elements of the fantastical mixed throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley, Emilia Hart, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read The Sirens. The book comes out April 1st! I have written this review voluntarily and honestly.

Emilia Hart does it again! The Sirens is a beautiful story weaving together pieces of information that starts coming together at the halfway point of the book. My jaw was wide open for about 53%-75% as things started making sense, I read the back half of the book in a 24-hr period because I could not put it down.
A tale of sisterhood, motherhood, womanhood. Finding where you belong. Multiple POVs spanning from the 1700s to today.
It felt cheesy in some places but I remind myself this has some elements of lite-magic toward the end. Mostly realistic throughout the first two parts!
Now I want to go to the ocean!

This was my first book by Emilia Hart and it did not disappoint! Her writing is beautiful and really immerses you in the story! 😍

I stepped out of my typical genres with this one, and while not horror, the read definitely has some haunting elements to it! 🥰

This story focuses on the tales of sisters in dual timelines 200 years apart. I didn’t feel a connection as much to Mary and Eliza, but I did enjoy the characters of Lucy and Jess. And the twist got me! 🙌

Definitely recommend to lovers of magical realism and feminism! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Emilia Hart for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! Can’t wait to finally read Weyward, which has been sitting on my TBR for a while! ❤️

Lucy is haunted by dreams of a shipwreck that lead her to Comber Bay to see her sister. When she arrives she finds paintings of her dreams come to life, but no Jess. Determined to uncover what’s going on, Lucy begins unraveling family secrets and long ago histories.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

3.5 stars

i was over the moon to have been approved for both an arc and an alc after absolutely devouring emilia hart’s debut, weyward. after such a strong debut, i was expecting a little more from hart’s sophomore novel.

while i did enjoy the plot despite the dark themes of abuse and assault, the three different timelines were weakly interconnected, which turned me off. i also felt the reveal took too long to happen, especially when it was almost 90% of the way into the book…

as for the narrator, i think they did a fantastic job!

✨ARC Review✨

Folklore and women’s history merge in this story told in three timelines.

Lucy awakens with her hands around a man’s throat. Twin sisters, Mary and Eliza, are being put on a convict ship to New South Wales. Jess is discovering something life-altering.

These four women’s stories make up The Sirens.

When journalism student Lucy becomes aware that she’s assaulted a former lover in her sleep, she can think of only one place to go- her sister, Jess. But when she gets there Jess is gone; her phone, keys, and car all left behind. The place where Jess lives, Comber Bay, is infamous for a shipwreck in 1801 and for the disappearances of eight men over the course of decades. There’s even a podcast about it.

Mary and Eliza are considered lucky to have escaped the hangman’s noose and *only* being shipped off as convicts to NSW. The prison deck is packed with 80+ women for a months-long journey. The women have nothing to do but talk to each other and barely survive for six months. And all the while Mary and Eliza remember their kind Da and their Mam who went into the ocean when they were little and never came back. And maybe they’re changing a bit too.

Jess has always been different, a goth teen in the late 90’s with one close friend and an art teacher who thinks she’s a special talent. That year everything changes for her.

I appreciate what this author was going for. I was originally going to give this book a three, but it stayed with me. Making me think about these characters and their stories. When I reviewed my highlighted quotes, they made me feel some kind of way. Furious at the everlasting patriarchy. I felt compelled to bump up my review. As always, I do believe there are readers who will love this book.

I received this eARC via #netgalley and @stmartinspress. All thoughts are mine alone.

#contemporaryfiction #literaryfiction #litfic #booksbooksbooks #bookreview #thesirens #emiliahart

This book was fantastic. It takes a bit for the story to fully flesh out but I really enjoyed how the main character really discovers who she is. I definitely want to read more from this author. Definitely trigger warnings for an older man younger girl scenario and sexual assault.

I finished this book at 4am, I fell asleep reading it and dreamed of the ocean and woke up to finish the novel. I loved it. I saw some of the turns coming but I fully missed the others. I loved the emotional moments of Lucy revealing her past through the research she loves to do. I loved the contrast of her moments to Jess's moments of learning her truths. I loved the moments of Mary and Eliza on board the ship, waiting to see what their future holds. I love the idea that trauma affects these women but it doesn't control them. And I love that the things that are important to them in the moment stop being important to them when they learn the truth. Lucy experiences a traumatic moment at school and runs to her sister. She ignores texts, calls, and emails, building up the suspense, until she finally acknowledges one. But by the time she does, we're so invested in what she finds in Comber Bay, where her sister has left her phone and her car and her cat behind in a hurry, that we don't care about university and her degree.

I've never read Weyward, even though I've heard amazing things, and I cannot wait to read more of Emilia Hart's novels. Thank you to St Martin's Press, Netgalley, and Emilia Hart for an advanced copy of The Sirens in exchange for an honest review

Interesting story. Liked how the different timelines and POVs wove together, liked the sense of mystery and figuring out how everything connected. I did guess a couple of the big reveals. Decent setting, decent pace and buildup, interesting mix of real historical events and slight mythical vibes.