Emilia Hart has brought the tale of mythological mermaids to the forefront with her latest novel. Sisters who, despite their differences, have more in common than they first thought. Their lives are shaped by the complexities of skin conditions and complicated relationships with their parents and ultimately with each other. There's the added mysterious disappearance of men from town that has the locals ready to close ranks on newcomers. Did these men meet unfortunate fates, or was the siren's call too hard to resist?

I added this book to my want to read list back in November 2024 so when I saw the opportunity to apply for an ARC, I jumped at it!

~SPOILER within~

This is the story of two sets of sisters, one in modern times and the other set back in the years following Australia's invasion in the 17 hundreds. I enjoyed the way the story was told mainly through Lucy and Mary. The switch between time lines was clear and easy to follow. Later on in the book, we also get to see through Jess's eyes 20 years prior. I was able to connect with each of the sisters and understood them. I wasn't surprised by the ending of the book but still thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The only aspect that annoyed me was /SPOILER the confirmation that their father is indeed their biological father. While it made my heart happy that he was actually their father, I struggled to reconcile that with the man he was portrayed to be. He was meant to be different to other men, especially those that had gone missing throughout the years. But if he was cheating on his wife who kept miscarrying their babies, how is he different? While he wasn't physically abusive to her, there's no justification for cheating in my eyes.

As an Aboriginal Australian, I really respected Hart's historical note at the beginning of the book about Australia's history noting the impacts that the British invasion had on the Indigenous Australians Peoples. Hart acknowledges that this is a painful legacy and writes 'one that is not mine to write about'. Hart encourages the reader to seek out Indigenous Australian stories and even provides a place to start - the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Hart also writes an Acknowledgement of Country to the Walbunja People.

Something that stood out to me through this story that I could not get past was the American English used. This is a story written by an Aussie author and set in Australia so I found the American English glaring obvious and it regularly took me out of the story. I understand that St Martin's Press is an American publishing house but I still would've appreciated Australian English being used. I want to acknowledge that this may be only my experience due to reading a copy from an American publisher. Other publishing houses in other countries may decide to edit this story using Australian English.

Despite these things, I had a great time reading this book. I always have a special place for Aussie authors and am grateful for the way Hart wrote about our beautiful landscape. I've recently moved overseas and reading this story helped with some of the homesickness I've been feeling. The world building took me straight back to my summers growing up and going to the beach and my winters spent in land at the family farm. While I've never been huge on mermaid folklore, I found this a great way for Hart to channel female rage. I have recommended this to my sister who loves mermaids and will continue to recommend it to others. All in, I give this book 4.5 🌟 (rounded here to 5)

NetGalley and St Martin's Press provided me with a free version of this book for my honest review - thank you!

An incredible follow-up to Weyward by Emilia Hart, The Sirens is yet another masterpiece in exploring the strength and resilience of women in the face of incredible hardships, mixed with just the right amount of myth and magic. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This book was such a great read. I am not usually one for historical fiction but this book the perfect job weaving together a modern story with one from the past. The story was a perfect mystery and watching it all come together was so fun. The imagery in this book was so vivid.

Thank you NetGalley! A tale of two pairs of sisters in different times. Mary and Eliza are on a prison ship set for New South Wales in the 1800’s. Jess and Lucy, set in 2019, struggle with sleepwalking and skin disease that sets them apart. Their stories run parallel. Based on the real prison ships carrying women charged with crimes and exiled but filled with the magic and folklore of the seas. The bonds of sisters are realized as their lives are threatened and hard choices are made and truths discovered. Well told original story with aspects of history. Would recommend!

I enjoyed Weyward so I was excited to read another book by Emilia Hart, and I think I liked this just as much.

Hart returns with yet another beautifully written novel. I felt that she really brought the characters and setting to life, the same I felt with Weyward. The characters were likable and I was interested in Lucy's discoveries and the interwoven stories from the past. It did feel a little bit slow-paced, but once I got to know the characters I grew intrigued and interested in their self-discoveries. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the mystery of Comber Bay and the magical realism of the story, and the themes of relationships, friendships, and family secrets.

Plus, I like anything that has to do with mermaids!

I was a fan of Hart’s debut novel, Weyward, but this novel surpassed that one to me.

This book completely absorbed me and I finished it in less than 24 hours while still several other books to finish. It looks like I might be in the minority with that, but I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Between the atmosphere, familial bounds, and the music of the ocean, I could not put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this novel.

After absolutely devouring Weyward, I was more than thrilled to receive an ARC of Emilia Hart’s newest book The Sirens. I was not disappointed. This was one of those books that I couldn’t wait to get back to every time life tore me away. I just needed to know what happened and try to puzzle out the connections. Like her previous book, this is another atmospheric, multiple timeline book, with some historical elements as well as some light fantasy. It is written in 3rd person in case that is something that is important for you to know.

The timelines in this story are in the 1800’s and 2019, then later looking back to the late 1990’s. The characters in each timeline were well described. I felt their emotions as my own, particularly Mary and Eliza, twin sisters living in 1801. I wanted to cry with them, I wanted to rage with them, and I wanted to sing along with the women, feeling the effects of generational trauma within myself as a woman.

This story is impactful, and it ties to what is going on in the world even (and maybe especially recently) in the present. It speaks of love, devotion, fear, pain, denial, self-doubt, and unity. It speaks to the pain many of us carry. It gives permission for us to feel what has happened to women throughout time and question the status quo. “Most people just want an easy life. It’s unsettling when someone starts pulling apart the stories we’ve stitched together, the things we tell ourselves for comfort.”. This type of writing inspires me to want to rock the boat, to dive in, to fight.

I did figure out one of the big twists before it happened, yet it didn’t feel like it took anything away from the story as it unfolded. I will say, the epilogue surprised me. It both wrapped up my final questions, and introduced new ones for me to continue to ponder.

I’ve found myself immersed in books that explore the importance of women supporting women in terribly misogynistic settings. Emilia Hart has done it again, empowering women when it appears that all hope is lost. The Sirens tells the stories of four women (Lucy, Jessica, Eliza, and Mary), who must break the injustices heaped upon them and uncover their own hidden strengths.

I’m a sucker for multiple POVs when done correctly. Hart does a fantastic job of immersing the reader into each of the four characters’ lives with three different timelines (1800s, 1999, and 2019). I was pulled into their experiences, their backstories, their obstacles and didn’t feel any disconnect from any of their stories.

I appreciate the nod to real, historical events seamlessly blended into a world of fantasy. Knowing the lore of sirens, I was expecting to read about the demise of wandering men, but I wasn’t expecting to celebrate any of the situations like I actually did. From the bonds of sisterhood to the struggles of mother and child, I was captured by the sirens’ songs!

The only thing that dropped my 5 star rating down to a 4.5 was the epilogue. I realize that it’s a personal preference and that many people probably wouldn’t think twice about it. Without sharing specific details, the epilogue didn’t have that same female empowerment as the rest of the story. There’s an element of dishonesty that simply rubbed me the wrong way. With that being said, The Sirens is definitely a book I would read again in hopes of noticing more nuances that I missed with my first read. Loved it!

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and Emilia Hart for an ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review! If Emilia Hart writes it, I'll always want to read it..

The Sirens 🧜‍♀️
By Emilia Hart



Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A spellbinding novel about sisters separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea, from the author of the runaway New York Timesbestseller Weyward.

A breathtaking tale of female resistance, The Sirens is an extraordinary novel that captures the sheer power of sisterhood and indefinable magic of the sea.

Part fantasy, part mystery, and part family drama, The Sirens is a great book that I won’t soon forget. It follows the lives of two pairs of sisters separate by hundreds of years who are tied together by the injustices they face at the hands of men.

The characters were well developed and their emotions were really well written. Hart tells the story across two different perspectives, settings, and time lines. We have themes of sisterhood, female power, trauma bonding, forgiveness, and lost love.

I really liked this book. Hart has a way about telling stories from the female perspective that unite the past with the present to show that while steps have been made in the name of progress, we still have a long way to go.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical fiction with strong email characters and a bit of mystery.


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Part family drama, part mystery, part historical fiction, and a dash of ocean magic. This is a fascinating tale of the resilience of women.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Emilia Hart for an ARC of this book.

After reading Wayward and absolutely loving it, I was thrilled to receive an ARC for Emilia Hart's new book, The Sirens.

The writing is, as expected, beautiful, atmospheric, and so immersive that I felt as though I was there with the characters—hearing the crash of the waves and the haunting songs of the sirens. The setting is rich and vivid, enveloping the reader in the haunting landscape of both land and sea.

Emilia Hart masterfully intertwines the stories of two sisters aboard a convict ship bound for Australia with the story of another pair of sisters who find themselves plagued by strange, vivid nightmares. Drawn inexplicably to the sea, the modern-day sisters are connected to the convict women of the past in ways they can’t yet understand. What they share—besides their deep, unsettling connection to the ocean—is that they were all victims of men’s cruelty in different ways.

I loved how these two storylines, separated by time, slowly built toward an eerie connection. As the past and present collide, Emilia Hart explores themes of power, survival, and the way history’s wounds can echo through generations.

The central mystery, paired with the sisters' shifting relationships, kept me eagerly turning pages. Yet it was the novel’s quiet moments—the pull of the sea, and the haunting beauty of the sirens—that had me hooked to the story.

This is a book that stays with you long after the last page. I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy historical fiction with a touch of the supernatural, beautifully layered storytelling, and a haunting atmosphere.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

3.5 stars

I really like this author’s writing style, which is why I requested to read this once I read Weyward. I just happened to like that story better. I felt like this one was a bit predictable (not fully). The title gives away a little too much for my liking. It helped me easily put together that Lucy, Jess, Eliza, and Mary were some sort of mermaid-esque creature. I also felt like the overall vibe was very somber, which I was definitely not expecting.

I will absolutely read more by this author and would recommend this specific book to people who enjoyed Weyward, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it on its own as someone’s first Emilia Hart book.

This is only my second book by this author and I love her. Her first book was so powerful and this one was too, but quieter. The story wove the stories of two sets of sisters, and we learn more about them as we watch them face hardship.
There are family secrets and heartache, with tension throughout. I kept thinking how unfair everything was. Lucy can't find her sister Jess, right when she needs her most. The sisters from the past, Mary and Eliza,go to Australia on an 1800s convict ship. The language is gorgeous and haunting, and I can't wait to read another book by Emilia Hart.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

What a cool story. I really enjoyed this read and all the characters. It felt fresh and exciting to read.

ARC Review

Now this is a book that knows how to activate your curiosity. For most of this read I felt myself craving more, needing to know more about these characters and their world. Even better - the curiosity pays off, the answers feel rewarding.

The multiple POVs is excellent, how these POVs weave together is so creative and engaging. I loved every character for individual reasons and found myself obsessed with what brought them together. Really fantastic read - mysterious and atmospheric. Highly recommend.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for providing my book club (Words & Whisks) with the ARC :)

4.5 rounded up

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook and read the story. The story kept me wanting more and I couldn't put it down. The characters, the history, the twists tied well together. It was an interesting and captivating story. The main female characters of the story were beautifully written and I enjoyed watching how they developed throughout the story.

The timeline does switch throughout the story, but it is a smooth transition and easy to follow. I liked how the story is broken up into three parts, each serving a specific purpose in the story. I especially enjoyed part 3 and how it all came together.

I highly recommend adding this book to your TBR!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

"The Sirens" features two timelines that share a tragic setting. The modern setting of Jess and Lucy features two sisters who have drifted apart. Both must deal with a skin condition that causes large flakes and scarring if they get wet. When Lucy's intimate picture is released online, she flees her university to her sister. But Jess is missing. While Lucy waits for her return, she begins digging into the mysteries of Jess's town. At night, she has strange dreams and hears women singing off the coast.

The second timeline follows Mary and Eliza, sisters from Ireland on a convict ship bound for Australia. Eliza tells stories of their mother as they travel. Over time, both begin to undergo physical changes.

What a dark and stormy (literally + figuratively) book!

Sirens tells the story of two sets of sisters, separated by time but connected by circumstance and dreams.

I love a complex family story and this literally has it all. I felt myself connecting to Jess and Lucy, both past and present versions of them as well as myself.

Something I really enjoyed was the slow introduction of Jess through the story even though her character is central to all that is happening. First, we only know her in Lucy’s childhood memories, then through her teenage diary, and finally in her own words. To me this really helped explain the decisions she made and how she ended up where she is now. It moved the mystery along at a really great pace and made the twist even more shocking.

The use of dreams to connect the two timelines was really interesting, Eliza and Mary’s story was sort of mirrored in Jess and Lucy’s lives… it helped the girls get to where they needed to be and the dreams ended when the girls finally discovered their true selves.

Loved that this book was a bit historical fiction, but also magical fantasy. Interesting to see how the lives of the 2 main characters were developed and how their story unfolded. The mystery part of it really kept it going till the end.