I love mermaids! I loved how enchanted this book is. and how the cover is beautiful. This story is powerful and quite the journey.

This book was pure magic. A combination of Sisterhood, adventure and fantasy.
If there are mermaids, I am in.
The story was a slower paced, but gave me time to appreciate it.
I loved it being told in two timelines

EMILIA HART YOU ABSOLUTE GENIUS!!!!! I have now fallen in love with two of Emilia Hart’s books. I have been absolutely obsessed with Weyward since I read it and was beyond excited for this release. It definitely lived up to my expectations. I don’t think I can properly articulate just how much I adore Hart’s writing and the way she conveys such heart and soul within her books. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and cement Hart’s place as one of my favorite authors.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover," they say.... but what if the cover is the very thing that draws you to the book?? In this case, this really worked out for me. I read Emilia Hart's first novel and was curious to see her follow up. This book is quite different, but in a way that really worked for me. The alternating timelines wove together in ways that you sort of guessed along the way, but weren't quite sure. This book was beautifully written and the narrator was a 10/10 for me. (Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers (Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press) for an eARC and a listening ARC-- I was lucky enough to have this novel in both formats which allowed me to get LOST in the story and not really do much else until I was done (if I wasn't reading, I was listening).

The Sirens publishes in May and if you're in the mood for something a little different with beautiful writing, this may be just what you're searching for.

The Sirens is great for readers who enjoy a book on sisterhood, doused with fantasy and a strong sense of the sea. The story is engaging, the Australian setting lovely, and I liked learning a bit of Australian history, the female prisoners sent from England and Ireland to Australia to become wives or slaves. The author gave plenty of clues as to what the "secret" or twist to the story was, so no real surprises there, but still a fun read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this eARC.

People who loved Emilia Hart's Weyward are bound to love her next novel, The Sirens. The way Hart is able to weave tales between the past and present is impressive. The Sirens combines the right amount of magical realism with history, grabbing the reader's attention from the first few pages. I enjoyed the character Lucy and her growth throughout the novel. She was a complex character that began to appreciate her family throughout the novel. The love between the two sets of characters--Jess and Lucy, Mary and Eliza is evident and inspiring. A story of not giving up hope, loving oneself, and seeing people through their flaws, The Sirens is a must read for anyone wanting to embark on a magical journey.

This is the story of Lucy and her sister Jess and Mary and Eliza, told centuries apart. Jess and Lucy are apparently allergic to water. And have dreams about women hundreds of years earlier who did the same. The water harms them, yet they are drawn to it.

Hmm....the writing was fantastic, and the atmosphere was top-notch. I just never felt compelled by the personalities of the women within.

I love, love, love this book. A bit of finding yourself, uncovering the past and a dash of mythology. Emilia Hart never fails to blow me away.

A journey of self-discovery wrapped up in a timeless tale of merfolk and the sirens of the sea. This story takes the reader from Ireland to Australia and New South Wales. It is a terrifying journey for two twin sisters on a prison ship and the many women with them. It is also the story of a family and what you do to keep your loved ones as safe as possible and to know they are loved. This is a beautifully crafted tale that alternates between the prison ship of the past and the present day.

Emilia Hart is back with another atmospheric novel full of magical realism, mystery, and female empowerment. The story is told in two timelines: twins Mary and Eliza in 1800, who board a convict ship in Ireland en route to NSW. (Based on a true story). Their mother had mysteriously disappeared at sea years earlier.

In 2019 Australia, Lucy flees university after a sleepwalking episode where she wakes up choking her ex-boyfriend. She makes the twelve hour journey to Comber Bay, where her sister Jess lives. On arrival, the mystery deepens and questions abound. The house is in chaos, the door unlocked, with Jess's latest painting of The Sirens on display. It also appears that a man was at her house. But Jess is gone, and her cell phone and car are still at the house. Where is she? Her art show at the gallery is just days away. Using her journalistic skills and Jess's diary, Lucy sets out to solve the case. Why is she sleepwalking and having nightmares that seem to connect her to sisters from the past? Why does she have aquagenic urticaria?

This book is woven with themes of sisterhood, the bonds of family, and choosing your own destiny. It pulled me in like a siren call to the sea, and I highly recommend it. 🌊 🧜‍♀️
Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Emilia Hart for the advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

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"The Sirens" by Emilia Hart was wildly disappointing. Hart's writing is beautiful, yet I found this story lacking. I was hooked for around the first 20 percent of the book, but I quickly found myself losing interest. There just wasn't enough happening. Most of the book is spent with Lucy just waiting for the next thing to happen. I thought the chapters revolving around Mary and Eliza were boring. The one thing that kept me reading was Hart's prose. I don't think I would have finished this book if it had been written by another author. If you enjoy mysteries with little to no action, you may enjoy this. But for readers who enjoy action-packed fantasies, I would recommend you skip it.

Eerie and unsettling books have been a recent hit for me, and this book fits this description perfectly!

This book is set in two different times in history, and both follow a set of sisters. One follows two sisters who are on a prisoner ship and are being sailed off to Australia where they most likely will be met with more horrors than they already have experienced. The other time follows a sister whose daily life is being challenged by these visions she is seeing, and so she flees and goes in search of her older sister for help. When she arrives at her sister's home though she is nowhere to be found.

Both timelines highlight the struggles of being a woman in the past and the present, and that is a huge focus of the book. This book may focus on how the world forces women to struggle, but it also focuses on the strength of woman and their connections with each other. This focus adds purpose to the book and makes it multi-dimensional, and I was truly able to connect with these aspects of the book.

One of the other things that stood out to me in this book was the atmosphere it creates for the reader. There is such an eerie and strange vibe to this book, and it truly felt immersive. The setting and just feel of this story were masterfully created by this author, and in doing so made such an interesting place/set for this story to take place.

Overall I was very impressed with this story, and also the atmosphere that it was created in.

This is a really rich tale with super beautiful prose. The pace was a bit too slow for me, especially in the beginning, and it led to me not fully appreciating the end as much as I could have.

The Sirens, following a similar story structure to Weyward (which I really enjoyed) gave me an edge when it came to the predictability of this story. However, I still found it to be very well written and an intriguing story. I listened to the audiobook alongside reading the e-arc and I had a great time, mostly. There were some points that really seemed to lull but I am happy that I continued. I love seeing all of the story lines coming together! I cannot wait to see what Emilia Hart does next, or if she will choose to continue these interconnected story lines.

This was a really beautiful story about female empowerment. It was so mysterious and engaging. We learn about the lives of four women from two different timelines. I love their story of healing, trauma, and accepting who they are. The connection was also super interesting.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a chance to read this book ahead of the release.

I really enjoyed this book. Hart's writing is evocative as always and the story was very compelling. I was very drawn into the mystery and I absolutely loved the haunting setting of Comber Bay.

After loving her debut, Weyward, I knew I had to jump on Sirens. I was so excited to read another book by this author. Hart's stories are so different from others and they suck you in from the start. Following these two time lines, it was exciting as they started to come together.

Hart does a great job at character development, and it's so easy to fall in love with them!
It is easy to related to these women, as they are working through their struggles of feeling different than anyone else.

Sirens definitely lived up to my expectations, and I can't wait for more books from this author!

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

At it's heart, The Sirens is a book about sisters, men abusing women and resiliency. Colonialism is a sidenote to this tale but definitely one worth research. Nice of Emilia Hart to start the book with an introduction acknowledging the facts of that era. Emilia Hart is skilled in penning characters so real that the reader starts identifying with them. I felt that with both Lucy and Jess.

Here's what I liked: Cliff House and Emilia Hart's decrepit, almost gothic, descriptiveness of it. I loved the beginning of the book, where Lucy wakes up with her hands around Ben's neck and the podcast/true crime angle. The gorgeous, eye catching cover is amazing. Reading Jess's diary is a smart and intimate way of getting to know both sisters.

I did not care for the Nonlinear Timeline, despite how well it's done. I didn't get really confused as to who or when the chapters took place until the end and kept having to flip back to the chapter headers to see who was narrating. It felt like the paranormal part of the story, that the book is named for, was a side note until the very end.

There were small inconsistencies like the postcard and Jess's return address. It took me out of the storyline. Lucy is supposedly using the address on this postcard to find Jess's house. Then the author goes on to transcribe exactly what the postcard says, also no address because postcards don't have return addresses. It's a small thing and could be fixed by calling it a letter but distracting none the less. (It should be noted however that I'm reading an uncorrected proof.)

I found this book to be a mixed bag. The parts I liked, the in-depth character based plotline of Lucy's story and the author's masterful descriptiveness, I REALLY loved. There were parts that lost me a bit and some that fell short but overall I appreciated reading The Sirens. It is not some whimsical fairytale retelling. Enjoyable isn't the right word for this book. There are multiple forms of trauma delved into here and overall I think it was done pretty realistically. Trigger Warnings aren't needed but this was a depressing book. Be prepared for that. I liked it but don't feel like I need to buy a physical copy. If you enjoy intense, well written character based plotlines give this one a try at your local library.

Another whimsical & heart-wrenching story of female resiliency, love , and deep familial bonds spanning the ages from Emilia Hart. Her writing style has a way of driving emotion from the reader making it nearly impossible to be disengaged. How Lucy, being pulled by an innate force, uncovers her roots through her journalistic eyes -particularly with Jess's diary - was deeply moving. The story of Mary and Eliza driving toward the future of Lucy and Jess and how it slots in the puzzle pieces for how things came to be as they are weaved the story beautifully. I really loved this one.

As written on Goodreads:

“The Sirens is a feminist fantasy in the realest way: sisterhood, strong female characters who save themselves, and VENGEANCE. In fact, there’s really nothing about this book that I DIDN’T like - the pacing is great, the storyline hooked me in, the characters were well written and complex, and I enjoyed how the diary added a third perspective partway through. It was everything I would have expected from Emilia Hart after reading Weyward - right down to another gorgeous cover.

That being said, I do feel as though a lot of the twists in this book were tossed low and slow right down the centre so we could easily see them coming (not all, but a few at least), and while that didn’t bother me it did seem to make me read faster so I could get to the “aha moment” and Emilia could prove me right.

At the end of this book I can once again confirm that I will read anything Emilia Hart writes, and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. ”