I received and arc of Weyward, and loved it!!! I could have immediately turned around and reread it, And being a big fan of sirens and mermaids, I jumped on the offer to read this one in a heartbeat!!! However, it didn't hold me like Weyward did.

I did enjoy the duel timelines, however so much time was spent on the present and not much one the past. Technically three timelines if you count Lucy currently reading about the past with her sister. The 1800's past timeline kept my attention to a full, however, I wish it had lasted longer per reading.
The current time line was slow and started to bore me being constantly being in the same spot, the house more than anything. Although I did enjoy Lucy discovering things she was totally unaware of. Yes Lucy did go out and about once in a while. I enjoyed her meeting people while searching for her sister.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a copy of the arc.

I really enjoyed this book and found it super atmospheric, suspenseful and interesting. The setting was spot on and well described throughout the entire book - you felt the ocean in every aspect. I loved that I got to read this beachside!

The themes of sisterhood were great in this - the feeling of an unnamable bond, the way life throws you together almost subconsciously because you just know the other one needs you. How you can feel things about the other person that can’t be explained.

The book dove into the blurry nature of “right vs wrong”, especially when it comes to victims having no good choices in certain situations. The way you can view someone a certain way your whole life but never fully know who they are and what they are capable of doing to make life easier. And how you can do uncharacteristic things when you feel you’re out of options - when the laws don’t defend you, the people you trust take advantage of you, and you’re faced with problems that no one else will fix.

The intertwined storylines were well done throughout the entire book. Switching perspectives is so hard to do, add in the different timelines and many details unfolding about all of the characters, its impressive how well the book flowed together. The blend current storyline with Lucy and her family was really well done across all parts.

The historical timeline of the two sisters was really interesting and kept readers on the edge of our seat. There’s a lot to takeaway about European and Australian history, particularly in a period of time through massive mistreatment of criminals and women. I agree with other reviewers that there was a missing thread to pull through with this storyline and I could see why it falls flat.

Firstly, as with Weyward by Emilie Hart, everyone should check the content warnings. Hart writes about female strength through their (often abusive) experiences at the hands of men.

Sirens follows 2 sets of sisters, one contemporary and one historical. The book feels like part true crime mystery and part modern fairy tale, woven together with the sisters at the heart of things. Even though I could tell pretty early on where things were going, Hart still makes the experience of hearing everything play out enjoyable. Plus there were still a few surprises for me before the book ended.

I think if you liked Weyward by Emilie Hart you will likely like Sirens. For me I prefer Sirens between the two because I like the way that Sirens pulls more on tradiitonal folklore, tieing the shores of Ireland to Australia.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the Advanced Readers Copy. Sirens comes out in April 2025.

After reading and loving Weyward, I was thrilled to see the gorgeous cover of The Sirens and was looking forward to the journey I knew this book would take me on. Told from multiple points of view and over several different time periods, The Sirens is a story of sisterhood and the sea.
After a personal crisis at college leaves Lucy confused, scared and not knowing where to turn, she embarks to the remote home of her sister Jessica, Cliff House. After arriving, the answers she was seeking become even more confusing to Lucy as her sister is absent and her things are there, however she feels more called to the sea than she ever has before. Intertwined with these sisters, is the tale of Mary and Eliza, two sisters traveling as prisoners in 1800 on a ship headed to Australia. I found the storytelling in this book to be compelling and raw, and I looked forward to seeing how the storylines would resolve and if they would connect. Emilia Hart is a powerful storyteller of strong, adversity face female characters and this book exceeded the expectations I had after loving Weyward. I would highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy strong female connections, aren't afraid of a darker narrative, and are ready to feel transported into a powerful story. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an Arc of “The Sirens.” Just like with Emilia Hart’s other book, “Weyard" I was instantly intrigued by the beautiful cover art of “The Sirens.” This story follows two sets of sisters, modern day Jess and Lucy as well as past sisters, Eliza and Mary. Jess’ story is revealed through Lucy, reading her past diary entries. She comes to visit her sister Jess, after a traumatic incident at her college only to find Jess is nowhere to be found. When she stumbles upon Jess’ teenage diary the mystery of her childhood is soon revealed changing everything she once thought to be true. I was most intrigued by the modern day portion of the story. At times I found the pacing to be a little slow, especially during the past day portion of the story. However, once the mystery is revealed between Jess and Lucy the pacing picked up and I found myself excited to see how the story would end. I would recommend “The Sirens” for anyone who is a fan of magical realism with a touch of mystery.

I LOVED this book. It was excactly what I was looking for and I have become a new fan of Emilia Hart. It was suspenseful and had a bit of magic but wasn't overdone. I loved the dual timelines in the story and found myself wanting to carve out time to read just so I could better understand the story and find out what was going on.

If you are looking for a book that is immersive and a little darker, highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Sirens is a book about Jess and Lucy, two sisters with mysterious pasts who share both a weird skin condition as well as strange, vivid dreams about women in a convicts' ship headed for Australia. Told in alternating timelines and viewpoints, the past (both the near-distant past as well as the far-distant past) begins to unfold.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Weird, mournful, and well-written is how I would describe it. It's very unique and the ending is really lovely.

I requested an ARC of The Sirens because I enjoyed the author's last book, Weyward. I was not disappointed! Although The Sirens is a very different book than Weyward, some of the themes are the same. If you enjoyed Melanie Golding's book The Hidden from a few years back, Shark Heart by Emily Habeck, or Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes I think this could be a solid read for you!

Big thanks to the publisher for granting my ARC request. When it releases next spring I am sure it will get a lot of buzz and I am thrilled to be an early reader!

I liked the premise of this novel and the dual timelines, but I felt that the chapters dragged. I didn’t get invested until more than halfway through the book, and I felt like it read more family drama than magical realism. Still, once the magical parts came into play, I enjoyed it. I felt like it needed more of that throughout the book and a bit less time spent on the convict boat.

This was a delightful read! I enjoyed Weyward and I found this to follow a similar plot structure. It’s laid out in 3 different timelines with 3 different women and I feel that while it was a decent read it was to similar in that fact.

I do enjoy Hart’s voice and how she portrays the women she writes about though. The story was quite slow for me but I found that to be the case in Weyward as well, Nevertheless, the 3 timelines were still compelling enough to finish and I enjoyed it.

I loved this book. It was unique and had an interesting plot. The epilogue was such a great twist. I won’t hesitate to recommend it to my friends.

A follow up to Weyward, which I had adored, this one centers around a girl as she finds herself fleeing to her sister’s home after a situation at university. But when she arrives, her sister is nowhere to be found. Between trying to unravel where her sister went, she finds out things about herself and her family that she wasn’t expecting.

Following three unique timelines, The Sirens is written in a similar voice as what made Weyward so captivating. If you enjoyed her previous book, I think one will enjoy this one.

The audiobook did a great job capturing all of the different accents of the various characters and I really enjoyed it!

Unfortunately, I really struggled to get into this book. I tried to keep an open mind but I just was not a fan.

I'm a big fan of Weyward, so I was really looking forward to Emilia Hart's second novel. Although I didn't like it *quite* as much as her debut effort, The Sirens definitely didn't disappoint and I'll definitely recommend it. Like Weyward, The Sirens tells linked stories at three points in time, one involving sisters being transported from England to a penal colony in Australia under horrendous conditions and the others about sisters linked by a similar unusual skin condition and secrets in their family. The weakest of the three timelines is the middle one, in part because most of it is supposedly diary entries and the narrative reads nothing like any diary I've ever encountered. But the stories themselves are woven together well and the plot reveals (though not really surprising and things the reader can indeed figure out) are brought out in a way that really moves the story forward. Like Weyward, The Sirens has strong themes of misogyny and men behaving horrifically (and, tbh, I was totally here for it in both books). In all another excellent feat of storytelling (and the audiobook is excellent, too!).

. Sisters, the sea and secrets. Told in alternating timelines, Sirens is the story of 4 women separated by time but joined by myth and the sea. I was so sure this book would be epic and it turned out to be just "good". Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I found it so slow moving almost to the point of DNFing. I'm glad I finished the book because the story did end up being interesting. Three stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy of The Sirens by Emilia Hart

The Sirens
Emilia Hart

The Sirens is Emilia Hart’s second novel, coming at the heels of her debut success with Weyward. This is a story of four women, told across two timelines – sisters Lucy and Jesse in the 21st century and twins Mary and Eliza in the 1800’s. The start is a bit slow, but quickly picks up. The novel is quite enjoyable, with an intricate plot and intriguing, well developed characters. That being said, it suffers from being a “second novel,” in the sense that the author seems to have deliberately played it safe, sticking to the formula of her first novel, and not trying something new or overly ambitious.

It is a feminist novel, dealing with women who have suffered abuse and violence at the hands of men, and their eventual comeuppance. Just like Weyward, it blends fantasy and magical realism with elements of historical fiction. I am sure fans of Weyward will similarly enjoy The Sirens. I look forward to the author hopefully stepping out of her comfort zone and expanding her horizons with her future work as she is obviously a very talented storyteller.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I went into this book with such high expectations after loving Weyward. The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a sweeping historical mystery with magical realism about sisterhood and feminine power and resilience. The story is carefully developed, with considerable time spent on the backstory and character development of two sets of sisters in dual timelines.
Mary and Eliza are among a group of female Irish prisoners banished to Australia in 1800. Their journey is grueling and ends tragically. Jess and Lucy’s story is set in 2019 as they attempt to run away from their individual abuses. They seek refuge in a seaside shack, with family ties, in a town infamous for its tragedies and missing men. The mystery behind an abandoned infant as well as the sirens that are alluded to is not revealed until the stories overlap in the end. I appreciate how this author manages to make each of the storylines equally compelling. The slower pacing picks up in the last quarter when the plot lines come together. The ending was somewhat disappointing to me as I feel the focus left the women. 3.5/5⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

this is like if rikki, emma, and cleor from h2o just add water grew up and wrote a women's fiction novel.

✧ 4.5 stars, it's always the condensation

After Lucy attacks an ex in her sleep, she flees to visit her sister on the coast of New South Wales, but her sister is missing. While she awaits her, she uncovers tales of the town’s history, including an abandoned by and whispers of women in the waves.

I loved Weywerd so was looking forward to this one. I think a lot of readers will love this one, especially if you love mermaid mythology. I loved the past timeline but couldn’t connect with the present timeline and the mystery of the missing men. While this one wasn’t for me, I do think it was very well written and many will enjoy it.

“Humans are born to storytelling. Does the goat tell stories? The blackbird, or the sheep? No. Sure it is god’s gift to us and us alone.”

The Sirens comes out 4/1.

With multiple POVs and timelines, pacing can be hard to master. I think this was constructed well that pacing was consistent and engaging throughout, with the exception at about 20-35%. Because of that lull, I seriously struggled and had to drop the rating to 4 stars. I wanted to keep reading and solve the mystery surrounding Lucy and Jess and their connection to Mary and Eliza. The writing was incredibly descriptive and immersive. I felt connected to Lucy and Jess and sympathetic towards Mary and Eliza’s situation.

The way Emilia Hart captures the connection of women through time, hardship, and courage breaks my heart once again and I couldn’t be more grateful. I had high hopes after Weyward and The Sirens absolutely exceeded those expectations. I simply can’t wait for the next world she builds.