I adored the audio for Emilia Hart's Weyward, especially the three different narrators voicing the three different women. In this book there is only one narrator, Barrie Kreinik, but she did a fabulous job voicing not only Australian sisters Lucy and Jess, but also Irish sisters Mary and Eliza, as well as all the supporting characters. The story was moody and haunting. I can't wait to read more from Emilia Hart!

4 stars for story
5 stars for audio

Thank you to the author, narrator and Net Galley for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for this book.

I had to force myself to finish this book. It was a chore to finish . If it wasn't an ARC I would have given up. This book had some beautiful descriptions, but that was really all it had going for it. That's not enough for me. It also feels like some of the topics have been done to death already, and an heavy edit of the book would have been a good idea.

It's not for me. But I hope others like it.

3 stars.

* This review is based on the audio version of "The sirens" *

This book is dark, mysterious and mesmerizing ; much like the song of a siren.

The sirens is a beautifully written novel with two time lines. Both of which follow sisters in a journey of self discovery.
The imagery is amazing, with thought provoking world building. While the descriptive details are wonderful, the depth of the characters fell a little flat for me.
I do admit that I became a bit confused with some of the male characters between the two timelines. However, both timelines present fiercely determined and loyal female characters.
While Sirens fell a bit short for me I adored Weyward and look forward to the next novel by Emilia Hart.

Much thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced audio .

Weyward was in my top 3 books of 2023, so I was incredibly excited for this one! This book embodies Hart’s signature atmospheric writing style. It’s a feminist story about strength, sacrifice, and sisterhood.
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Lucy has always felt different. Like her big sister, Jess, she has a strange allergy to water. Lucy is also haunted by vivid dreams, that become all too real when she wakes up attacking her ex. Facing potential backlash from her college for the attack, she flees to her big sister’s house in a small seaside town. But Jess is nowhere to be found. Rumors swirl in the town of tragedy, an infamous shipwreck, and disappearing men. In search of the truth, Lucy begins to read Jess’s journal from 1999. She begins to realize nothing is what it seems, and her sister could be in grave danger.
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I enjoyed this one, but Weyward is definitely still my favorite 🙃. Hart’s beautiful prose shone through in this story that weaves together a contemporary mystery with myth, magical realism, and a dash of historical fantasy.
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The eerie vibes left my skin crawling in the best way. Thank you to @macmillan.audio @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the gifted audiobook, ebook, and physical book! Narration by Barrie Kreinik was really beautiful 💗.
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The Sirens - Emilia Hart
Pub Date: 🎉4/1/25🎉
4/5⭐️

I wanted to love this book….but I just never got attached to the characters. The characters felt flat and the story felt more about the men vs the women. I was also a tad confused about the ending.

I typically like to go into books blind, and I am so glad I did on this one. What a great story with a good plot and character development.

With a similar format to Weyward, Hart crafts a novel with multiple timelines that intertwines the lives of women across different centuries. Lucy (2019) escapes to the coast after hurting her ex-boyfriend during a scary sleepwalking incident. Jess (1999), a young teen copes with a rare skin disease but finds comfort in art while living next to the coast. Mary and Eliza (1800) are Irish twin sisters forcibly put on a convict ship to Australia.

Most of the story takes place in Comber Bay, New South Wales. The town is shrouded in mystery - why have so many people disappeared without a trace? Lucy starts to unravel the mystery of the disappearances while searching for Jess's whereabouts and unearths secrets that will change her life.

Narrator Barrie Kreinik is exceptional - I finished the book in one day. Kreinik brings Hart's characters to life with strategic pacing and tonal depth to enhance the mysterious mood. I'm always a little hesitant to listen to audiobooks with multiple timelines, but it was really easy to follow after the main characters were introduced.

I really enjoyed this story. I loved the fantasy that melded so well with the country's history.
I also loved the narration. The narrator was perfect, especially with the accent.

I absolutely loved Weyward, so I jumped at the chance for an early copy of the Sirens. I loved the multiple timelines and perspectives, and it was a really intriguing storyline. Lucy’s perspectives kind of dragged for me and I found those a bit more boring, but I loved hearing Jess’s tale unfold and also Eliza and Mary and their harrowing tale as prisoners aboard a ship. The book was a really unique story compared to my normal reads, so I was all in on seeing how it all played out! Some fun twists at the end as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest feedback!

🧜🏻‍♀️🌊📖: The Sirens by Emilia Hart

★★★☆☆.75
(struggling between 3.5 and 3.75 stars)

format: audio (ALC)

1 sentence review: A feminist, genre-bending tale about trauma and resilience, sisterhood, and family.

This story blends historical fiction (with real life events) and magical realism. The messages and themes in this book were really well developed, meaningful, and impactful, but I struggled to connect with the characters.

In my opinion, this had a similar vibe to Weyward, but it wasn’t executed as well. There was a mystery element to this story, which was interesting, but the ending felt choppy and had quite a few plot points that were never buttoned up. The audio for this was really well done and I still enjoyed it and would recommend it!

P.S. this is my 3rd mermaid book of the year, so I’m sensing a theme😂

Read This if You Like:
🧜🏻‍♀️ The mythology and lore of sirens
🐚 Feminist tales that blend HisFic and magical realism
🌊 Female resilience and “good for her” stories

I LOVED this book. It is a must for magical realism lovers. The dual timeline mixed with Siren lore vibes keeps the book moving along quickly, though it is a magical tale you won't want to rush. Filled with intense emotion, Irish lore and Australia prison colony history. The narrator did an amazing job with multiple voices an accents. Emilia Hart has another winner here!

A huge thank you to Macmillan Audio and Emilia Hart for this ARC, I was truly honored and excited to be chosen for this read. All opinions below are my own. Will list trigger warnings here and jump right in to the review: mentions of SA/sex trafficking (not depicted in detail), aquagenic urticaria, child endangerment, death (minor depiction).

I first read Emilia Hart last year, her book Weyward put me in a 3 day reading slump because I was so moved by the story. When I saw The Sirens was an option for an ARC, I hit that button so fast. I was ready to dive into a historical story where women were magic, powerful, and most importantly fighting their fight together.

The Sirens did not disappoint. Dual timeline POV, we are first set in the 1800s as we follow sisters, Mary and Eliza. They are making their journey across the sea with several other convicts bound for Australia where their futures for atonement await. Modern day 2019 we meet sisters Jess and Lucy, who have a distant relationship with ~17 years between them, secrets, and confusion that is felt bone deep for the both of them. All of the POV’s were captivating and I couldn’t stop listening, especially as the two stories began to intertwine. It is not expressly clear how they are directly connected for a while and I loved that the story kept me on my toes, wondering how and why history was impacting present for these two modern day FMCs. Hart is good at keeping you engaged in the story, giving you just enough to work with to start thinking up theories and conspiracies. She also has a knack for making you truly feel her characters happiness, sadness, rage, confusion, etc., and as a woman, you can certainly relate on multiple levels despite the number of years between the women.

Hart has earned her way onto the list of authors that are “auto” authors for me. I will read whatever she writes and be happy about it, even if it isn’t something that I am expressly interested in. I know I will suddenly be swept up in the story regardless. Again I thank Macmillan Audio and Emilia Hart for the opportunity to listen to this wonderful story. A special shoutout to the narrator, Barrie Kreinik, for excellent story telling and voice depiction. She was especially wonderful at depicting inflections for different parts of Ireland and Australia, those differences were noted and I see your talent!

5 ⭐️ And this story is gonna sit with me, in my bones, for YEARS to come.

For fans of Emilia Hart's 'Weyward', you're going to love 'The Sirens' just as much and for so many of the same reasons.

Generational secrets. Jumping back-and-forth in time. Unraveling mysteries. Unspeakable terror. Gripping. Empowering. Feminine. Addictive plot development. And best of all - Mother nature doing her thing with a magical twist.

I held my breath more than I care to admit while
listening to the audiobook. EH has a way with words that builds so much suspense & slow-building fear, and this book is no exception of that talent.

In addition to all of the above, the production of this audiobook & skill of the narrator (Barrie Kreinik) was simple stellar!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book early and share my honest review. All reviews will be posted to my socials (Netgalley, Goodreads, Fable, IG).

Emilia Hart has an absolute gift for writing complicated women across different times, and layering their narratives perfectly. I absolutely love her writing style and the narration in The Sirens audiobook brought her lush prose to brilliant life.

The Sirens is the story of Lucy, a young woman coming of age but struggling to coming to terms with her abnormal appearance. In a moment of need, she flees school to seek the advice of her older sister, Jess. Except Jess—who lives above the notorious cliff site where numerous men have disappeared over the years—is missing. As Lucy searches for her sister, she discovers the truth about their ancestor's strange heritage, Jess' own troubles, and even herself.

While the pacing may be a bit slow for some readers, the characterization is excellent and engaging. Nothing in the story is strictly revelatory or shocking, but rather an excellent interpretation of familiar myths and crime narratives. There is an a cozy vibe to this novel, and I would highly recommend it to someone looking for something that is both timely and lightly speculative.

Thank you to Macmillan audio and NetGalley for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
(3.75 stars, rounded up to 4)

I struggled with this book, so many times I contemplated DNFing the book but it was an ALC so I pushed forward.

I loved the premise of the book, and the cover is stunning but though most of the book I honestly couldn't tell you what was going on, it was like there was so much happening but at the same time nothing was happening..

I found the different timelines were just not connecting very well, I felt the book dragged on and took a long time to get to the reveal.

I enjoyed the narrator her voice was whimsical and enjoyable

2.5⭐️ Rounded up for GR. I received this as an ARC on NetGalley (thank you!) and am going to leave my honest review here. I don’t think I would have finished this one if it wasn’t an ARC read.

I had really high hopes for this, but it wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. I found this to be pretty monotonous and boring through 80% of it and I had a really hard time connecting to any of the characters. I thought the premise of the story was interesting, but was just never hooked into this story.

I will say that the author did a good job with her descriptions in this book and really painted a good picture of the world(s). That was done well. This one just wasn’t for me I guess. I’ll still check out her other work. I’ve heard wonderful things about Weyward!

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.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC!

I loved the audiobook version of the book, especially when the narrator sang. I loved mermaids so I was naturally so excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint.

This story has a little bit of everything- fantasy, mystery/thriller, and also showed the complexities of family relationships.

I overall really enjoyed this book, but I was able to guess how the story ended. While I have not read Weyward by this author, I will be starting it soon!

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!

This book transfixed me! With spellbinding prose and gorgeous imagery, I could not put this down.

I loved Hart’s previous novel Weyward, and The Sirens follows a similar formula — a focus on women, legacies inherited across time, and a spoonful of magical realism to add a spark of hope amidst the darkness.

I tandem read my e-ARC with the audiobook. Barrie Kreinik’s voice was so melodic, and I think this certainly elevated my experience. She effortlessly switched between four distinct female voices.

My rating: 4.5⭐️