The Sirens begins with a horrifying chapter of women being exiled from Ireland to Australia, marking the ‘convict era’ that shaped the country. It then cuts to modern-day, where we follow two sisters with their own dark secrets. It toggles back and forth in time in seamless fashion, leading the two stories to a twisted connection. It is steeped in themes of sisterhood, strength, secrets, and determination.

Barrie Kreinik’s narration of this audiobook was subperb! Her ability to perfectly capture each character’s personal accent and convey their tragic emotions was magical.

This is my first Emilia Hart novel, and I must say, it pleasantly surprised me. I’m already looking forward to exploring more of her books.

So fantastic! I loved the dual pov & timelines. & the diary entries. Such a beautiful story of love, family & I absolutely LOVED the lore of the sirens.
Lucy goes to the coast to find her sister is missing. She finds her diaries and learns the true origin of there skin condition….they cannot touch water! The Audi was FANTASTIC, the narrator did a great job.

A beautiful historical fiction full of lore that follows multiple POV’s and timelines. The story starts with a sleep walking dream that takes us on a journey of self discovery and feminine rage. Mysterious happenings are at every turn, will we find the answer to our questions?

3.75 Stars rounded up

The Sirens is a dual-line novel that encompasses a variety of genres, including Magical Realism, Mystery, Coming-of-Age, Historical Fiction, Folklore, and Women's Fiction.

In 2019, the primary setting is on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, where two sisters, Lucy and Jess are both dealing with a personal crisis. Lucy finds herself under accusations of physical assault after sleepwalking into her ex-boyfriends dorm room. She flees campus to go visit her sister, only to discover her sister has seemingly disappeared.

In 1800, the secondary setting is on a convict ship traveling from Ireland, where twin sisters Mary and Eliza are on their way to Australia after having been excommunicated from their homeland. The further they get out to sea, they begin to notice unexplainable changes to their bodies.

After having read and loved Hart's novel Weyward, I was beyond excited to dive into this one. Unfortunately, this book just had too much going on for me to really love it. I feel like the author was just trying to tackle too much at once, and wasn't able to fully invest in any one storyline. The dual narratives weren't well connected, and the historical fiction portion of the book felt mostly like a distraction from the modern day storyline.

If you have access to the audio book for this story, DO IT! The narration is beautifully done, and the narrator's singing adds so much extra flair to the storytelling.

This is a slow burn, and I feel like the reveal could've been done much earlier in the book, with a larger portion of the book focused on the "after." (Trying to avoid spoilers).
The set up for the story was a bit forced and unbelievable, but sometimes in magical realism books you just have to suspend disbelief and let the story take you. I didn't find it too distracting, just mildly frustrating.

Trigger Warnings: abuse, assault, teacher-student sexual relationships
Themes: sisterhood, family secrets, female empowerment, mermaids

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The opinions presented in this review are strictly my own.

Secrets and history haunts four women in three timelines. In 2019, Lucy flees her University after waking up choking her Ex-lover. In 1999, Sophie exists as a lonely teenager navigating family secrets. In 1800, Mary and Liza travel to Australia in the hold of a convict ship. As the novel progresses, their stories twist around each other, feeding each timeline with new meaning. 

The story kept me engaged.  I felt deeply for each character, and I wanted them to succeed. This story touches on dark histories including colonization, sexual abuse/rape, infidelity, adoption, and abuse of power. 

It's a story about discovering your truth and the truth of your history. It's set in a world when some predators get their due. 

While there is a low fantasy tale, the fantasy component is revealed towards the end of the book, and it casts a long shadow over the rest of the book. Some readers might have wanted more fantasy, but I loved how it functions within the story. 

Thank you St Martin's Press, @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the advanced audio copy. Thoughts are of course my own. #bookstagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHZiyupA7oI/?igsh=NW9oamxlcm5ueXZm

3.5 stars. Weyward by Emilia Hart was one of my favorite reads in 2025 so The Sirens was an instant-request for me and I was very much looking forward to it. I really struggled to stay focused while listening to this on audio, unfortunately. At about the 50% mark I switched to my digital copy. There was nothing wrong with the narrator; I just found it hard to focus on the storylines through audio and had a better experience eyeball reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook. The Sirens hits shelves on April 1, 2025.

I loved this story. The magical realism was so interesting and the blend of past and present was seamless. I really enjoyed the different narrators for the different characters.

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).