Pulls you deep into the belly of the sea and makes you fall in love with it.

After the runaway success of her scintillating debut Weyward, Emilia Hart is back with another enchanting novel that portrays sisterhood spanning centuries, exploring their intrinsic connection to the shores of a remote bay in the coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Thanks Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC.

Synopsis -

2019 - Lucy finds herself awake from a nightmare with her hands around her ex-lover’s throat. She has no choice but to seek refuge in her sister, Jess’ “Cliffhouse” in Comber Bay.

1800 - Twin sisters Mary and Eliza leave Ireland and their father on an Australian bound convict ship that transports English prisoners.
The sea and it’s pristine waters are the only common factors that will intertwine these sisters lives across continents and generations.

Review -

Barrie Kreinik does the most exquisite narration to this audiobook. She seamlessly shifts between Irish and Aussie accents, showcasing her versality, voice adaptation as she brings this story to life like a motion picture. Her singing especially was beautiful, adding a divine touch of grace and melody to the narrative.

First of all, it is the writing that makes a world of difference to this book. @emiliahart has a way with words - as she blends the threads of these sisters’ lives, with the beauty and magic of the ocean, describing its sights and smells, sounds and melodies.

Secondly it is the atmospheric evocation and the exotic settings - Hart creates an all immersive, bewitching world both in Ireland and Australia that provides a pure, heightened sensory pleasure and sheer escapisim for us readers.

Embedded into the story are decades old family secrets, powerful sisterly bond that can withstand the test of times, history and horrors of convict transportation during those times from England to Australia -everything sprinkled with a bit of mythology, magical realism and hints of fantastical elements.

#TheSirens bring out a perspective shifting new dimension of feminism, shadowing resilience and the true essence of female relationships through rich characterisation, vivid imagination and eloquent storytelling.

Highly recommend if you love historical fiction and magical realism!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for allowing me to listen to this book early in exchange for an honest review.

For starters, the narrator is exquisite. The story flows beautifully and a large reason is because of the delivery.

While this is not my favorite fantasy novel of all time, it was whimsical and kept an element of mystery. I think I was expecting more fantasy, but this was more magical realism. Topics explored were family dynamics, coming of age, friendship, and grooming.

I will admit, while there was a lot of predictability within the novel, there were a couple plot twists that I enjoyed. Overall, this was a cozy read. Perfect for a beach vacation.

A great follow up to Weyward, Sirens explores similar themes without feeling repetitive or overdone. Hart created an entertained and heartfelt story of women trying to survive is a world that is often hostile towards them be leaning into sisterhood and familial love. There is a touch of supernatural that weaves through both timelines connecting the women who lived generations apart. I found a lot of the main plot points predictable but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of reading it all unfold as the characters came to terms with their lives and the secrets around them. Great for fans of historical fiction, international stories, family drama, and magical realism.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Sirens by Emilia Hart
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: April 1, 2025

🐚 Family Secrets
🌊 Vivid Nightmares
⚡️ Nonlinear Timeline
🐚 Multiple POV
🌊 Found Family

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴 is a beautiful story filled with resilient women, the bond of sisterhood, and the pursuit of truth.

Not your average fantasy! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴 is a delightful mix of historical fiction, fantasy, and a touch of true crime thriller! The nonlinear timelines, swapping between the twins on the convict ship in the 1800s, Jess when she was younger, and Lucy in the present day, kept me on the edge of my seat! Jess's POV being mainly in diary entries felt so intimate, and I couldn't have guessed the twist!

I was lucky enough to be approved on NetGalley for the audiobook and I loved it so much! The narrator did an incredible job, and I will be seeking out other titles she's narrated!

Thank you so much, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the review copy!

⚠️ minor sexual content, grooming/SA, minor violence

I really wanted to love this one, but it was not for me.

There was pretty much no plot, and nothing to hook the reader. I found myself not really reaching for this one and not caring to really finish it.

The writing was beautiful, but unfortunately, that was not enough for me to enjoy this one.

The Sirens by Emily Hart is an interesting story involving recycled souls of two Irish sisters who were on a convict ship with other women headed to Australia in 1800 that was shipwrecked only a few miles from the coast. These two young women appear in dreams of two other sisters 220 years later in 2019. Both sets of sisters appear to be allergic to water. Through several events in both timelines we learn there is much more to the sisters’ relationship with each other and to the sea itself than first imagined.

I listened to the audiobook version of the story narrated by Barrie Kreinik. Her narration was excellent, with varying voices and accents for the different characters. I especially appreciated the music at the beginning and ending of the audiobook, which set the tone of book wonderfully. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio who provided me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Like many others, I really enjoyed Weyward, which I also consumed via audiobook. I was excited to see a mermaid/siren book from this same author and tend to enjoy mermaid-adjacent fiction anyway. I was intrigued by the story, but admit that I had an idea of what was going to happen a long time before the book revealed the plot. I guess in a magical realism book called "The Sirens," it is generally expected that sirens will be present. I was, however, very pleased with how Hart described sirens. The general cultural idea of what they look like it not always flexible, but I appreciate that she didn't shy away from putting her own spin on it.
I enjoyed this book, probably more than Weyward, because I love historical fiction. Sometimes, I have a hard time staying engaged with audiobooks, but I was excited to find out what happened next (even if I already kinda knew). I have already recommended this to my boss, whom also enjoyed Weyward. I look forward to future book from Emilia Hart and will keep her on my auto-read list. Aside from the content, the narrator was wonderful. Her voice was soothing, but didn't make me sleepy, and the fact that she can also singly beautifully was an unexpected perk.

🎧 Audiobook review 🎧
The Sirens A Novel by Emilia Hart Narrated by Barrie Kreinik. Women's fiction/ Historical fiction.
Emilia Harts passion for women's issues is evident. Her eloquence is powerful. She writes about characters that feel alive, you can taste their pain and feel their fear.
Strong and complex world building along with highly emotional content made this a deep dive into the lives of 4 women separated by time but intertwined by Fate.
The narrator is perfect for the story. She has a beautiful voice.
This was a very touching story. It's beautiful and horrible. Bringing focus on so many things that affect women's lives. Both now and in the past.
And when the story ends, the closure is both shocking and brilliant.
This was a great read and I highly recommend it.
Id like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my copy. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Emilia Hart does it again! After reading Weywars I was dying to get my hands on this one.
It captures the essence of sisterhood in such a way that leaves you breathless.
Right from the very beginning, you get captured into the story by Lucy trying to figure out what is going on. I swear from the first sentence you’re hooked and it stays that way through the whole book.
If you liked the connections between women throughout all of history, you will love this book.

ARC/ALC BOOK REVIEW

The Sirens by Emilia Hart
5 STARS

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for the #free eARC and to Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ALC of this book! Tag Author

SYNOPSIS: “2019: Lucy awakens in her ex-lover’s room in the middle of the night with her hands around his throat. Horrified, she flees to her sister’s house on the coast of New South Wales hoping Jess can help explain the vivid dreams that preceded the attack—but her sister is missing. As Lucy waits for her return, she starts to unearth strange rumors about Jess’s town—tales of numerous missing men, spread over decades. A baby abandoned in a sea-swept cave. Whispers of women’s voices on the waves. All the while, her dreams start to feel closer than ever.

1800: Mary and Eliza are torn from their loving home in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship heading for Australia. As the boat takes them farther and farther away from all they know, they begin to notice unexplainable changes in their bodies.

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

REVIEW: After reading and loving Weyward, I was absolutely thrilled to get an eARC and ALC of The Sirens.

Hart is an expert at weaving stories, mythologies, and multiple timelines, which is really the standout of this book. She brings an eerie, highly feminist, and extensively researched world to life as story moves (and bleeds) between the contemporary and historical plots of the story.

The intertextual nature of the book (with references to The Odyssey and other mythologies) was lovely and well done. It is immediately clear how thoroughly research and meticulously situated this story is in terms of the history of Australia and interwoven supernatural elements.

Audiobook narrator Barrie Kreinik does a superb job capturing Hart’s words, especially with the various accents of the Irish women of the 1800s and the Australian characters of present day.

The Sirens is a clear must-read for 2025!

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub date: 4/1/25

Would appeal to YA and adult readers of historical fantasy/ magical realism and enjoyers of women's fiction.

I really enjoyed Hart's writing and the multi timeline. It was done very well, and the narrator did an incredible job with the tone and cadence of the book!
It was a little difficult to follow and some of the chapters felt a little long winded and I would have preferred them to be more concise.
This was a nice listen and a beautiful exploration into the connection between all women that blossoms, no matter the time.

Thank you NetGalley for the Audio ARC (ALC)!

I really enjoyed Emilia Hart's "Weyward", so I was stoked to get a copy of "The Sirens"! This story interweaves the past and present with an intriguing mystery that keeps you engaged all the way to the last page (or minute if you read the audiobook like I did).


"The Sirens" follows three main characters in Lucy, her sister Jess, and twin sisters from the 1800s, Mary and Eliza. Lucy has started sleepwalking, a trait her sister had when she was younger, when her sleep walking leads her to trouble she leaves her college town and heads straight to her sisters house only to find that her sister is gone, leaving no trace of her whereabouts. Lucy is left to examine the pieces and the eerie folklore that haunts her sisters' home town. Her sleepwalking and interesting dreams lead her to unravel a much larger mystery when Mary and Eliza begin to show up in her dreams.


Hart weaves a beautiful mystery filled with intriguing plots and whimsical prose. It is brought to life beautifully in the audiobook. The narrator created distinct character voices and created such an engaging performance that I didn't want to stop listening.


If you like magical realism, women's stories, and mystery, this is a must read. Thank you to the publisher for providing an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.25/5 Stars

The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a fantastic dual timeline story where we are introduced to the main characters Lucy and Jess. From a contemporary time and the other from over 200 years in the past. The author creates a haunting tale of love, lies, betrayal and acceptance all connected by the magic of the sea.
Lucy must take a step back in time and from everything she believes about her family. Her sister, Jess is an artist who paints a picture depicting two sisters standing in front of the ocean and this painting of the two sisters has been haunting Lucy's dreams. Lucy must take a step back in time and from everything she's ever believed, in order to truly understand herself and her family. I was drawn into this incredible creative story and I really enjoyed it!!

I absolutely loved the narration by Barrie Kreinik. And what a pleasant surprise to hear her sing!!

Thank you to NetGalley and McMillan Audio for an advanced audio copy of this incredible story.

I was very excited to listen to this Arc as I enjoyed Emilia Hart's Weyward. Hart is great about telling tragic historical tales that women experienced firsthand and how that pain transcends generations. I did enjoy the pacing and voice of the narrator and how the novel had a dark feel that was captured well with the audio.

So good! It was a little slow to get going but once it did, it was really captivating. The going back and forth in the timeline was a little confusing, but I also was listening to it on audiobook so that was probably the problem there. The narrator was fantastic and told the story impeccably.

Definitely a book I will be recommending!

Once again, I am the target audience for Emilia Hart's beautiful stories!!!

"The Sirens" is another masterfully woven intergenerational tale of longing, freedom, fear, and magic. One timeline is in the early 1800s and the early colonization of what will be known as Australia and two Irish women sent there for crimes against the crown. The other is modern-day New South Wales, where a uni student wakes up after choking a boy while sleepwalking. Tell me how you could ignore this plot- I'll wait. Hart's use of dreams to move us between the two timelines furthered the sense of magic within the story and helped tie them together.

Adoption and family can be difficult waters to navigate and I thought Hart did so with care and tenderness. I come from a family shaped by adoption and my hackles immediately rose when it came up in the book. To my surprise, but maybe I shouldn't have been, Hart dealt with this very well, reinforcing that biology does not make one family. Do I condone how some chose to handle the knowledge of adoption in this tale? Absolutely not and the tensions portrayed between the adoptive parents and the child were well warranted in my opinion.

All in all, another wonderful book from Hart. I only wish she had used the relationship between the sisters in the 1800s to share more about the Irish lore surrounding sirens. She could have used the time about the Nyad to share folktales about sirens and other mythical water creatures to further up the magical elements within this story.

While there were definitely interesting elements to this story, it really didn't seem to know what it wanted to be. Horror, murder mystery, supernatural, historical, lost family: there were just too many different topics happening and none seemed to manage to take control.

I liked the idea of this book and the basis of the story on the origins of Sirens in the Australian continent. I enjoyed the plot twists. But the internal dialogue was just so lengthy for me it was hard to continue at times. I also wasn't super fond of any of the characters. I just expected to feel more.

I read the audiobook and enjoyed the voices but I think the overall pacing and sections with Mary and Eliza was just too much of nothing going on for a good amount of the book.

3.5 stars. This book is tough for me to rate and review. After reading and loving Weyward by the same author, I was disappointed with this book. First, I will add that the book cover is beautiful and worth commenting on. I do usually really enjoy magical realism and the theme of mermaids as “sirens” with references to mythology is definitely intriguing. The double timeline format worked well but I did want more character development of Mary and Eliza from the past. I did enjoy the build up around the mystery of Jess’s disappearance in the current timeline but felt like Lucy and Jess’s backstories were overly complicated and caused me to lose some interest at times. As in Weyward, the author did connect the two stories in the end but the revealing of Mary’s relationship with Jess and Lucy seemed rushed. But I think the biggest disappointment for me was the repeating theme of women seeking revenge on men. Not that I don’t get that women have suffered misogyny forever and the use of magic to stop them can be entertaining but I like to see authors avoid repeating themes from book to book and use their writing talents to create something entirely new.
I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator was excellent! Her ability to switch between Irish and Australian accents was amazing. All the voices were very well-done and the dramatic effects were perfect.

I have really enjoyed both books by Emilia Hart, I will definitely be reading anything else she publishes!! I flew through The Sirens audio in a day. I really enjoyed Barrie Kreinik's narration, she was the perfect narrator for this book. Mermaids/sirens aren't usually something I read a lot on, but I really enjoyed this take! I also loved the historical fiction element of this. I adored the multiple perspectives and timelines in this book. I do wish we would have gotten a little more from Mary though, hers was probably the most interesting perspective in my opinion. Although the pacing was a little slow, especially in the beginning, I still found myself captivated with the story throughout. I did find some of the plot predictable, but I did NOT see Jess being Lucy's mother coming at all! I do kinda hate how she tied in the lineage component between Mary, Jess, and Lucy though in the epilogue... I understand the need to explain but it was a pretty heartbreaking note to end on. Overall a worthwhile read, and I can't wait to see what Emilia Hart writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.