The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a beautifully written novel that showcases her talent for evocative prose and atmospheric storytelling. The language is lyrical and immersive, and I often found myself highlighting lines just for how well-crafted they were.

However, despite the strong writing, the overall tone of the book was much darker and more emotionally heavy than I expected. The constant sense of gloom and the bleakness of the characters' experiences made it hard for me to stay fully engaged. I appreciate books that tackle serious themes, but this one left me feeling more drained than moved.

If you're looking for something haunting and intense, this might be for you. But if you prefer a little more light amid the shadows, you might want to go in prepared.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a beautifully written novel that weaves together three timelines, exploring sisterhood, resilience, and hidden histories. From a modern-day woman searching for her missing sister, to Irish twins on a convict ship in 1800, and a mysterious baby found in 1982, each story is rich with emotion and intrigue. Hart’s lyrical writing and haunting atmosphere make this a powerful and memorable read. Great audio quality and narration

It was very well written but not as good as Weyward, I'm sorry I really love Emelia Hart and I'm looking forward to her next book but this one was just not quite on the mark for me. Again, I'm looking forward to her next book and while I did still like this it just wasn't my favorite.

Content Warning: sexual assault, forced starvation, imprisonment

While it was easy to piece together some parts of Jess and Lucy's stories, I was totally hooked watching it all unfold. Hart's novel is as quiet as it is powerful, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook if just for the pieces of song woven into the narrative.

Barrie Kreinik does a great job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Emilia Hart has written a haunting story in The Sirens. It is a dual timeline tale, one dating back to 1800, featuring two sisters who are being transported as convicts from Ireland to Australia. The other takes place in 2019 in Australia, also about two sisters, and, as you may imagine, is connected somehow to the tale from 1800. I loved this book with its mix of historical fiction and magical realism.

The author says, in her acknowledgements, “Fundamentally, this novel is about the ability of water - and sisterhood - to heal and transform.”

We get chapters from Mary’s POV in 1800. She feels responsible for her sister, Eliza, who is blind. They are being transported for attacking a man (who was attacking one of them). The details of their long journey at sea are disturbingly realistic. They make friends with many of the other women who are, quite literally, in the same boat.

The chapters in 2019 are from Lucy’s POV. She’s in a journalism program but is prone to sleepwalking and attacked a male student while sleepwalking. Lucy flees to her much older sister’s house in Comber Bay. The town has seen a high number of disappearances, all men, over the years, and is also the site where a convict ship once went down, with many lives lost. But when Lucy gets to Jess’s house, she finds haunting artwork of two sisters, but Jess. We do get Jess’s story from some diary entries that Lucy finds, and it’s eye-opening.

There’s a feel of mystery and foreboding through the entire story - what is special about the twin sisters in 1800, why did their mother disappear years before, why does Lucy dream about these sisters, where did Jess go, what is Jess hiding, what draws all of them to the sea, and more?

There are quite a few creepy and/or vicious men in this story, so be aware of that.

I confess that I was much more invested in the historical sisters than in the modern-day pair. In fact, I didn’t care for Lucy at all.

I mostly listened to the audiobook version. As usual, Barrie Kreinik does a fabulous job with all the voices and accents.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Perfect for fans of The Lost Apothecary, and of course Hart's 2023 debut Weyward, The Sirens is a feminist magical realism dual-timeline novel set on the coast of Australia. For the most part, I enjoyed this book- the coastal setting was the perfect foreboding and ruthless atmosphere for this novel. However, the plot was a little wack. It took a long time to get my bearings and hooked by the story at the beginning, which is sometimes normal, but the resolution of the book's overarching conflict (where the hell is Jess) was toeing the line of silly in its improbability. Most of the dramatic reveals were foreshadowed to death, so no surprises in this one. All that said, I was engaged throughout and didn't hate it. The Sirens gets four OK stars from me.
I would certainly not dissuade anyone from reading this, especially fans of magical realism, the sea, and women subverting the patriarchy. Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the ALC of The Sirens, which is available now.

This is my first Emilia Hart book, and it lived up to every wonderful thing I've heard about her writing.

The Sirens is a story about sisterhood, love, and resilience .It explores the power of women and the choices they make when the systems meant to support them fall short, all through the lens of magical realism

This is a twisty, gritty book with rich, immersive writing, and Barrie Kreinik delivers a beautiful performance as the narrator

Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillan Audio, for the advanced listening copy and for introducing me to this wonderful narrator! Barrie Kreinik did a wonderful job of giving each character a unique voice and personality. Hart’s prose is lyrical and she once again delivers the complex characters I’ve come to expect from her.

The Sirens is a dual timeline fantasy set in early 1800’s Ireland and modern Australia. It follows two pairs of sisters trying to navigate societies that are hostile to women and people with disabilities. I’d never read about sirens before and I enjoyed the way the mythology was woven through both timelines. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a dash of fantasy. 4.25 stars

Wow, just wow....I loved Weyward, but I think I loved The Sirens more! The blend of reality, history, and fantasy is *chef's kiss*. Lucy's search for answers kept me on the edge of my seat for the whole ride. I pegged the twist, but not until shortly before it was revealed. An emotional roller coaster of a book, The Sirens secured Hart in my "must read ASAP" list of authors.

The Sirens is a well written, atmospheric novel with a strong storytelling voice. Lucy is on the run—from what she’s done, and what was done to her. She seeks refuge with her sister Jess, only to find her missing. Alone in a remote coastal town full of eerie legends and whispers of the past, Lucy begins to hear voices—stories of two sisters from centuries ago, bound by trauma and resistance.

While I admired the lyrical writing and layered narrative, the plot felt a bit predictable, and the magical realism didn’t quite work for me. Still, this is a thoughtful, haunting read that will no doubt appeal to fans of myth, magic, and feminist folklore.

Barrie Kreinik’s narration was a standout—her lovely, expressive voice was the perfect match for the tone of the novel and carried the story beautifully.

Sirens tells the story of sisters from the past and the present. The story centers around Lucy who finds herself in trouble after she attacks a young man in his sleep. She is confused and wants her sister, Jess. She drives to her house but Jess has disappeared, leaving her phone and keys behind. Lucy begins to unravel Jess’s secrets when she finds her diary. When she sleeps she dreams of other sisters from another time. Mary and Eliza were on a convict ship from Ireland that wrecked near the coast by Jess’s home in the 1800’s. The past and present collide as Lucy discovers the connections between them.

This was a good story, I liked the format and the way the story was told. I loved the historical aspect and focus on the the strength of sisterhood.
Very similar to Weyward in style and substance. The audiobook was fantastically narrated, even had a little singing.

3,5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review .

The Sirens by Emilia Hart was one of my anticipated reads of the year because I really loved Wayward. However, I did not enjoy The Sirens as much. I do not usually compare books by authors but I could not help but feel detached to this one. It was as if another person wrote it entirely. There were so many events that took place that do not have a clear solution and that really bothered me because they were huge events. For example, the sleep walking.

I do enjoy novels about sisters so that was a huge plus for me. There were moments in the book I enjoyed but overall I felt myself getting bored by the pace and the events that took place. Thank goodness the audiobook to help me through these scenes.

Even so, I am thankful to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copy.

Starting off, I feel like this book is misrepresented. Had I known it was fantasy…? Magical realism…? I probably wouldn’t have requested it. Overall, it’s not what I usually go for. (I also had no idea that “Sirens” referenced mermaids so that may be my mistake.)

You’re following two sets of “sisters.” One set in the 1800’s on a convict transport ship headed to South Wales, and one set in present day. They are linked by dreams, feelings, the calling of the sea and a skin condition. Lol

There is a LOT of buildup, repetition and a whole lot of nothing happening.

The writing is beautiful and atmospheric, but there are questions and the epilogue left me with the ick.

I listened to the audio version and the narrator did a good job…I think the singing was my favorite part. 🩷

Disappointed in this one since I loved Weyward so much.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Macmillan Audio for the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Sirens turned out to be a book that I just plain need to get out of my system so I can make like Elsa and “let it go”. And that’s not a good thing.

Normally I do a plot summary/commentary first, but I don’t think I can here because saying anything more than is in the blurb would be a spoiler as nothing is revealed at the start. The whole story is about secrets and their very slow reveal in a family that has so much dysfunction – and such a unique dysfunction at that – that it lasts centuries. If not longer.

It takes place in two distinct timelines two centuries apart, the early 1800s and the early 2000s. The stories are wrapped around a pair of sisters in each timeline, seemingly joined by a rare and common disease. Or a birth defect. Or a genetic anomaly. Or perhaps, all of the above.

They’re not exactly allergic to water, but they all have aquagenic urticaria, which is a real thing that Mary and her sister Eliza certainly wouldn’t have had a name for in the early 1800s, although Jess and her sister Lucy in the early 21st century certainly do. Not that it helps, particularly as their expression of the condition seems unique to the four of them. They don’t get hives, they get scales – and sprout gills.

The story both is, and isn’t, about their shared condition. Rather, it’s about the secrets that are kept from them because of it, and the events that occur as a result of their need or desire to hide it and the traumas that are a consequence of all of the above.

That Jess and Lucy are both dreaming of Mary and Eliza throughout the story, and experience their fate with them within those dreams, links the past and the present in ways that Jess and Lucy don’t expect – but the reader certainly does long before the story comes to its conclusion.

Escape Rating C: I came so very close to DNF’ing this one really early on. The only reason I kept going is that I received an ALC (Advance Listening Copy) through Netgalley and that’s one queue I try to keep relatively clean. I tried reading the thing instead because that would be faster but couldn’t manage that either, so I stayed with the audio and increased the speed – which I seldom do because I’m normally there for the voices.

The narrator in this particular case, Barrie Kreinik, was very good and I’d certainly be willing to listen to another book she narrated. She even sang, and sang well, the parts that needed singing, but the book as a whole drove me so far round the bend that I just needed to get it done.

I honestly expected to like this. And I did like the historical parts – both because the history is fascinating and because, in spite of Mary’s story being ‘told’ through Jess’ and Lucy’s dreams, Mary and Eliza’s story was still mostly ‘shown’ rather than ‘told’. We see the action – and its results, as they happen, and it’s raw and harrowing and immediate even though it takes place two centuries ago. Mary may be filled with angst and fear and regret – and she often is and rightfully so considering what happens to her – but in the moment she acts and doesn’t angst before and regurgitate after.

Which is far from the case when it comes to Lucy’s story. Lucy’s story is not merely told instead of shown nearly all the time, but it’s told in the most distancing way possible. First she angsts over what’s about to happen. Then she angsts over it while it’s happening and we see the event through her emotions about the event rather than the event itself. Afterwards she chews over the event that has already passed and angsts about it even more.

The thing is that the story is told from inside Lucy’s head, but we’re not actually in Lucy’s head. Instead the story is told from a third-person perspective that puts Lucy’s thoughts and emotions at a distance. That so much of Lucy’s story is told either through Lucy listening to podcasts or Lucy reading newspaper articles and Jess’ diary puts even more distance in that distance.

So we’re not close enough to Lucy to FEEL with her, and her pattern of telling most of the parts of the story three times made it difficult for me to feel FOR her as I just wanted her to get on with it. That I figured things out LONG before she did left me waiting for someone or something to hit her with a clue-by-four because she really, really needed one.

Putting it another way, Lucy’s story is distant because it’s filtered and chewed over and gnawed at and angsted about. We get so much of Lucy processing her story, like a cow chewing its cud, that we don’t experience it. And it feels as if neither does she.

In the end, I got left with a whole heaping helping of mixed feelings. The story turned out to be a whole lot of atmosphere, often creepy, a great deal of deserved angst and not a lot of action until very near the end when all the various plot threads come to an ending that should have been a surprise but mostly wasn’t. The historical story about the horrors of the convict transport ships that carried prisoners from Britain to Australia was searing and horrifying every nautical mile. It was a dark journey and a dark time in a dark age.

The concept of Jess’ and Lucy’s part of the story had the potential to tell a story of female resilience and the power of sisterhood, but that part of the story got lost in the slow and repetitious way that it was told. There was so much potential in this story, but too much of it got washed away by the tides.

Of course, your reading mileage – even measured in nautical miles, kilometers or fathoms – may vary.

While recovering from cruel misconduct and social scandal at university, Lucy wakes to find herself in a compromising and violent position. Her unresolved feelings seem to have reawakened an inner spirit intent upon distributing justice and revealing truth. Lucy flees, hoping to seek comfort from her estranged sister, only to find her sister missing. Lucy fears she has stumbled into a greater mystery, with missing men, tales of ghosts, creatures, the sea, and tragedy.

The Sirens follows the interwoven stories of three women through time, from 1800 to modern day. Each woman's storyline contains their own identity quest, struggle against patriarchal oppression and unresolved trauma, and ties to the magic of the sea. As someone who grew up with tales of selkies, merrows, and the Tir fo Thoinn, I loved how Hart's story incorporated these classic Irish stories, but in a modern and distant setting. Conversely, as someone ignorant of Australian history, Hart's story provides a glimpse in to the disturbing practices of convict transportation during the establishment of British colonies in Australia, as well as the endurance exhibited by the women transported.

Though one might describe The Sirens as a blend of mystery/suspense and magical realism, through the interweaving stories the connections between the women are fairly predictable and apparent early on. What is beautiful to unravel, is the depth of love and the beauty found in the complex relationships between each woman, others in their life, and the past.

Emilia Hart’s ‘The Sirens’ beautifully explores sisterhood and family. Barrie Kreinik’s captivating narration brings the story of mermaids protecting the wronged by men to life. Some trigger warnings: violence, abuse, sexual assault, mistreatment, depression.

The Sirens is an engaging audiobook.

This was a really fun listen. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this ahead of publication.

The narrator in this audio book has the most incredible voice. She is able to modulate herself in a way that really brings the story to life. The different accents and cadence allow us to slide between the different timelines seamlessly and keep connected to our different women's voices. Incredible story and I loved every moment of it.

The title, The Sirens, give a hint about the book being about mermaids, but I didn't realize it until way into the story. This is a dual timeline story set in both 1800 and 2019. The early timeline introduces the reader to two sisters, Mary and Eliza. We see them as children, their father warning them to stay away from the water. When it touches their skin, it changes, so they try and stay away. Then they are forced onto a convict ship, heading to Australia. The further away from their home they get, they begin to change. What awaits them in this new land could be a forced marriage or even a life of prostitution. The present story is that of Lucy. She has been shamed by a professor who was her lover. When she wakes up with her hands around his neck, she flees to her sister's home on the coast in New South Wales. She has been having vivid dreams that she doesn't understand, and hopes Jess can help her to understand them. When she arrives, Jess is not there. While waiting for Jess to return, she hears rumors in town, and her dreams become even more vivid. What is happening to her? What do the dreams mean?

The Sirens is an extremely atmospheric story, that gives off some creepy vibes as well as what it means to have a connection to the sea in a way that humans can't understand. The story alternates from Lucy and Jess in 2019 and Mary and twin sister Eliza in the 1800s. Sisterhood and the bond they have is what holds this book together for me. The magical realism and mythology of mermaids was well done once it was revealed near the end of the book. It pulled it all together for me, but was still open to interpretation. This is a story that also explores female strength and resilience, especially when it comes to Jess' story. The family stories revealed near the end showed the importance of the "human parents" to the women. This an historical fiction story with mystery and magic. Not what I would normally pick up, but I enjoyed it. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Barrie Kreinik. I enjoy her voice, tone, expression and interpretation of the story. She definitely pulled me into the story in a way I don't think I would have if I just read it.

The Sirens is a slow-burn, multigenerational story about women, myth, and the sea, every girl who used to play mermaids at the pool's dream. I co-read this one with the audiobook and digital copy, which worked *really* well for the format- it has that dreamy, layered feeling Emilia Hart excels at where past and present bleed together, and I was always eager to find out where it was headed next.

There are three timelines here: 2019, 1999, and 1800, all circling around women on the edge of something mysterious and powerful. I really liked how Emilia Hart played with transformation, inheritance, and rage across each timeline, and it kept the narrative fluid. The present-day story gave me a little bit of Yellowjackets energy, while the historical one had this eerie, almost fairytale quality.

Like Weyward, this is not what I consider a fast-paced read, but it’s quietly hypnotic. I was a big fan of the atmosphere. I think fans of Weyward will love this one.

Thanks so so much to MacMillan audio for the advanced listening copy!