Emilia Hart crafts a tale of women’s fiction with mysterious mermaids, resilience, and overcoming trauma. Lucy and Jessica dream of Eliza and Mary, twin sisters from 200 years ago forced to Australia on a convict ship. As they dream, Lucy and Jessica sleepwalk towards the water.
Their stories converge in Comer Bay, known as the “Bermuda Triangle” for missing men, revealing heritage and identity. The Sirens, called Merrow, are vengeful protectors of women, a feminist twist on Greek mythology. They switch between mermaid and human forms and use a fatal siren song.
Hart's books focus on female experiences, trauma, and healing. While beautifully written, the characters are flawed, highlighting themes of change and acceptance. Despite this, the pacing suffers from alternating points of view and shifting timelines, sometimes causing important moments to be overlooked. Overall, I did enjoy the book and cannot wait to see what else Emilia Hart has in store for us.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book. Additionally, I applaud Emilia Hart for crafting an outstanding story.

I knew when I picked up this book there was going to be something about it which tugged at my heart strings. I also knew we would encounter some magical realism as well as emotional bonding or loss between some of the characters.

Within The Sirens, we have two parallel stories, one of two sisters who have been ripped away from their home and being shipped to Australia for crimes (though justified) categorized them as a criminal. The second story is about Lucy fleeing to her sister's house after an incident at college. Though Jess is not home, Lucy waits for her return and starts to uncover a lifelong mystery about her sister and her own family.

The content does feel heavy with theming. The writing is fairly well done but I do think the author's novel Weyward was a bit stronger with regards to character development and story. There are points where it does not feel we are moving forward and we are spinning our wheels as we wait for something to happen.

I don't think the twist was as intense as I expected and I did figure out some of the "reveal" about halfway through. It wasn't as captivating as the other book and I think my overall critique is that not much happens as we wander through this book so we don't see a great deal of growth from the characters and the all of a sudden we are at the end with a reveal which wasn't incredibly surprising. However, the story has it's perks and I was fairly engaged through the ending.

I hadn't read Weyward yet when I requested this book. The description sounded fantastic so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! I love books with dual timelines. I'm also a sucker for strong female protagonists and women that try to build each other up instead of being catty and mean to one another. Mary and Eliza's timeline was especially gripping. It had me stressed at times. Overall, I loved this book and it convinced me to read Weyward.

I adored Weyward and was pumped to get an early copy of Emilia's new book.
The Sirens has a different tone to it than their first book, but the beautiful writing style always drags me in.
I found the two timelines of different characters a bit confusing at first, but it does begin to fold meaning into each other as you go along which was perfect once I came to terms with the not knowing.
I hate not knowing lol.
I was invested in the two set of sister throughout and could not wait for all the intrigue to unfold.
Highly recommend this delightful story!
Much love to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for my ALC.

🎧 Audiobook +📗 eBook: The Sirens-a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Emilia Hart-new to me author

📃Page Count: 352

📅Publication date: 4-1-25 | Read: 3-31-25

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 10:15

🌎 Setting: Australia and New South Wales 2019, 1999, and 1800

👆🏾POV: 3rd person and 1st person- multiple

Genre: Historical Fiction, Women's Fic

Tropes: sisterhood, sirens, multiple timelines, family drama, magical realism

⚠️TW: leaked nudes, misogyny, death of a parent, SA, racism, grooming

🗣️Narrator: Barrie Kreinik voices all the characters with standouts from Jess and Lucy. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

Summary: Two pairs of sisters with the same rare allergy to water and feel the call of the sea are connected through time. From 1800 to 2019 Lucy, Jess, Mary, and Eliza must deal with being at the mercy of men and their disappearances.

👩🏾 Heroine: Lucy Martin-a journalism student wakes up choking ex-boyfriend Ben sleepwalking, flees to sister Jess who's MIA

👩🏾Heroine: Jess-an artist encouraged by her art teacher. Her drawings in a journal - Lucy finds and uses to discover their secret past

👩🏾Heroines: Mary + Eliza-twin sisters forced to leave Ireland for Australia, afraid of the sea after their mother's drowning.

🤔 My Thoughts: I wish I had read Weyward first, but I'll go back to it. The multiple POVs and timelines with sirens against evil men and family secrets exposed, sign me up!

*Emotion: 5/5 🥲
*Rating: 5/5 ⭐

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and Emilia Hart for this ARC & ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

I loved Weyward and was looking forward to this book for so long, and still, it exceeded my expectations. The Sirens is told in 3 timelines that are beautifully woven together. In 2019, Lucy finds herself strangling her ex in her sleep and doesn't know what to do, so she flees to her older sister's house on the Australian coast. But her sister isn't there so she starts to read her diary. In 1999, her sister Jess was an artistic but isolated 16 year old with a strange allergy to water. And in 1800, twin sisters Mary and Eliza were sent on a convict ship from Ireland to Australia despite their fear of the ocean after their mother drowned. The way the characters develop and interact is haunting and relatable and my heart truly bled for them. This story is dark and tragic but also empowering and Emelia Hart's beautiful prose is intoxicating, I feel like I could drown in her words.

I was lucky to have access to both the ebook and the audiobook of The Sirens, which is beautifully narrated by Barrie Kreinik, with Irish and Australian accents and even actual siren song!

I do not know what it is that draws me into the books of Emilia Hart. The language? Characters or themes? I don't know. They are otherworldly. Hart's books truly are like Siren songs to me. There is something in her writing that is so mystical. Elegant. Visceral. Speaking of her books, using words like "captivate" or a phrase like "draw me in" would not accurately describe what I feel when I listen to or read them. No. They CALL me into their worlds. This one washed over me like a soft sea wave.

Taking place in three different periods, this wonder of the sea tells the story of three generations of two sisters searching for the truth about their longings, dreams, and old mysteries.
In 2019, Lucy has been sleepwalking and ends up with her hands around her ex-lover's throat. Confused by her actions, she seeks out her estranged sister, Jess, who has always been a sleepwalker. Arriving at Comber Bay on the coast of Australia, Lucy finds Jess's house empty, with her car, keys, and phone present. As she waits for Jess to return, she lets herself in and begins to feel a visceral connection to the artwork, the home, and the sea. But why? As she searches for answers, she listens to a true crime podcast about men in Comber Bay who have gone missing. Yet, a baby is found in a nearby cave. When she finds Jess's diary, she realizes that the truth may be closer than she thinks.
In 1999, Jess is a small-town girl who has a crush on her art teacher. He seems to see something in her that no one else does. Jess knows she's different. She just happens to have an allergy to water. She can't stop thinking and dreaming about two sisters trapped on a ship in the ocean. Is she connected to them somehow? The closer she gets to learning the truth, the more difficult it becomes to stay away from Comber Bay
In 1800, Mary and Eliza are taken as prisoners aboard a ship to be exiled on the coast of Australia. Facing harsh conditions in cramped quarters, Eliza finds singing to bring comfort to them both. They've always been afraid of water. But as the ship travels to this new land, they begin to notice changes in their bodies, as the sea calls them.

The writing. Oh, the writing! The setting, the themes of resilience, the bonds of sisterhood, the connection across time, and the hints of magic are simply breathtaking. This is not a fantasy book. It is more historical fiction and magical realism. Emilia Hart is creatively brilliant.

I find her audio books to be some of the most beautiful. The narrators chosen are absolutely perfect. This one was read by Barrie Kreinik. Her accents, variety in voicing, and characterization were solid. Barrie could read the phone book, and I would listen. She captured the story with brilliance.

A very special thank you to Macmillan Audio, Barrie Kreinik, Emilia Hart, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this audio ARC in exchange for my raving review.

I enjoyed the authors first book ‘Weyward’, so I was looking forward to this one too!

This is the story of two sets of sisters… separated by centuries of time… and continents, but still somehow interconnected!

1800’s: Mary and Eliza are forced to get on to a ‘convict ship’ heading from Ireland to Australia. The quarters are tiny and totally unhealthy. The conditions are awful. And the men in charge of the ship are horrendous…
We follow them on their journey… through sickness, heartache, illnesses, deaths and tragedies.

2019: Lucy and Jess are living in separate parts of Australia. Lucy is studying journalism in college. But she is not like the other girls there. And… she does not find herself pretty… So when one particular boy pays her some attention, she swoons… only to be disappointed.

Jess is living alone, entrenched in her painting work. When Lucy gets herself in a bit of hot water, she runs to Jess. But when she arrives at her home, Jess is gone!

She waits for her to come home… but days go by with zero contact.
In that time she meets her neighbors, and has some time to go through her pictures and ‘things’… some of which she might NOT have wanted to see. 😮🫣
And she starts to doubt herself… and her family… and her sister…

I must mention that BOTH of them have been having these vivid dreams vs reality… with visions and sounds and…based in what certainly feels like reality! But could it really be???

We travel back and forth between the two timelines… and the more they reveal, the more intertwined the four women seem to become.

I will say that the story meanders quite a bit, and I did find myself losing interest at times, BUT, overall, the storyline was terrific, and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next!

And, when what I considered was the ‘psoriatic skin’ was finally revealed… well, I had to catch my breath!! 🤭🥹

This is a very POIGNANT story that will cut you deep in your core, and more than likely will stay with you for a while! ❤️
And the love of family versus the problems of same family are painted very realistically… and will really make you think and consider… just what is going on…. How you’d feel… And, what would you do in the same situation…

4 Big, Bright, Beautiful ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

#TheSirens by #EmeliaHart and narrated beautifully by #BarrieKreinik.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook, in exchange for an honest review.
*** Release date is coming SOON on, 4/1/25, so look 👀 for it on shelves soon !! ***

You can find my reviews on: Goodreads,
Insta @BookReviews_with_emsr and/or
My Facebook Book Club: Book Reviews With Elaine

Thanks so much for reading! And if you ‘liked’ my review, please share with your friends, & click ‘LIKE’ below… And, let me know YOUR thoughts if you read it!! 📚⭐️

This novel takes place over 2 timelines, both timelines focusing on strong female characters.

The haunting tale of convicted women trapped on a ship bound for Australia from Ireland. The alternate timeline follows two women drawn to the sea and the story that connects her to the women on the fated ship.

A beautifully narrated and lovingly written story. This story is as tragic as it is a story of resilience and finding your place in the world.

An easy 4 stars. Magical realism at its finest.

The Sirens

This one was a vibey and spooky storytelling experience. With the layered timelines and POVs, I thought the narration did an incredible job of keeping the characters straight and pulling you along the narrative.

There were some heavier topics that were hard to read, so I am glad I was able to switch to the audio version because the atmospheric narration helped me continue on.

Recommend if you enjoy literary fiction that doesn’t shy away from hard topics with a mix of some magical realism.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillian Audil for the ARC and ALC! My opinions are my own.

A prickle starts at the base of Lucy's spine. Maybe it's the knowledge of what the water would do to her skin. She imagines the waves lapping at her like tongues, stripping her of flesh until she is nothing but bone, gleaming white.”

Book Review
The Sirens- Emilia Hart
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Firstly, I want to thank Emilia Hart for providing me an ARC &ALC via Netgalley! I want to shoutout the narrator Barrie Kreinik for flawlessly embracing an Australian &Irish accent. I also love how Emilia switched timelines from the 1990s to the 1800s gracefully with dreams and through diary entries. I truly adored the sisterhood dynamic they were truly the heart of the book! I have a sister myself and I cried during scenes were they were emotionally seperated.

In the first time line 2019, Lucy who attends University is having sleepwalking episodes with nightmares about the ocean. She awakes assaulting her boyfriend and has to run-away to her eldest sister Jess’ beach house in Australia. When she arrives her sister is gone, yet jess phone and car are still in the house. She fears her sister is in trouble so finds her sisters diary which takes us to 1999 seamlessly through Jess’ eyes. We get to see Jess’ life as a teenager and why they have so much in common such as their rare allergy to water resulting in their family never letting them get wet and vivid dreams. We then transfer to the 1800’s via both Jess’ and Lucy’s dreams which follows sisters Eliza and Mary born and raised in Ireland. They are both boarding a ship for convicts being stuck in the under carriage hands bound for New Whales they both have the same water allergy and the longer they are on board their skin starts shedding. This nautical fiction, Mystery, Thriller has themes of family resilience, self acceptance, and bonds of sisterhood across time and space.

I enjoyed this book!
As a huge fan of fantasy, I liked how the author interlaced genres. The story is told in a historical fiction way in that it focuses on two timelines of sisters. One timeline focuses in the 1800s and the story of twin sisters Mary and Eliza who are prisoners on a boat. This boat has women who are kept in handcuffs and are going to wolf as slaves. The next time line focuses on two sisters Jess and Lucy in 2019 who are both adopted by this family. Lucy is a student and an event with an ex college boyfriend has caused her to run away from the famous and look for her sister Jess. Lucy then begins to discover that her sister Jess an artist has disappeared. During this time Lucy begins to use her journalist background to start investigating her last, and why her body keeps changing.

I have always had an interest in the mythical creatures of sirens/mermaids. This is a story which includes the genre of magical realism and focuses on the resilience of two sisters and their love. The power of love and the power of wanting to protect those you love and the magical connection between loved ones. I also loved this story because it was a different kind of story and I felt drain into the story. I really did care for the sisters and I wanted to see how the story ended.
Thank you Net-galley, Macmillan audio and St Martin’s Press for allowing me the opportunity to review this arc. I really did enjoy this story!

Part historical fiction and part contemporary novel, The Sirens is a beautifully written and compelling exploration of sisterhood, family and finding one’s place. There are two timelines-one set in 2019 and one set in 1800-and each details the journeys of two sets of young women as they contend with hardships and self-acceptance amidst an inexplicable yearning for something more.

Twins Mary and Eliza are prisoners in a ship traveling from Ireland to Australia, while college student Lucy flees to her older sister Jess’ home in the coastal town of Comber Bay, New South Wales after a sleepwalking episode ends with unexpected violence. With Jess inexplicably missing, Lucy finds herself delving into her sister’s old diary and unearthing new mysteries.

The Sirens is something of a slow-burn and I enjoyed witnessing the plot unfold from dual perspectives. I appreciated the research utilized to depict Mary and Eliza’s timeline-especially prior to their subjugation-and would have enjoyed even more time spent with their characters and family.

Lucy and Jess were also relatable, as a passionate young woman/woman with ambitious dreams, individuals dealing with something akin to a chronic illness and also siblings struggling with a distance that sometimes occurs with a gap in age. The trauma both women experience is also-sadly-not uncommon and while certain aspects of the plot did progesss in a predictable fashion, it never felt tedious.

The setting of the fictional Comber Bay was also excellent: with the lone house above a cliff, the isolated and sea-swept caves and the eerie mystery surrounding men sporadically going missing over the years supposedly due in part to the voices of women across the waves.

At times, I found myself yearning for the more magical and less tragic aspects of the story, as I was initially expecting more of a focus upon the unusual disappearances of Comber Bay, rather than the complex familial relationships of the characters.

I was slightly surprised by aspects of the epilogue however, as it made something that was otherwise implied-and slightly damaging to a character-more definite unnecessarily.

The narration by Barrie Kreinik is truly wonderful and she does excellent work with regular vocals, accents and even some singing.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing access to this audiobook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

This is one of those books where, the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. When I started I was very interested, but it felt like quite a bit of the story was told through journalling, and not in the best way. The end was fairly rushed, and the main character's reaction to the ending was underwhelming. There was a lot that was just hand waived away, and it didn't sit well with me. I kept thinking, "how did that happen?" and not in a great-shocked way.
I am still giving three stars because I really liked it as I finished it, and the writing was very good. When I initially finished I thought I would give it four stars before thinking further on it.

This was an interesting read. I think I made the mistake of listening to the audio ALC because it was a bit hard to keep up with the characters changing and some timeline changes. But overall the story was good. A little mystery and a little fantasy. I love a mermaid type story and since this one was set over generations I enjoyed it. The characters were likable and it was definitely a story of finding yourself and the truth.

This was my first book by this author. It took me about 30% till I could get into the story. It was difficult to connect to the characters and to understand the pacing. I also struggled to decipher the difference between some of the characters. Once I could grasp the concept, the story began to unfold before me. I could appreciate the characters better.

I highly recommend for those who love magical realism.

The narrator did a good job giving emotions and capturing the magical portion.

I gave this a 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for the opportunity to listen to The Sirens by Emilia Hart.

It was an enjoyable read, but I found the plotting a bit rushed and not fully thought through. The premise was interesting, but some character decisions didn’t feel believable, and the story was somewhat predictable. I preferred the author’s previous novel, but I’ll still check out their future work. The audiobook was well done, with a great narrator and distinct character voices.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio #MacAudio2025 for the advance copy of this audiobook 📚 🎧

Magical realism is not always my thing, but there was enough “real” realism and mystery here that I ended up captivated. I loved this story of sisters, family, and resilient women, and it was especially good on audio. I did wish for more of the mythological lore of the sirens to be woven in to give the story a stronger foundation. The reviews on Goodreads are all over the place interestingly, but I would give this one a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Comes out tomorrow 4/1/25 so get your library hold in!

I wanted to love this book. Weyward may have been my favorite book of 2025 thus far so I had high hopes for Sirens. Unfortunately, I got the ARC as an Audiobook, and not as an eBook. I will say that I think this may have affected my opinion some, as I am very picky on audiobooks. I love reading in my own mental voice with my own inflections, etc. However, I had read Weyward as both an audiobook and an eBook and I loved both versions.

This book, while beautifully written and described, did not have the voice or story to keep me engaged. It is told in multiple POV over many different time periods, just like Weyward. The stories ran together and were not engaging. While I love the idea of this book, the execution just was not there for me. Even the secrets were lackluster.

I will continue to read Emilia Hart books, but I have a hard time recommending this book compared to her other masterpiece.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Emilia Hart and NetGalley for the ALC! All opinions stated are my own.

The Sirens: 🐚🌊🧜‍♀️⁣
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Thank you @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for my gifted copies! #MacAudio2025 #SMPInfluencer ⁣
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“But sometimes, there is no choice. There is only love.”⁣
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Me: “I love sirens and the lore behind them. This is going to be wonderful.”⁣
Me after finishing the last page: sobbing uncontrollably, holding my daughters super close and them giving me a side eye to why I’m being extra affectionate.⁣
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This is a slow burn. My curiosity was piqued, just enough to want to see what was happening to Jess. It took me until about 70% to really stop in my tracks and desperately NEED to know the rest. The dual timelines was so perfectly executed to really have a strong completion into how they’re connected in the end. ⁣
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Honestly, it’s a beautiful book. It’s heartbreaking, yet, hauntingly beautiful. I guess kind of like sirens ya know? The audio was phenomenal. Barrie Kreinik just keeps getting better. And the singing?! The singing!? Throw my book away, the audio was beautiful. (Don’t actually throw the book away, it’s stunning and I’ll be getting a copy for my shelves)⁣
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Overall, not at all what I expected but definitely a favorite so far of the year. ⁣
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QOTD: What did you read this weekend??