A really exciting premise that dragged me in. The setting was fun and unique. The writing and imagery were beautiful, but it lacked a good plot. This story felt like it was dangling something really good in front of you, only for nothing to happen. The themes of power, motherhood, and sacrifice were very prominent but weak and it left me wanting. It’s a very loose story but I did enjoy it.

Thank you Net Galley for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy!
This is a tricky one for me to rate. I feel like the story has good bones, but I also find it lacking in some aspects which makes it feel weaker. I really like the premise for this—Sirens performing in shows at a theme park caught my interest. I remember having a mermaid book kick several years ago and I’ve wanted to revisit that. Unfortunately the story itself ended up being on the weak side—I would have loved some more exposition, especially about the sirens and the shows they put on. I know a lot of authors recently tend to over-describe things, but this had the opposite issue. There were some characters present who I feel could have done more or been more involved, we get backstories for some of the performers but not all, and there are a few humans that I wish would have stuck around longer to have more weight to what they added to the story. Things felt jumbled throughout the book, but I think with some stronger transitions or additional scenes all of the threads could have been pulled together. I still enjoyed the book while I was reading it, and I actually really liked the ending. I could see a direction where I thought it was going but I didn’t expect it to actually happen! The ending alone made up for some of the aspects of the book I didn’t like

I initially picked up this book because of the cover; I recognized the gorgeous photo of a mermaid bound in a hanging shibari tie, shot by my friend, Renee Robyn. I kept reading because of my love of dark siren stories. I loved the short-lived Netflix show Tidelands, and “Bind Me Tighter Still” shares the same feminine-centred, maybe-might-kill-you, is-definitely-a-criminal, mysterious vibes.

The story follows some notes of the classic little mermaid tale. The tone of this book starts off with a dark and dreamy flashback of a siren in her home in the ocean, who takes a drastic step to join humanity on land. We jump back and forth through the timeline from there, as if the events of the narrative are perfunctory, and we care only about the snapshots of moments and feeling. The prose is trying for moody and emotional, but at times it stumbles too far into just confusing and disjointed.

I definitely enjoyed the characters, cared about each of them, and was carried along by the fast pace. I loved the surrealistic carnival boardwalk, and the secretive overgrown Sirenland.

The conflict seems to waffle between feminine vs masculine, or maybe women struggling to belong, or maybe the primal struggle of community vs selfishness? I could see where the story wanted to go, but it didn’t always get there. I enjoyed the visceral scenes, but I wished this story came together in a tighter, more fulfilling arc. I was left flopping like a fish out of water, craving more but just struggling along to a sad conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

The story of Ceto finding her humanity and understanding the love for her daughter was riveting . Sirenland land calls you in. If you are looking for something out of the box this is the book for you.

I was really excited for the premise of Bind Me Tighter Still—it had all the ingredients of a story I thought I’d love. While I could see that the author put time and effort into developing the characters and exploring themes of female identity, the overall execution fell flat for me. The plot felt scattered and lacked a strong sense of cohesion, which made it difficult to stay connected and engaged. I truly appreciate the author’s creativity and the depth of thought that went into certain aspects, but the story just didn’t quite come together in a way that resonated with me.