I read and enjoyed Emilia Hart’s Weyward last year, and I believe The Sirens is another captivating read from her!

A dark, modern retelling that draws from folklore tales, it shares parallels to Weyward with its powerful themes of generational bonds between women and exploring how their fates intertwine across time.

While it took me a little while to fully immerse myself in the story, once it gained momentum, I couldn’t put it down.

Unfortunately, I am going to give it a 3 stars because I did have to really push myself to read this until it did get interesting.

But I will definitely pick up any further works in future!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher
3/5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this book. It was deep, eerie and beautiful. But dark and not what I was expecting going into it.

Firstly I’d like to thank HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book. I’m very grateful!

You should read this if you want:
- sea vibes
- an interesting and unpredictable mystery
- deep and strong female connections
- multiple POV over two different timelines
- dark and thought provoking story

Do please read the trigger warnings before you read this!! This is not your lighthearted romantasy siren/mermaid book. It’s very dark, confronting and thought provoking. It was very raw and brings up themes A LOT that some might want to avoid. At times it was hard to read, but I’m very glad I did.

Things I especially liked about this book:

- I loved the mystery and as a true crime podcast lover the inclusion of podcast snippets and Lucy’s journalistic approach to unravelling the mystery was very fun and enjoyable
- I really liked the journal entries. I love when books have different ways of telling the story other than with the main characters POV
- There were some beautiful descriptions, especially of the sea elements, and very vivid imagery - I could really feel what the characters must have been feeling, seeing and smelling throughout the book which really made it an immersive experience and I feel like I know the characters really well
- The story itself is very powerful

Things I didn’t particularly like:
- The third person present tense was a bit odd and it took me a long while to get used to. I generally prefer first person, but am fine with third person usually. This, however, had a few too many ‘she does this, she does that, she does that, she she she she’ for my liking. It did distract me from the story a bit.
- It was at times quite harrowing to read, but I do understand that that’s the impact the book is meant to have, it was just quite hard
- I did not like the last chapter (don’t worry, this is not about the ending of the book - I enjoyed that - the last chapter is simply adding more information) - I didn’t like that plot point at all and feel it’s unnecessary.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to people who would enjoy a deep, dark and thought provoking sea inspired book about female bonds and injustice.

A lovely dark modern fairytale! It took a while for me to really get into the story but the second half was exciting and full of suspense. However I could have done without the revealed cheating in the epilogue… That kind of ruined it for me…

3.0 “Siren Song” Stars ✰✰✰

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, The Borough Press and Emilia Hart for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thoughts:

“The sea gives, but it also takes.”

I’m going to keep it real and honest, this book captured my attention immediately from the cover to the premise and then because of the author. I hadn’t read a book by Emilia Hart before this, but I do know there is a lot of love for Weyward. However, with all of that said the actual story is… okay. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it is so slow - like tape-my-eye-lids-open-to-not-fall-asleep slow! It dragged until the 60% mark, and then I was finally buckled in and ready for the reveals and climax. Some of it was predictable and some of it was partly shocking, but the foreshadowing was heavy early-on and led us to conclusions I knew we would be ending up at. I am not the biggest fan of a dual timeline read (there are some exceptions to the rule), but it was done pretty well here. I wanted more of a connection between us, the readers, and the women of the story, but there wasn’t much to work with. The characters remained one note and fell a bit flat. And truthfully, I needed more of a connection between the women of the modern timeline and the women of the past. It was a bit confusing to see how they tied in with each other besides one obvious factor (the title of the book lol). I’m finding it difficult to review this because overall, I liked the story even with everything said because the climax to the end was entertaining, but I wasn’t wow’d.

I don’t think this is my last read by Emilia Hart because I am intrigued enough to know where her other stories will take us, but I wish I could have adored this book more.

Paperback/Hardcover/Audiobook/E-book:

E-book

Pace:

Primarily Slow, but towards the climax - Medium

Cover thoughts:

Pretty and very on theme haha

Triggers *POTENTIAL SPOILERS*:

Pedophilia, Adult/Minor Relationship, Sexual Assault, Rape, Violence, Blood, Death, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Abuse, Toxic Relationships, Body Shaming, Birth/Pregnancy, Medical Trauma, Confinement, Torture, Grief, etc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the advance reader copy.

I went into the book with no expectations as I hadn’t read any of the authors other books.
The first 30-40% were a bit hard to get into and I had thought to DNF during that time but continued as I wanted to finish it and be able to write an honest review.

Overall, I think I would have loved to know more about the women from the ship and how they were connected to the modern women.

I think there was a level of waffling that could have been edited out. I’m glad I finished the book although a lot of key ‘twists’ felt spelled out from early in the story.

A big thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Author Emilia Hart for an advanced copy of this work.

The Sirens was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, and when I was approved for an arc, I was so excited to get started! When I was younger, and now, at the age of nearly 30, I had a secret childhood dream of becoming a mermaid and exploring the world under the surface.

Starting the story, we are immediately introduced to the main characters and sisters Mary & Eliza and Lucy & Jess. The story is set in two timelines, interacting with each other in different ways, that still makes sense for the reader. A good and reasonable amount of information is provided by the author in the correct areas, not leaving the reader overwhelmed while trying to understand the world and character building.

In the Author Notes, Hart noted that The Sirens took a lot of effort and was hard to write, and I can see the work and love that was put into this work. The research, character building and story was well done, and I am excited to see what else Hart will bring to us in the future.

With Weyward, these two books are my first time exploring these genres and world set-up. I was doubtful at first, but positively surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Again, thank you so much for the provided arc!

I really liked the premise of Emilia Hart's newest work "The Sirens", and for the most part I really enjoyed my reading experience. "The Sirens" tells the story of Lucy, who went through something traumatic and runs away from college to see her sister who always made her feel safe - and who recently moved to a coastal town famous for its many unresolved cases of missing men. Problem is, her sister has disappeared and Lucy is the only one trying to find out where she went.
It's also the story of two sisters at the beginning of the 19th century who, after defending themselves against an attacker, are shipped off to a prison colony in Australia. Their journey on sea is full of terror, and for some reason Lucy keeps dreaming about them.
These two mysteries - where Lucy's sister is and why Lucy's been dreaming about these two sisters - are what drives the narrative, but it's mostly an in depth exploration of the relationships between these two pairs of sisters and family with all their buried secrets.

Hart's writing is beautiful and while the pacing is rather slow and there isn't much going on for big chunks of the story, I really enjoyed reading it. My main problem, I think, was that I never actually connected with the characters in any way so I just didn't care all too much about what was going on. I did love the magical realism elements and the mysteries. I also thought that some of the themes weren't as thoroughly explored as I would have wanted them to, especially following later reveals. Reveals that, admittedly, didn't surprise me much.

All in all, a perfectly fine, beautifully written 3 stars.

This sweeping, feminist tale weaves together past and present, following two pairs of sisters—one in modern Australia and the other aboard a convict ship in 1788—whose lives seem mysteriously intertwined. Rich in folklore and history, it explores resilience, sisterhood, and the lingering echoes of the past in a gripping and atmospheric narrative.

I really enjoyed this book!

Giving us a different angle on Sirens, this book was both intriguing and beguiling. I loved the characters and the ways in which the author really brought them to life for us readers, and the in depth personalities they each possessed.

The storyline was captivating and had me fully invested throughout.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Emilia Hart for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.*

Thank you for approving me for an early copy of The Sirens. Unfortunately I have not been able to connect with the story in the way I was hoping and for the time being I've set it to one side as it could simply be my reading mood.

If I return to this in a few weeks I will post a full review then.

Again, my thanks.

I seen so many mixed reviews on this one but still went for it as Weyward was so good!

This was fantastic! I adored the writing and the dual storyline. We have 2 sisters who have been shipped from Ireland to Australia after committing a crime back in 1800. Then we have 2 sisters in 2019 finding there way back to each other in Australia. There are secrets, lies and a mystical element to this. Also some diary entries to keep the story flowing.

This is a beautiful and haunting story from Emilia Hart. As in Weyward, she writes about such strong women and their fight for their place in their world.
Each story in The Sirens is an emotional one and each shows the resilience of these women in such a tough world. The links between the three stories were wonderfully written.
I think my favourite was Mary - so young to be sent away on such a voyage and to be aware of the changes happening around and to her must have been so frightening. Her loyalty and resilience shone through at every stage.

⭐⭐⭐.75
I really enjoyed this book. Loved the dark eerie vibes and the mystery that continued to unfold. I really did not expect the book to go in the direction it went it was 100% not what I was expecting, however I still really did enjoy it.

I did find it slightly slow at the beginning, and although it wasn't difficult to get into, I found I lacked some motivation to continue, but once I reached about the halfway mark, I found I really wanted to know what was going to happen and couldn't put it down.

Overall, I did enjoy it, and if you're feeling for a little bit of a mystery with some eerie vibes I'd definitely recommend this.

🎧Audiobook Review🎧

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I want to thank NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of this book. Special shout out to my buddy reading pal @wendyreadsbooks. It was great to read this with you.

Told from multiple POV and spanning many centuries, we are thrown into the lives of Lucy, Jess, Mary and Eliza. I enjoyed getting to know these four chaacegrs throughout the story and kept trying to work out how they were all connected.

Whilst I did guess some of the twists I loved the unravelling of the story and learning about Jess through her diary.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I struggled getting into this, and my motivation was so bad for a while, and the time jump really didn’t help my focus. When I really got into the story, it was much better, and I got pretty invested. My friend and I had so many theories and probably made this more complicated than it was, but it was fun. That being said, it all felt a bit underwhelming when I was done? It was a fun read, but I just think I expected more out of the story.

3,5⭐️

I loved Weyward last year so I was so excited for The Sirens!
It was so different but also so similar as well and I just love how Emilia Hart writes! It feels so emotional yet powerful at the same time!
Hoping everyone will get to read this and enjoy it as much as I did!

The premise of The Sirens intrigued me and I was really hoping to enjoy this book but unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

I enjoyed the setting and how the dual timelines were woven into the story through dreams and diary entries. However, I didn’t feel completely connected to the characters and it took a little while for the story to really start.

This was such a stunning book that even though I know it was technically YA the writing was so superb that it made me forget. The atmosphere was exquisite, and the characters SWOON worthy. Overall a great time hidden in this book.

Epic feminist tale, spanning centuries, and set partly in Australia and partly aboard a convict ship destined for New South Wales.

Lucy has been having strange dreams that she can't explain, but it is when she wakes to find herself in her boyfriend's room with her hands strangling him that she decides she needs to get away. But when she gets to her sister's house, she finds that she has also disappeared, leaving her phone and personal possessions behind and the house unlocked. And why did she choose to move to such a run down house and to this maligned area?

As the days go by, she starts to look for clues to try to explain where her sister has gone, at the same time trying to understand the vivid dreams she is experiencing.

In 1788, sisters Mary and Eliza's undergo a difficult and claustrophobic journey from Ireland to Australia aboard a prisoner ship, and echoes of this time seem to resonate through to sisters Lucy and Jess in the present day.

There are a number of threads, but female strength, supportiveness and community are at the heart of this well-written and absorbing book, along with folklore and legend.

This book is about the bond between sisters and family secrets, told from two narratives, the past actions influencing the present, until everything comes together for the climax. The book is part historical fiction, part fantasy. A thoroughly enjoyable read.