“”Why?” “So I would be the best.” “Why did you want to be the best?” I don’t understand the question. “Should I have aspired for mediocrity?””

I was completely hooked from the first page and devoured the book in 2 nights. It’s fast paced and the intrigue will draw you in immediately and keep you reading one more chapter.

The book follows Saoirse, who is an assassin that is also a siren living in a place where she should no longer exist. There are fae who are the rulers and humans are the lesser class.
She uses her siren abilities to assassinate people and never really thinks much about why they have been targeted. That is until her sister is threatened and leveraged against her to force her to kill the prince, Haynes.
She joins the prince’s guard and we follow as she tries to piece together mystery of who is blackmailing her and who she trust. While also trying not to fall for the prince she is supposed to be killing.

I loved Saoirse so much, a morally grey siren who will do anything to keep those she loves safe. She keeps herself isolated and closed off to everyone to keep her secrets safe but I loved seeing her slowly open up to those around her.
Haynes is a ray of sunshine and always trying to get her to open up and it was fun watching their verbal sparring.
There’s also a great female friendship that develops in the book and of course, all the angst as she tries to stop any feelings for Haynes affect her goals.

There is also a lot mystery and political intrigue as we learn what happened to the rest of the sirens and how the magic system and the world works.
We get a slow build up as Saoirse pieces everything together and the last third of the book is action packed and the plot twists were so good!
I really appreciate the ending and how Saoirse & Hayne’s relationship develops and changes because of the consequences of their actions and I absolutely need the next book asap!

Sing Me To Sleep by Gabi Burton is an enchanting debut fantasy novel that captured my imagination from beginning to end. Set in the intriguing world of Keirdre, where fae, witches, and humans coexist, the story follows Saoirse Sorkova, a siren living a dangerous double life. The author's vivid descriptions and immersive world-building drew me into the kingdom's rich history and complex magical system. I was captivated by Saoirse's struggle to control her siren powers and her morally grey nature, making her a compelling and relatable protagonist.

The dynamic between Saoirse and Prince Hayes added an extra layer of depth to the narrative. Their evolving relationship, filled with tension and unexpected connections, kept me eagerly turning the pages. The slow-burn romance was beautifully crafted, showcasing the grumpy/sunshine trope that I adore. As the plot unfolded, filled with twists and turns, I found myself completely engrossed in the unraveling secrets, political intrigues, and the underlying mystery of a killer within the kingdom.

Gabi Burton's writing style is poetic and evocative, reminiscent of Taylor Swift's folklore. The story's pacing was steady, allowing for deep character development and immersive storytelling. I appreciated the author's ability to balance action, suspense, and emotional depth. Sing Me To Sleep is a remarkable debut that combines elements of dark YA fantasy, complex characters, and an enthralling plot. I eagerly await the next installment in this captivating series.

Much like its main character this is a book that hooks you and won't let you go.

I really love the characters in this book, our main character doesn't have control of her powers and this makes for a really interesting character arc where she is conflicted and its so nice to have a female lead that is morally grey in this way, but who you can't help to back, its so refreshing that she's not perfect, I find morals grey isn't done so well in YA, not the case with Gabby Burton, if I were to make a comparison I would say it rivals 'The Cruel Prince' vibe and I could not be loving it more!

The writings so good with a plot fitting of great story telling, twists and turns and world building that supports the atmosphere of the story, its easy to follow and doest confusing readers with unnecessary scenes, characters or descriptions.
Its a slow burn romance with a swoon worthy prince, slow burn romance isn't always my scene but in this case the plot and characters held my attention enough for this not to be a problem at all and I can't wait for the next book.

If I had one tiny issue, it would be the lack of 'at sea' time. I love a pirate/siren/mermaid plot more than anything else and for me this siren story crossed into fear of the water in place of love for the water, its just a different take to what I love which isn't a bad thing but with a mention for those expecting sea exploration.

All in all this is a must read for lovers of morals grey, slow burn fantasy books, one of my favourite reads in recent months, thank you for providing me with a copy to review.

Sing me to Sleep was one of the most promising debuts of this year. Its synopsis immediately caught my attention: a girl who is the last siren, that has to hide of the rest of the world and also, an assassin who will be working for the enemy and will be hunting herself. Doesn’t this sounds amazing?! I had super high expectations for this, I will not lie. If it lived to it? Sadly, no.

Everything in this could have been awesome, EVERYTHING. It had all to be a great story but it never got to its full potential. What I felt reading this book was that it was all very superficial. The worldbuilding was almost nonexistent, what didn’t help to understand the story. I never felt that I was inside this world because I didn’t knew what this world was supposed to be. And the plot was very action packed but it lacked meaning and consistency. I never felt attached to the story or to the characters because I never believed or cared about them. The relationships between the characters were all tell and never show. And that was the main problem for me.

I felt that the author was telling me how to feel about the characters but was not showing me why I should care about them. There was a lot of incoherence on the main character personality. Saoirse had everything to be an awesome morally grey hero/villain, and I was desperate to love her but I couldn’t get her actions that, most of the times, didn’t connect with what she was feeling. The side characters didn’t had personality at all. And the love interest was awful. All the romance was just cringe and not believable at all.

I can’t explain to you how sad and disappointed I’m. I hated to write this review. If it wasn’t an arc I would’ve DNF the book and forget about it, seriously. I hope all of you love it more than me, truly 💜

Thank you to @netgalley UK for providing me an arc of this book in exchange of an honest review

Sing Me to Sleep is a fantastic YA Fantasy debut. It’s well written with an engaging writing style, great pacing and the plot is solid and well crafted which makes for extremely compelling reading. The characters are strong and well-developed and I loved Saoirse and Hayes’ dynamic and chemistry. There is lots of relationship building here, but not too much on the romance front…as yet. The mystery of who Raze is added additional intrigue and keeps you guessing until the end.

I’m so glad this is a series, I definitely need more of these characters and this world.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my eARC via Netgalley.

This book started out really strong. I felt a deep connection to the character straight away and was intrigued about how the plot would play out. Overall I did enjoy the plot and the writing style but I found that the main character was a little 2D and didn’t feel as fleshed out as she could have been. I think this was mostly because her care for her sister overwhelmed any other aspect of her personality and whilst this was interesting it was a little repetitive after a while. I enjoyed the world building but found that it wasn’t always explained enough for me to understand the context of the story. However, I thought the plot was good and the story was unique and interesting.

This had really good potential but for me I felt it was lacking the final punch. I was expecting to love it as the blurb sounded so good, turned out to be just ok but I still overall enjoyed the book.

Hmm where to start, to be honest I don't have a strong opinion on the book as I didn't get attached to the characters or the plot really.

I liked the plot, the Prince, and the pacing. Rebellions are always intriguing, and betrayal is one of my favourite things to have in a plot especially when I don’t like the character who is getting betrayed. She was cocky, and I liked seeing some of that get taken away. I might have liked her more if she didn’t try to rationalize her cold blooded killing. It wasn’t even for the money really, she just likes doing it. It also bothers me that the Prince can even tolerate her after who she killed. The second book is going to be interesting with what is beyond the barrier.

Saoirse Sokova is a siren surviving on lies in a society where only faes are accepted. At night, she works as an assassin to a dangerous group of mercenaries - whom she does not know - for her family. For her sister Rain. But after her graduation, she is employed as a soldier / guard for the prince Hayes whom she hates.
After receiving threatening messages from the palace, she decides to take the job, seeking to find who is threatening her sister and family. From hating the prince, she begins to develop feelings for Hayes.

Together, they stop a deadly killer plaguing the city and threading the future and peace amongst the fake. There is only one problem. How could she do that, protect Hayes from the undying threat, without revealing herself as a Siren - a species that has been murdered in the past by the King.

YOU GUYS 🤓 THIS BOOK. IT WAS SO GOOD.

First of all, the writing. The writing was quite good, descriptive but not so much that it bored me. What I really love is how the Saoirse - as a Siren - has to distinct personalities, one which wants to kill and one that wants to protect, and the writing portrayed that perfectly as she tries and hones her hunger as a siren.
The pace was also quite good. It was too fast / slow paced so it kept me on my toes throughout 🤔 It really helped the plot as well.
Also the ending was so thrilling! It had my heart beating out of my chest.

The characters. Saoirse was a good character. You could truly see her conflicting patters of thoughts as she tries to control her siren impulses to kill. Her character developed well throughout - whereas at first it was hard for her to control her need to kill, it became somewhat easier.
You could really see how the kills she previously had affected her which I loved!
As for the Prince - or should I call him Hayes - his character was also quite good. He was charming and a really nice character overall. His relationship with Saoirse was super cute - despite her being arrogant 🥲 But the ending 😭 ًWHY DID HE HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT IN THE ENDING?!? HE INFURIATED ME IN THE ENDING. LIKE WHYYYYYYYYYY HAYES. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME. TO SAOIRSE.

I don’t blame him lol.

This is quite an enjoyable read overall with great character development. Some parts of the “reveal” actually shocked me a lot. Some were predictable however. But overall, i was still like WHAT when it was revealed.

This was such a good read I have to say. YOU NEED TO READ IT IS WHAT I MEAN

I throughly enjoyed this book. Saoirse, our FMC, is a survivor, a killer and a devoted sister. I loved all her rough edges, her murderous tendencies and they way her heart was pulled in opposite directions. She has bite and heart and that makes for an incredibly fasinating endearing main character.

Fans of The Bridge Kingdom, The Cruel Prince and To Kill A Kingdom will absolutely love this impressive start to a new YA fantasy series. There's so much potential and world still to be explored.

This was a really easy read, which is good because I've had a few tougher ones on the list lately. It was nice to just relax and read about a murderous siren and her unfortunate feelings for the son of the man who is trying to eradicate her kind. It was a great. Typically YA and just what I needed.

The world was interesting but I feel like we haven't really explored it that much so far. Most of the oppression, we learnt because Saoirse tells us and there isn't much showing. Only that she and her family have to hide. I'm looking forward to finding out more about the world in the next book.

I liked the ending. It was suitably dramatic and thrilling. I could really feel the emotions that Saoirse was going though.

All in all a pretty good book, but not a lot of depth in the society.

Sing Me to Sleep is an engaging tale of intrigue, found family, and nature vs nurture.

Saoirse is a siren, able to control people with her voice and beauty alone, and overwhelmed by her species’ desire to kill when she’s in the vicinity of water. She hates that she is a murderer, and lives with the secret shame that she enjoys the kill. When she comes first in the Barracks’ annual competition and is offered a place guarding the fae Prince, she initially turns it down - the royal family hate sirens more than anything, and would happily see her dead. But when someone with access to a royal seal threatens to expose her sister, Saoirse takes the job to discover who knows their secret and stop them before it’s too late.

I adored the complexity of Saoirse’s character. The conflicting facets of her feelings towards her nature were really well balanced and considered. The fact that she feels driven to kill and simultaneously hates it and loves it made for a really interesting, rounded character who I was engaged by. Similarly the other characters added to the story, and I loved their interactions - especially considering Saoirse’s innate lack of trust in anyone outside her immediate family.

The plot was an interesting YA mystery and I loved the world that the author created. The way the subjugation of various species was worked into the plot was, sadly, realistic, and will hopefully provide a good comparison to our world for younger readers to consider how this same racial disparity exists in real life.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Sing Me to Sleep and will definitely pick up the sequel.

I devoured this book in one evening! Absolute brilliance within a book - I gave it 4.5 stars.

Firstly, the premise is amazing - Saoirse's life as a Siren is so intriguing and I love how badass she was. It never felt like she just relied on her beauty, and the discussion of the internal conflicts that it provided her with felt honest and genuinely interesting.

The characters were so great, I loved meeting each one of them and learning more about them, especially Saoirse, Hayes and Rain! The magic-system of the world seemed well thought through and I thought that we were told enough to set it up without it feeling boring or overwhelming.

The plot of this book genuinely had me gasping at points, I could not get enough once I'd got into the book. One thing that knocked the rating down ever so slightly was the lack of romance in the book: I felt on tenterhooks the whole book and then was a little underwhelmed. However, now that I've confirmed that this is the first in a series, I don't mind, as I'm sure we'll get more in future releases! Just don't go in expecting the romance to be solidified by the end, you're left on edge the whole time!

Ultimately, this was a brilliant debut and I highly recommend that everyone picks up this book! I can't wait to see what Gabi Burton releases next...

A huge thanks to Hodderscape and NetGalley for early access to this book!

DNF at 35%

I am so so sad that this one just was not for me, I feel even more sad at the idea of rating this low when its the authors debut. But this jsut did not work for me.

1. It kind of felt like a repeat of a few too many YA books I've read, just with a new cover.
2. The protagonist is not someone with a cause, or someone I'm rooting for. She kills people: people that could be innocents or atleast do not deserve to be drowned. I do not want her to succeed.
3. I could tell that there would be a generic YA romance in this that would make me roll my eyes.
4. THe protagnist has these murdery moments when she is near water - which is confusing since surely she bathes and it rains and she drinks it... ???

At the end of the day: this is probably going to work for so many people but for me: 35% of the book with nothing.

Becuase it is a debut, and I DNF'd I will not be giving a goodreads rating and dragging that rating down, I also do not want to rate it on netgalley but to ubmit feedback I have to.

If this author writes more books in the future I would 100% be interested.

I knew from the first page I was going to love this book! The writing instantly drew me in. I want more… immediately.

Our main character is FIERCE and will do anything for her family, including things that put her in danger. Like despite her identity as a siren being something that would mean she’s killed on sight, Saoirse places herself in the palace, working directly with the Prince who’s searching for her to ensure she can work out who’s blackmailing her sister.

This book is filled with mystery and plot twists, I couldn’t put it down.

Wonderful and addictive YA fantasy with a dark take on sirens and an enemies to lovers romance I adored!

The story follows Saoirse who is a siren who hides what she is and works for a mysterious employer to hunt and kill men using her siren song.

There were some great plot twists and I loved Saoirse's relationships with her sister and Hayes. There is also some great diversity in this book and Saoirse was such a strong badass FMC. Overall I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the next books in the series!

Sing Me to Sleep is YA Fantasy at its finest. With a strong, morally grey heroine and addictive plot, you won’t want to put this book down until you reach the very end.

I absolutely adored this book. I knew going into Sing Me to Sleep that I would love it (morally grey killer sirens, anyone?), but wow, I was not expecting this. From the very first page, Gabi Burton grabs you and doesn’t let go.

The marketing for this book does NOT lie (props to both the US and UK teams on this one): if you liked The Cruel Prince or To Kill a Kingdom, buy this book immediately. It even gave me slight Throne of Glass vibes (the first book, not the whole series), for some reason.

I really liked Saoirse as a protagonist. She’s determined to do what it takes to protect her family, especially her little sister, all the while having to hide who (and what!) she is, working alongside the royal family. The rest of the cast is great, and I did not see some of the twists about them coming towards the end. I also really enjoyed the magic system and worldbuilding in this one. Though it took me a couple chapters to wrap my head around, I loved all the different creatures that are in this world, and the politics surrounding them.

I think the only reason I can’t give this book 5 stars is because I wish there was more romance in it. Though I totally get it wasn’t the main focus, I still would have liked a little more - in my opinion, there is next to none. I’m really hoping there’s more in the sequel, which I will definitely be picking up after that ending! That being said, there is still lots of fun banter between Saoirse and her love interest, Prince Hayes, so I don't feel too disappointed.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend any YA Fantasy fans pick up a copy of Sing Me to Sleep as soon as you possibly can!

Thank you to Hodderscape for sending me a free eARC!

↠ 4 stars

I don't know where to begin honestly. This book caught me by surprise. I was expecting a generic fantasy novel with romance but this book had me hooked from start to finish!

This story follows Saoirse Sarkova, who is a siren in hiding. In a world where species are ranked from most important (fae) to everyone else, she is hiding her true identity to survive. But it falls to pieces when she's threatened by an unknown enemy, and forced to work for the royals, including the insufferably handsome and kind prince.

Packed with morally grey characters, this book more than delivered. I loved Saoirse and her motivations to protect her family. Working for a mysterious employer, she can compel and kill men by singing, seducing them into doing whatever she wants. She's fierce and deadly, but there's also another side to her, the one that she shows her family, particularly her little sister who she would do anything to protect.

And the chemistry between her and Hayes?? I just wanted them to get together already! But the plot twists were so great, and it was quite unexpected, especially with that ending, I'm craving for more of these characters. Also, the friendships were so wholesome! I love this world and the history behind it, and I think the barriers and other species will be further explored in the sequel.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc!

one thing about me is i do not typically enjoy the first book in a fantasy series. i think it’s unfair to judge a series based on its beginning (as i did with the Throne of Glass series) so i like to save my opinion til the end. Sing Me to Sleep reminded me a lot of Throne of Glass, honestly. for a main character that is supposedly this skillful, deadly, powerful assassin/guard, Saoirse does not always seem totally competent as an assassin, and shirks her guardly duties more frequently than should be allowed for a royal guard. the author had Saoirse toe the line of hero vs antihero throughout the book as the character herself deals with conflicting thoughts about her own morality, and my hope is that antihero wins, because i am not interested in reading any redemption arc. she’s a deadly siren, and i want her to fully commit to that!

another hope i have for the continuation of the series: this “romance” between Saoirse and Hayes goes caput. it feels like he’s the first nice, sensitive guy she’s ever met and she’s the first girl to treat him normally, and that’s really all they have going for each other. what i want is for Saoirse to find someone on the other side of the barrier who loves her in every way, her siren self included, a la Aelin and Rowan. again, since i have only read the first in this series, i only have a limited picture on what happens next… and i hope beyond hope that Saoirse gets some badass siren backbone!