A magical and mysterious read. The multiple pov adds depth to the story, the magical realism and the atmospheric setting keep you hooked. The feminist themes showed the power and resilience of women and felt very powerful

Absolutely loved Weyward so I was made up to get an ARC of The Sirens and it absolutely lived up to my expectations! With the same mystical, feminist vibe as the first book, The Sirens is told by multiple POVs (which I LOVE!) by sisters Jess and Lucy, and Mary, an Irish woman held prisoner on a ship to Australia. I don’t want to give any spoilers away but if you like mysterious, mythical, feminist fiction - this is for you!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this reading, via NetGalley.

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I am now even sorrier that I missed the event dedicated to this book, close to Leeds, in January. To be honest, I switched the dates of my trip there to fit it, as well as the opening of a new indie bookshop called Next Chapter. Unfortunately, the event was happening in Farsley, and there was no transport options at its hour, so I had to decline in the end.

The experience of reading THE SIRENS is far from being gentle. This is a complex book, with time switching from present to quite a distant past, and them being connected. There is a sufficient dose of magic for me to consider it magical realism, and yet most of the feeling is of eeriness and folksiness rather than uncanny. Ireland as a place or origin and myth was a bonus point for me, as well as present day Australia. These two in the same book will usually give it an extra!

The mystery part unravels in both past and present. It's connected, again, different yet related, same as the two pairs of sisters depicted in the book. I seem to read and translate many books with merfolk in the last years, and to discover each of them makes me wish for more.

The Sirens
Well, what was not to love about this wonderful story?! Emilia Hart has done it again!

Narrated by sisters Jess and Lucy in modern day Australia, and twin sisters Mary and Eliza in 1800 aboard a convict ship headed for Australia, The Sirens is full of mystery, suspense and heart stopping moments as the sisters stories unfold and weave around each other seamlessly.

I adored the mythology and folklore running throughout and was compelled to keep turning the pages as quickly as I could. Emilia's writing is beautiful and evocative, and really absorbed me. I could almost taste the salt on my lips.

I absolutely loved Emilias debut novel Weyward and although The Sirens does feel quite different, the themes of justice, feminism, sisterhood, and the resilience of women complimented with magical realism are similar.

A beautiful, powerful read with a strong plot - I was hooked from the opening pages right until the end.

As a fan of Weyward I was excited to read this and it did not disappointing! I enjoyed the two timeliness that were easy to follow and multiple poverty and the twists and turns in the 2nd half, omg. I would recommend

I went back-and-forth when deciding what to rate this but in the end I decided that a four star rating is an accurate representation of my feelings about the reading experience. I will say first and foremost that I of course picked this up with high hopes after having read and loved Wayward and this certainly did not live up to my expectations in terms of being as good and on the same level as wayward.

But that being said, there was still a lot in here that I enjoyed and found worthy of being read. This was definitely a character driven story and I found myself equally invested in both storylines which is an uncommon thing for me, I have found that I tend to Pick one that I prefer but in this instance both stories were equally compelling. Amelia Hart has a way with descriptions, I found myself getting lost in the setting and had overall very great time reading this. There were some parts that I questioned in terms of that decision making, sometimes in a certain books you can sense that certain things were put in there simply as devices to move the plot to a different part and I found this this to be the case a few times in this book but it was not so obvious that it ruined my experience. I will surely be following Amelia heart’s career and reading anything she put out in the future. Oh and that cover is absolutely stunning, not quite as beautiful as wayward but close

"The Sirens" is a compelling story told through a dual timeline and multiple points of view. The writing is beautifully haunting, immediately gripping the reader while delivering a satisfying conclusion that still leaves room for intrigue. At its core, the story explores themes of family and the enduring power of secrets.
Although the narrative spans multiple timelines, it remains mostly easy to follow, with some fantastic twists that keep readers hooked along the way.
I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars and am grateful to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart is a powerful story of female strength and resilience. Told from three POVs, Hart expertly weaves together past and present timelines in the creation of this mythical tale.

Reading this was an immersive and sensory experience. The use of olfactory imagery creates an atmospheric setting and a feeling of unease, especially in the descriptions of Cliff House and the prison deck. This is certainly a book that will stay with me a while.

My thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for providing me with a complimentary copy for review consideration.

I loved Weyward so I couldn't wait to read this. I loved this unpredictable mystery. It kept me turning the pages. I also really liked the diary entries.
I enjoyed the dual narrative and identified with the two main characters. Overall a great dark twisty story.

Pleasing puzzle box of a family fantasy
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Occupying a sweet spot between Irish and Australian history, family drama and modern folklore, The Sirens is Hart’s sophomore release, and as assured and inventive as you could hope for. The secrets are telegraphed early on and it’s in the unfolding of these secrets in the lives of the protagonists that charm and entertain.

Told in a variety of voices and flipping through time, this was a truly satisfying read, nothing wasted and almost everything tied up by the end. I saw this as a TV adaptation right from the word go, with Hart’s spectacular prose building a number of real world locations that had heft and scent and body.

A rousing four stars.

I really enjoyed this book, although I'm still not really sure what happened at the end! I guess that's the point, our mind will take us there!

It gripped me straight away, I liked how stories from 2 different times were intermingled, much like the authors previous book, Weyward.

I liked Lucy & Jess. I did guess the twists with regard to their lives, but I think I was meant to, to help me get through the story.

Definitely recommended, if people liked Weyward, they'll like this one!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Emilia Hart's debut novel "Wayward" - so much so that I preordered a copy of "The Sirens". The story really pulled me in at the beginning - I especially loved the atmosphere of her sister's house, but also the mystery surrounding the two sisters. However, I expected the book to go much deeper from there, which, at least for me, it did not really do and rather stayed more surface-level and predictable. Overall, even though it did not blow me away the way I had expected it was an enjoyable, feminist read with great atmosphere and I would recommend it.

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.