Having read Weyward, which I enjoyed, I was looking forward to reading Emilia Hart's new novel.

Set in Australia, Lucy flees a difficult situation and makes her way to her sister Jess's home in Comber bay. Jess is nowhere to be found on arrival, and Lucy has been having vivid dreams which are reflected in her sister's paintings.
Research in the local library unearths a mystery concerning disappearing men and a connection to two sisters, Mary and Eliza, who were transported as convicts to Australia from Ireland hundreds of years ago.
The chapters set in the past were evocative and captivating. The conditions that the sisters endured were convincing. Based on real life experiences, it was clear that women's lives had little if any value.
I was less convinced by the narrative set in the present. It didn't capture my interest and I struggled to focus my attention to the storyline.
The characterisation was slightly weak and I wasn't drawn to Lucy.
Overall, I enjoyed the historical aspect but was slightly disappointed in the novel as a whole.

With thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the proof copy.

I loved Weyward and so intrigued to see what Hart wrote next - this absolutely did not disappoint and I loved the multiple POV and timeline set up, the magical realism and the very sudden twisty ending after a lag to lull the reader into false sense of security. Fantastic read.

Thank you to NetGalley UK and the publishers for this fantastic ARC.

Well, what can I say, I’m obsessed! Could Emilia Hart be a new autobuy author? I think so!
When I saw The Sirens was available for an ARC I absolutely jumped at the chance, and was so excited when it was approved! I absolutely loved reading Weyward last year and was totally drawn into the story, and The Sirens is no different.

From start to finish I was fully immersed into the story and following the characters on each of their journeys. The author writes in such a way that totally draws you in and you become captivated by the story.

I loved how the book was split between three separate POV’s in three different time frames, spanning from the 1800’s, the 1990’s to present day 2019, as you get a feel for each of the characters as their stories play out and bring you closer to answers.

I think one of my favourite parts was the undercurrent of something going on in the background and is hinted at throughout the book, but isn’t fully explored until the very end. It was really clever and left you turning the pages from the very beginning to find out more.

Is this an excellent, magical, surreal and beautiful story that will keep you hooked the whole way through, and I would definitely recommend it.

I think Emilia Hart might be a new autobuy author for me. Following a similar style to Weyward, this tale is well written with characters you care about. It's not always surprising - many of the plot points are predicable- but it is so, so enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Emilia Hart for this ARC of The Sirens.

If you liked Weyward, you will love this!

This book was beautifully written and clearly well-researched. I loved the 3 different timelines/POVs and I am a sucker for diary entries.

I honestly didn’t want to put this book down. It was engaging, interesting, and definitely dark in parts. It was feminist and magical and very powerful.

Highly recommend.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

The Sirens (Emelia Hart, January 2025) examines the consequences of men’s predatory sexual behaviours, and the power of the sisterhoods within which women can find strength to heal, grow, and throw off everything preventing their freedom.
1801. Sisters Mary and Eliza are aboard the Naiad, a convict ship on its way to Australia. Scared and packed aboard the filthy ship, they have months of perilous sea travel ahead.
2019, Sidney, Australia. Lucy awakes from a dream of Mary and Eliza to find her hands gripping the throat of Ben, a fellow student. She flees his room and the university. After they’d had sex, Lucy – feeling safe and desired - had sent a naked picture of herself to Ben, who shared it with his friends. Devastated Lucy feels unable to go home, and instead drives cross country to visit her older, somewhat estranged, sister Jess in the small, mysterious, seaside town of Comber Bay.
A fixture in true-crime podcasts, Comber Bay has a history of unexplained disappearances since the 1960s. Eight very different men, a mix of locals and visitors, have simply vanished.
When Lucy arrives she find the front door of her sister’s house open. There is no sign of Jess, though her car and her phone are still there…
Hart’s writing is just wonderful, evocative and lyrical it brings to vivid life the span of times, people and places in the novel. It’s shocking and moving at times, with moments of great beauty and terror, and builds to a wonderfully realised conclusion.
Given how beautiful the writing can be, evoking an atmosphere of mystery and otherness, some elements clanged a bit dully – calling the ship the Naiad, for example - and I found the “labour saving” expositional device of having an absent character just happening to leave a novelistically-written journal behind quite hard to take.
Picky things I know, but they did impede my full enjoyment of an otherwise exceptionally satisfying book which is so very well written, saying important things in a fascinating context with a lovely dark twist of magic.

Book review || The sirens by Emilia Hart
Edition : ARC
Rating : 3.5/5⭐️
⚠️Spoiler free review⚠️

Key words : women, mystery, unreliable timeline, mermaids

Thank you to Emilia Hart and NetGalley, for the amazing opportunity to read : The sirens as an ARC.

This book is scooby doo x mermaids of mako x diverse timelines
I liked the mystery part of trying to decipher everything between the journals to real people, who all the other persons on the boats were and what let to Mary and Eliza being together on the way to Australia. Everyone having (somewhat) stories to tell and were just not categorized as secondary character.
However it is VERY slow, around 1/3 of the book in I was so close to DNFing it.
And in the first 2-3 chapters I knew were this was going. Anyways I liked that it tackled deep subject such as family issues, manipulation and abuse.

Book review 📚
The Sirens by Emilia Hart
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

I was introduced to Emilia when I was kindly sent the ARC for Weyward, and I absolutely fell in love with her writing. Emilia has such a beautiful way of writing, to the point you find yourself crying over scenes that are not necessarily sad but the way Hart writes them, that’s what makes them sad. It’s becoming very clear that Emilia Hart has become an auto buy author for me because Sirens did not let her down.

Sirens is a story that involves three sisters, who are separated by hundreds of years. You shift from current day to 1800s within the book and have multiple POVs from various women along the way. Hart truly opened up the story with the timeline and POVs. From the timeline and POVs you get an insight into a women’s role within society, both past and present.
The story itself is truly unique and I have not seen anything like it from any other authors. It was eerie, magical and surreal. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and this will easily be joined on my shelf along with Weyward.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart's evocative story, seamlessly combines past and present, myth and reality. After a terrible breakup, Lucy goes to her sister's isolated seaside village. The uncanny disappearance of men, whispered stories of angry women, and Lucy's developing connection to two sisters from ages before await her when her sister Jess goes gone.

The book's evocative writing is its strength. With its dark secrets and otherworldly elements, the beach scene feels alive. Hart brilliantly integrates feminist themes, addressing women's fury and perseverance across time, giving voice to the voiceless.

The Sirens will appeal to gothic fiction fans of The Essex Serpent, The Mermaid,. Slow-burning mystery with rich, lyrical prose that leaves you uneasy after the last page. A disturbing, thought-provoking read.

The sirens

After having read Weyward by this author I honestly couldn’t contain my excitement when I saw her announcing this next novel which would include freaking sirens! I’m both fascinated and intrigued by the sea and everything that lives in it (yes, I believe in mermaids. Fight me) and I feel like this vibe was perfectly transferred to Hart’s new novel. It was a pretty dark read but honestly it was so good, the darkness was necessary for this story although I get that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Again, sister- and womanhood is one, if not the biggest, main topic in The sirens and I feel like writing these strong bonds between women while captivating those eerie vibes is one of this author’s strong suits. Her books are just very different from anything else i’ve ever read and I mean that in the best way possible . Emilia Hart is becoming one of my auto buy authors and I cannot wait to see what she’s got next up on her sleeve.

Wow what a book! was so looking forward to reading this one as I really enjoyed Weyward and I would say I liked this one even better! We begin with an intro to how convicts from the UK were sent to New South Wales in Australia in the 18th century. We then start the story with us meeting Lucy who is sleepwalking and after an incident causes her to leave her uni to go and visit her sister Jess, 100s of miles away on the coast the book flips between now and then - being back in the 1800s where Mary and her sister Eliza are being shipped over after being imprisoned.
I loved how atmospheric the writing style was, the sisterhood between both sisters and also the magic ability of water. I will be recommending to others

I enjoyed Weyward so was interested to read this new book from Emilia Hart. Whilst I enjoyed the history and story of Eliza and Mary and the prison transport to Australia I was not so engaged with the present day story of Lucy and Jess. I think the fantasy element put me off a bit.

A dark, twisting tale of sisterhood, told by a three way POV and hundreds of years apart.

I really enjoyed this story by Emilia Hart, the first book I've read by her, but I will definitely be on the look out for others.

The Sirens is a story of sisters separated by hundreds of years, but bound together in more ways than they can imagine.

“With this awakening, there’d been something else, too. A new awareness of her power. Freed from her prior inhibitions - from the compulsion to be nice, to be a good girl - she’d become something she could never have imagined being. She’d become … dangerous”

Firstly, I think Emilia Hart is becoming an auto-buy author for me. I think she writes beautifully, and always manages to trigger some sort of emotion from me. I really enjoyed reading Weyward, and I’m glad I had a similar experience when reading The Sirens.

This was a powerful story, written from multiple POV’s of women in different time periods. I loved how Emilia has weaved the different storylines together and linked these women to each other across centuries. The undercurrents of complexities of sisterhood (both blood relative and non-related) was so emotive to read. Emilia writes characters so well, and I was invested in every single one of them and their backstories - watching the mysteries unravel piece by piece had me gripped. Seeing each one on their path of self-discovery and embracing their true selves was a treasure.

The setting was very well done, and was eerie at times which really played into the story. Emilia is very talented at painting a scene and I could picture everything so clearly!

I don’t have many hang-ups about this book, but I do have some. Mainly, I wasn’t satisfied with how one of the plot points was wrapped up - basically it wasn’t, and for a story about powerful women and how they overcome the wrongs done to them, it was disappointing not to get closure on this.

Overall, it was an emotional read, and also inspiring watching the MC’s heal and transform after what they have been through. If you enjoyed Weyward, chances are, you’ll also enjoy The Sirens!

As soon as I saw Emila Hart had written another book I just had to read it. After loving Weyward i knew this would be my kind of book. I have to admit for about quarter of the book I did struggle as I couldn't really get into it and nearly dnf but I'm glad I kept on with it. The story line is a fantastic idea and i love the way the book jumps through different timelines but for me i though there would be a bit more Siren mythology wrapped in this book. The way Hart has written this book is great but at times it did leave me wondering where it was going. I loved the way the book was ended as eveeything was wrapped up perfectly and i wasnt left with any questiins about what happened to the characters. I give this book three and a half stars. I would recommend others to read it but to be honest I would recommend Weyward first.

A solid read. Not quite as effective as Weyward for me but still very good. I found elements of the plot a little predictable but not in a way that impacted my enjoyment.

Emilia Hart's debut, Weyward, was one of my favourite books of 2023 and it remains one of the most brilliant novels I've never read, so of course I was beyond excited to read her second novel, The Sirens. Unfortunately, this felt like such a departure from the first book... The writing is still great and beautiful, but the story and the characters didn't work for me at all. I usually love when a work of historical fiction jumps between different periods of time, but in this book it felt very disjointed and I found myself skip or skim-read the 1800s chapters. As much as i wanted, I could not sympathise and connect with Lucy and found her chapters very repetitive. I know Emilia Hart writes beautifully so I will definitely read her next novel.

This book!! I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The beginning of this book has an eerie feel and grabs you instantly. I throughly enjoyed the shifting storyline/timeline from the 1800s to 2019. You have historical fiction, magical realism, and feminist power.

The themes throughout this book were compelling and character development was amazing to see.

The overall story had an amazing pace and I was constantly wondering where it was going to go. It was thought provoking and reminded me about the power of female stories.

Emilia Hart is a showstopper. Weyward was one of my top books last year and now I have been captured by The Sirens.
This dark, gritty exploration of feminine power, of pain and loss and of sisterhood thrums start to end. Brilliant storytelling weaved between three different perspectives.