“A story of sisters separated by hundreds of years but bound together in more ways than they can imagine. A breathtaking tale of female resilience, The Sirens is an extraordinary novel that captures the sheer power of sisterhood and the indefinable magic of the sea.”
The Sirens, Emilia Hart
Looking for a book with complicated family dynamics, a town haunted by mermaids, and women pursuing justice? The Sirens by Emilia Hart has all of the above (and more)!
I have always been a mermaid girlie more than anything else, and obviously thought that in combination with Hart’s writing style would make this an enthralling read. I inhaled Hart’s debut, Weyward, and had been anxiously awaiting another tale of myth, feminine power, and raw history. And while The Sirens has all three of those elements, they don’t have the same pull that Weyward had for me.
The book has three main characters. Lucy, an Australian university student; Jess, her older sister; and Mary, an Irish girl on a convict ship heading to Australia. We spend the majority of our time with Lucy, who left university in a rush after a sleepwalking incident. It’s mentioned in a few different ways that Lucy has a skin condition that’s affected by water. She can’t have any physical contact with water because it makes her skin develop a rash. She also has white blonde hair and silver streaks on her body. Lucy spends most of the book at Jess’s house, waiting for her to return from a trip. Lucy has been having vivid dreams through Mary’s point of view, and always wakes up near water, and she wants to talk to Jess about it.
Unfortunately, even though the book is 80% in Lucy’s POV, I felt like she was the least developed. She seemed untethered to any version of reality, and made infuriatingly poor choices at every turn. As the book explored more about Jess and Mary, I was intrigued enough to continue. But every whine and moan out of Lucy drove me insane. Most of Jess’s character development happens as Lucy reads through Jess’s old diary and all of Mary’s development happens through Lucy’s dreams. This setup keeps Lucy front and center, but keeps her in a perpetual state of almost-knowing and never lets her do anything else.
Overall, I enjoyed the twists and turns of all three storylines, and was invested enough to finish the book. The mermaid details started to appear more frequently, and the book ended with a blend of magical realism that I was expecting. Some of the final details really threw me for a loop, but overall, the ending saved the book from its middle.
If any of this book’s weirdly specific traits caught your eye, you should definitely give it a shot! I’d also recommend it if you’re really into mermaid myths!
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the free advanced copy and audiobook in exchange for an honest review!
Read with Fern 
Leave a comment