Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Sirens & Muses

This is a book about awful characters making awful decisions… what’s not to love?!

I thought each of the four main characters had interesting perspectives and engaging storylines. The characters are definitely the highlight of the book, the author’s ability to write complex people with full emotions who got messy and dirty and did stupid things was what really shined. I hated three of the four main characters, and yet I couldn’t stop reading about them.

I love art, and reading about art, and learning about art, so the plot and the setting were right up my alley. If you’re not as big into art, I could see this book being a bit of a slog.

Sirens and Muses was relatable for me in a depressing sort of way. It was realistic almost to the point where it was hard to read. At times I found myself wishing something good would happen for one of the characters, even if it was unrealistic, just because I needed something happy. Part of why I read is to escape, and Sirens and Muses is just as bleak as our world. This isn’t a fault necessarily, but I do think you have to go into the book in the right headspace. Don’t read this book looking to be inspired lol.

In saying that, I do think there was something inspiring about seeing characters going through things that I’ve gone through, and seeing them persevere. IDK.

I finished this book about a week ago, and as I’ve sat with it I think I’ve decided that my biggest issue with it is that I don’t think the characters really changed all that much. With the exception of Louisa, none of them had their perspectives challenged in a meaningful enough way so as to be impactful, and to incite change within them. Don’t get me wrong, they each did go through subtle changes that I was happy to read about, but most of them were these insanely privileged, intensely bigoted jackasses who, by the end of the story, were only slightly less bigoted jackasses. Maybe that was a purposeful decision to demonstrate the stark realities of the art world…but it wasn’t fun to read about lol.

All in all, I found this book entertaining for two main reasons: 1, because I love reading about art and other struggling artists, and 2, because I love reading about messy characters making bad decisions. It was an entertaining read, but not something that I think will stick with me forever.

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oobimooski's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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luise96's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book really had me hooked from the first page, I could connect very deeply with characters. And I felt like all of them had somewhat interesting character arcs. I liked the dives into the art world and what it means to be an artist in the modern world.

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marjamorevna's review against another edition

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2.5

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emilycmarshman's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was so, so good. I sat down to read it the day after I bought it and read 100 pages in a single sitting, and then found myself doing what I always seem to do when I'm enjoying a book: put off finishing it, because I can't stand the thought of it being over.

In the late 2000s, Louisa, a young artist from the deep south, is admitted to Wrynn College of Art in New England, and struggles to prove herself among her elite, mostly rich classmates. She finds herself drawn to her originally removed roommate Karina, and the two begin a torrid, emotional love affair. The story follows the two of them, in addition to Preston Utley, a boy in their class at Wrynn that Karina dates at the same time she's becoming involved with Louisa, and Robert Berger, a painter-turned-adjunct-professor at Wrynn who's battling his own internal conflicts surrounding his place in the art world, over the course of less than a year of their lives.

The reason I'm giving this book four stars instead of five is because I do think the pacing felt a little off. The beginning of the story seemed to stretch on, and the end rushed by very quickly. I also feel as though the inclusion of Preston's POV was only for us to learn information requisite to the plot - he was a compelling character, and I realize his involvement in the lives of the other three protagonists was vital, but I don't think an entire POV was necessary. On the other hand, I felt extremely emotionally connected to Robert, Louisa, and Karina's stories. Louisa really struggled with having to leave behind her family, whom she's very close with (not to mention her grandfather is very sick), in order to pursue her dreams of attending Wrynn, which I can relate to very closely.

Antonia Angress did an incredible job of making each of these characters feel like real, tangible people, and by the end of Sirens & Muses, I wanted nothing more than for each of them to find happiness.

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mikarala's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

For a novel that so often seemed incredibly cynical to me, circling around the ideas of how inauthenticity, hypocrisy, and inequality are intrinsically tied to the art-industrial complex, the endings for all the characters were surprisingly hopeful. Although there were moments during the novel where I honestly got the impression that the author was a jaded artist herself, the end of the story leaves all of the characters with some optimism for their futures as artists. I was not expecting all of the endings to be relatively positive, but I think it worked because it was all fairly open-ended.

Anyways, the strengths of this novel: I would say the writing style is not only really lovely and lyrical, but also extremely readable and accessible. Angress has a talent for conveying complex emotions and in a way that it both straightforward and poetic. I think this aided what was probably my actual favourite part of this novel, namely: the characterization. I feel as though I loved and hated all the main characters, was somehow rooting for them yet incredibly tired of all their bullshit human failures and constant excuses. I thought the characters all felt extremely realistic, with the four MCs all embodying different positions within the hierarchy of the art world that made for a fascinating contrast within the story.

I would admit that I don't think the plot of this novel was very compelling (if it even existed). I think this book is more of a "year in the life" type of story, following our 4 MCs through several ups and downs. That's really the main thing holding me back from a 5 star rating. Very enjoyable read that I would recommend, but maybe a bit all over the place in terms of story arc.

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