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A review by kkenna7
The Sirens by Emilia Hart
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
*Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, AND Macmillan Audio for the ALC/e-Arc! All opinions are my own.*
Weyward was my favorite read of 2023 so I jumped at the chance to get this one early and I'm so glad I did! I was fortunate enough to get approved for a digital copy and an audio version of this and went back in forth on format - both were wonderful, though I found there was a slight "learning curve" with the audio as there is a decent amount of worldbuilding in this one and it can feel like a lot of information coming at you. Just worth noting as the narrator was amazing and it provided a lot of great atmosphere to the storytelling.
Emilia Hart's writing is what drew me into her debut and it's absolutely present in this one, too. Each description pulled me deeper into the story and I was so fully immersed (pun only kind of intended) that I ended up having dreams about shipwrecks afterwards! I felt so attached to each POV character, and I especially loved going back in time to Mary and Eliza's POV. The ship full of women was such a harrowing story and each character, no matter how small, felt so full. A trouble with dual timelines (personally) is that I often struggle in feeling that one or both storyline(s) are incomplete by the end. I felt satisfied by this novel and I feel confident in saying that each story feels whole and complete to me.
In other people's reviews, I've seen a lot of comparing this to Weyward. You're getting a lot of the same underlying themes, but this book is not that book. This book is deeper in the suspense subgenre, in my opinion. There's a much deeper element to the mystery plot in this novel compared to Hart's first, and you'll get much more mileage out of the fantasy in this one. You're getting a much grittier story out of the Sirens compared to Weyward. All this is to say: Do Not go into this comparing it to anything before it. It is its own narrative and it deserves to be treated as such. You'll be doing yourself and the work a much greater disservice otherwise.
Weyward was my favorite read of 2023 so I jumped at the chance to get this one early and I'm so glad I did! I was fortunate enough to get approved for a digital copy and an audio version of this and went back in forth on format - both were wonderful, though I found there was a slight "learning curve" with the audio as there is a decent amount of worldbuilding in this one and it can feel like a lot of information coming at you. Just worth noting as the narrator was amazing and it provided a lot of great atmosphere to the storytelling.
Emilia Hart's writing is what drew me into her debut and it's absolutely present in this one, too. Each description pulled me deeper into the story and I was so fully immersed (pun only kind of intended) that I ended up having dreams about shipwrecks afterwards! I felt so attached to each POV character, and I especially loved going back in time to Mary and Eliza's POV. The ship full of women was such a harrowing story and each character, no matter how small, felt so full. A trouble with dual timelines (personally) is that I often struggle in feeling that one or both storyline(s) are incomplete by the end. I felt satisfied by this novel and I feel confident in saying that each story feels whole and complete to me.
In other people's reviews, I've seen a lot of comparing this to Weyward. You're getting a lot of the same underlying themes, but this book is not that book. This book is deeper in the suspense subgenre, in my opinion. There's a much deeper element to the mystery plot in this novel compared to Hart's first, and you'll get much more mileage out of the fantasy in this one. You're getting a much grittier story out of the Sirens compared to Weyward. All this is to say: Do Not go into this comparing it to anything before it. It is its own narrative and it deserves to be treated as such. You'll be doing yourself and the work a much greater disservice otherwise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Abandonment
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Murder