A review by carsonelainee
Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress

4.0

I've had this book on my physical TBR for at least two years. It's one of those books that I knew I was going to love, but the content and the writing style were always too daunting for me to read without the aid of an audiobook. My Libby hold for the audiobook finally came in earlier this week and I was able to jump in.

Sirens & Muses ended up being an example of everything I love in literary fiction: multiple POVs, messy main characters, conversations on sexuality and friendship, notes on institutions like academia, and a writing style that just makes me feel smart. There were a lot of moving pieces in this book that I found fascinating. It's also the first time that I've read a book purposefully set in a "historical" year in which I was alive... since the majority of the plot is intertwined with the 2008 recession. It was kinda weird for me lol.

The thing that knocked this book down from a potential five-star is the fact that the ending felt clumsy. The rest of the story is so strong and then it felt like the story just suddenly ended with a minimal amount of wrapping up. The conclusion felt weak and like it left a lot of threads unanswered.

I feel like for that to be my only critique is a good thing, though... I'm excited to see whatever Antonia Angress writes next.