The Sirens by Emilia Hart -> Staring March 20th, 2025

[Alaina]

A story of sisters separated by hundreds of years but bound together in more ways than they can imagine

2019: Lucy awakens in her ex-lover’s room in the middle of the night with her hands around his throat. Horrified, she flees to her sister’s house on the coast of New South Wales hoping Jess can help explain the vivid dreams that preceded the attack—but her sister is missing. As Lucy waits for her return, she starts to unearth strange rumours about Jess’s town—tales of numerous missing men, spread over decades. A baby abandoned in a sea-swept cave. Whispers of women’s voices on the waves. All the while, her dreams start to feel closer than ever.

1800: Mary and Eliza are torn from their loving home in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship heading for Australia. As the boat takes them farther and farther away from all they know, they begin to notice unexplainable changes in their bodies.

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.

[Ashlyn]

40% (view spoiler)[So sad that this book is slow. It had a good start and kind of went downhill to the point that I almost DNFed and I never do that. But I’m not loving the narrator. I thought that this was going to be a full cast since that’s what it was when it started, but so far it’s almost no other talking parts and mainly just the main characters inner dialogue. Like what kind of book has little conversations in it? (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

56% (view spoiler)[Its clear that she is struggling knowing that she is was adopted and her parents aren’t her birth parents. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

How are you liking it so far? I don't want to open the spoilers just yet. Hoping to finish I Am Nobody's Slave: How Uncovering My Family's History Set Me Free today and then dive into this!

[Ashlyn]

Not loving it yet, but I don’t like the narrator. The first spoiler should be safe to open since it’s more general and not really actually a spoiler

[Alaina]

Prologue: (view spoiler)[Okay, so, why is she in a cave exactly giving birth to this baby? Is she human? Is she not? Is the baby? Am I completely wrong here?!?! I have so many questions. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ch 1-10: (view spoiler)[Is Lucy the baby from the beginning? Or is Jess? Or are they both reincarnations of Mary and Eliza? I'm a little confused but very intrigued at the same time. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

79% (view spoiler)[OMG this is really not great. Also kind of feel bad for Jess with what just happened with that guy. But also I don't know why it took me almost 80% in to realize that this switched POVs, so no wonder why I don't like this. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ch 11-20: (view spoiler)[Okay, so the eight missing men were probably all horrible if the first two committed those crimes. Right? Maybe I'm assuming things, but I'm getting that vibe. As for Mary and Eliza, these two are having their memories. Makes me wonder if they ever truly died... or if they are like family in some way. Again, thinking of reincarnations for some reason but wouldn't mind if they turned into mermaids... and had kids. Like the lady in the cave.

I still have so many questions!! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ashlyn wrote: "40% [spoilers removed]"

Oof, I'm sorry you aren't enjoying the narrator. I'm reading the eARC on my computer. It is still a slow go for me reading-wisebut I'm blaming work for distracting me lol.

[Ashlyn]

I feel like the book is just taking forever to get through. I have no desire to read it, so I'm just going to try to finish it today so I can move on with my life. I think the ebook would have been better.

[Alaina]

LOL that is how I felt with an ARC yesterday. I just had to push through it to get it over with. It was only 10 chapters but felt like 100

[Ashlyn]

It always seems like the books that we don't like the most seem to take the longest to get through.

Finished (view spoiler)[So I did like how they kind of came together at the end and found out that she was waiting for her to take her under the water. Still didn't like this book, but the author Q&A at the end was interesting. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ch 21-30: (view spoiler)[Okay, so they were both "adopted" then. I had a feeling one of them was going to be the baby from the prologue. I also think they are so far from the water because when they are in the water, they start to change. It's probably why the water hurts them now because they haven't been in it. Basically depriving their bodies. Very interesting.

Also, I was right that the guys on the missing list were horrible people. I have a feeling this teacher is also one of them. Hoping Jess is safe, maybe in the cave? (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ashlyn wrote: "56% [spoilers removed]"

Yes, definitely sucks with the way she found out.

[Ashlyn]

Alaina wrote: "Ch 21-30: Okay, so they were both "adopted" then. I had a feeling one of them was going to be the baby from the prologue. I also think they are so far from the water because when they are in the wa..."

I didn’t even put that together about the water.

[Alaina]

Ch 31-40: (view spoiler)[OMG! Remember how I said they were both adopted?!?!? My mind is blown. Right before we find out Jess is the real mother of Lucy, I was talking to a coworker about this book and said that exact thing!

Word for word, I think Jess is the mother of Lucy, and her parents adopted her because of something that happened. I honestly thought it was because of her age because she was a teenager at the time.

Plus, when the mom was like... stop reading the diary, I just knew we were going to find out something big. I told her I was going to freak out if I was right about this because it just makes so much sense.

Not really surprised with what's going on with the teacher. Jess is definitely luring him to his death. I won't miss him one bit.

Also, I'm so sad about Aoife. She deserved way better than that. I hope the ladies hit back, and that's why the boat crashed. One can only hope. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ashlyn wrote: "79% [spoilers removed]"

LOL not knowing about the different point of views would definitely make this confusing

[Alaina]

Ch 41-Finish: (view spoiler)[OH MY GOD! I wasn't expecting that kind of epilogue! My goodness. So he really was her father. I can't believe he cheated on his wife. Also, Max being the real father is a blessing in disguise for me. I would have been so mad if the teacher was. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashlyn]

Alaina wrote: "Ch 31-40: OMG! ..."

When I read your comment about that, I was just thinking just wait until the end, but didn’t want to spoil anything for you.

[Alaina]

I'm still shocked about the dad!