Dutchie's Reviews > The Sirens

3.5 stars

For those who have read Weyward, the formula for Sirens may feel familiar. The book alternates between two timelines, touching on trauma and hidden family secrets with a touch of magical realism. In the current timeline, Lucy finds herself on the verge of being kicked out of university. As opposed to tackling the issues head on she decides to visit her sister, hoping she’ll understand what she’s going through. In the past timeline, roughly around 1801, Mary and her sister are being transported to New South Wales on a convict ship. We briefly get an idea of why they are there, but the storyline focuses more on the long voyage in the most inhumane conditions possible.

What I liked:

- The historical element was certainly intriguing and definitely had me googling.
- The present storyline. I actually think this could’ve been delved into further. There was just so much turmoil from both within the family history along with the girls skin condition. I just think spending more time on this I would’ve enjoyed it even more. Same could be said with the past. Both timelines had very interesting aspects to them.

What didn’t work for me:
- The connection between both timelines didn’t flow well, in my opinion. I felt myself trying to tie them both together and while I know that there was a connection between the timelines I feel like I missed the boat on it.
- Magical realism. This worked so well for me in Weyward, but it did not work for me in this book. I just don’t believe it was fully flushed out or maybe the topic didn’t work for me. I could honestly have done without it in this book and maybe enjoyed it more.
- The two timelines. I love books that have different timelines, but in this case I favored the present timeline over the past and each time I was taken out of the story once it flipped.
- The teacher aspect. While I I liked the present timeline, I did not like this aspect. I think it goes back to needing more time spent on doing a deeper dive in the family dynamics as well as the inner turmoil of the girls. This felt out of place.


Would my feelings have been different had I not read Weyward first? Very possibly. This certainly is a well written book and fans of this author will definitely like it.

I had a tough time with my rating. While it held my attention, I felt it was a little bit all over the place and didn’t connect with me as a reader. I think I’ve settled on a 3.5 rating, lowering down to a 3 as there was more that didn’t work for me than what did.