Book Synopsis:
Lucy is running from what she’s done – and what someone did to her.
There’s only one person who might understand: her sister Jess. But when Lucy arrives at her sister’s desolate cliff-top house, Jess is gone.
Lucy is now alone, in a strange town steeped in rumour. Stories of men disappearing without a trace. A foundling discovered in a sea-swept cave. And women’s voices murmuring on the waves…
As Lucy searches for her sister, those voices get ever louder. They tell of two sisters, two centuries ago, bound and transported across the world. A world where men always get their way. A world that is at once distant, and achingly familiar.
Are these voices luring Lucy closer to her sister? Or will the secrets of the past pull them both under?
My Review:
The Sirens is a gripping and magical read perfect for anyone who likes dual timeline mysteries with a supernatural element to it.
The story is told in three timelines following two pairs of sisters’ centuries apart. One timeline follows Lucy, a university student who flees after landing herself in some trouble due to some very realistic dreams she had been having. The later timeline set in 1800 follows twin sisters Eliza and Mary as they are being deported on a convict ship to Australia. The timelines are interspersed in the second half of the book with extracts from the diary of Lucy’s sister Jess. I enjoyed all the timelines equally finding it fascinating to discover more about how harsh life was on a convict ship and the shocking treatment of those on boards as well as following lucy as she tries to discover the connection between her dreams of the two Irish sisters and the mysterious disappearances of local men.
I thought the book had a great pace to it and I was soon found it very difficult to put the book down as there always seemed to be some new discovery to keep me reading. The mystery element of the story was well done, and I loved following Lucy as everything is slowly revealed. The discoveries Lucy makes seemed natural not forced with some of the twists taking me completely by surprise which I always love. It was great fun seeing how the two stories were linked and learning all about the legends that haunt the seaside town. The ending was brilliant, and I loved how all the different stories were tied up in the end.
If you are a fan of magical, dual time mysteries then I highly recommend this book.
Huge thanks to @indie_thinking and @boroughpress for sending me a copy of this fabulous book.
About The Author:
Emilia Hart is a British-Australian writer. She was born in Sydney and studied English Literature and Law at the University of New South Wales before working as a lawyer in Sydney and London. Emilia is a graduate of Curtis Brown Creative’s Three Month Online Novel Writing Course and was Highly Commended in the 2021 Caledonia Novel Award. Her short fiction has been published in Australia and the UK. She lives in London. You can follow Emilia on Twitter at @EmiliaHartBooks.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Really fancy this one!
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I have an ARC of this one and will be reading it soon. Thanks for your review.
As you know, I usually share your reviews on Twitter/X but I am no longer using that platform. If you provide a sharing button for Bluesky, I will happily share your reviews there.
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