Read. Write. Listen. Create.

I heard about this book while watching Good Morning America and decided it would be my pick for book club. I don’t always navigate towards fantasy, but I liked the historical fiction aspect and I always love anything set in Australia so I decided to give it a try. The magical realism also sounded interesting!

With two different time periods, The Sirens tells the story of two sets of sisters who are facing trauma and secrets tied to the sea. In 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 rumors 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 (Goodreads).”

In 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 (Goodreads).”

I gave this book 3 stars out of 5. I thought that Lucy listening to murder podcasts would be more central to the story, but it ended up just being one of her hobbies. It didn’t have much to do with the overall story. She does like journalism, but that’s a separate part of the story.

The magical realism and historical fiction were what stood out to me while reading the synopsis. I enjoyed the writing. I felt like I was on the ship in the 1800s or trying to track down Jess with Lucy in the seaside town.

The two time periods are drawn out across many chapters, but the significance between the two time periods isn’t revealed until the very end. For a while it felt like will I ever see why these two stories are being told together? But I did like the reveal and it felt tied together in the end.

There wasn’t much closure with Lucy’s ex boyfriend and little things like that made the story feel like some loose ends weren’t tied up. Others in my book club gave it around 3 stars too. Some were okay with not having everything tied up in the end while others thought parts of the story should’ve been fleshed out more. It did feel like too many elements were being used in one story sometimes; the historical fiction parts could’ve been their own story.

I wanted more parts with Eliza and Mary and their backstory or more background with Lucy and Jess. But someone brought up that Lucy and Jess are years apart in age so it makes sense they wouldn’t always have time together while growing up. Some in my group felt like the journal element should’ve been a flashback because people don’t usually write dialogue in journal entries! Overall, this was a fun read. While some parts dragged, I really enjoyed the reveal in the end.