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Sing Me to Sleep #1
Sing Me to Sleep
Words sting. Songs kill.
The Cruel Prince meets To Kill a Kingdom in this seductive YA fantasy debut, in which a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal.
Saoirse Sorkova survives on secrets. As the last siren in her kingdom, she can sing any man to an early grave – but her very existence is illegal, and if her true identity were ever discovered, it would be her life on the line.
By day, Saoirse disguises herself as a fae, pretending to be the perfect soldier-in-training. By night, she satisfies her darker urges working as an assassin for dangerous mercenaries. And all the while, she keeps the biggest secret of all: that she is not always in control of her Siren powers, or her desire to kill.
Then a blackmailer threatens her sister, and Saoirse’s investigation takes her to the royal palace, and her most dangerous job yet: personal bodyguard to the Crown Prince.
Saoirse expects to despise Prince Hayes. But he is kind, thoughtful, and charming, and she finds herself increasingly drawn to him . . . until he tasks her with investigating a killer plaguing the kingdom. The problem: the killer is Saoirse.
Trapped by her deadly double life, Saoirse can’t leave the palace until she saves her sister . . . but who will save her from herself?
The Cruel Prince meets To Kill a Kingdom in this seductive YA fantasy debut, in which a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal.
Saoirse Sorkova survives on secrets. As the last siren in her kingdom, she can sing any man to an early grave – but her very existence is illegal, and if her true identity were ever discovered, it would be her life on the line.
By day, Saoirse disguises herself as a fae, pretending to be the perfect soldier-in-training. By night, she satisfies her darker urges working as an assassin for dangerous mercenaries. And all the while, she keeps the biggest secret of all: that she is not always in control of her Siren powers, or her desire to kill.
Then a blackmailer threatens her sister, and Saoirse’s investigation takes her to the royal palace, and her most dangerous job yet: personal bodyguard to the Crown Prince.
Saoirse expects to despise Prince Hayes. But he is kind, thoughtful, and charming, and she finds herself increasingly drawn to him . . . until he tasks her with investigating a killer plaguing the kingdom. The problem: the killer is Saoirse.
Trapped by her deadly double life, Saoirse can’t leave the palace until she saves her sister . . . but who will save her from herself?
400 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2023
410 people are currently reading
59584 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,590 reviews
August 3, 2023
3.5⭐️ I'd recommend this to anyone who hates feeling happy or hopeful
December 2, 2023
why was this marketed as enemies to lovers but is literally the exact opposite? i hate when publishers do that because from the moment the two meet you can tell the prince is instantly interested in the FMC. i hope in future books the author improves on writing characters because i did find every character in this book very bland and it felt like the author did a lot of telling and not showing. sometimes with the main character it felt like the author wanted us to believe her personality was one type but wrote it almost opposite of that. anyway i found the writing was good and the book was interesting enough.
November 8, 2023
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Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
This design gives a simple yet gorgeous depiction of the storyline, as it shows the main character, Saoirse, in the middle of rippling water. The genre of the story is also nicely conveyed through the illustration and elaborate text font.
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Vivid descriptions and details smoothly bring this story and world to life. I also loved how the complex world-building was delivered in bite-sized pieces and merged with the unfolding story.
“Knowledge isn’t always power. Sometimes it’s dangerous.”
Storyline: 🌟🌟🌟
The moments of action at the start of this story quickly pulled me in and brilliantly introduced the characters and world. A delicious undercurrent of tension built from Saoirse’s secrets made the storyline even more engaging, but this gradually dissipated as the story eventually became repetitive and shallow. By the climax, I no longer found either the mystery or romance aspects of the storyline gripping and the final revelations had little impact on me.
Main character(s): 🌟🌟🌟
Despite her killer instincts, I initially liked Saoirse as her character is fierce and sassy. Her perspective also felt fresh and complex due to her struggles and weaknesses. That said, it soon became clear that her character is very manipulative, arrogant and cold, which made it hard for me to connect or relate to her.
“sometimes, being loved isn’t enough. Sometimes, you need to be understood.”
Secondary characters: 🌟🌟🌟
While various secondary characters enriched the storyline, Rain, Carrick and Jeune were the main ones who stood out to me. However, these three were still fairly simple characters with little depth.
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟
I initially ate up the clear attraction and interest between the characters, especially as their opposite personalities made their connection even cuter. Sadly, as the story progressed, I struggled to connect with both characters, so this aspect of the story fell flat for me.
Narration & Audio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Dami Olukoya does a brilliant job of creating a natural, authentic voice that conveys the content and emotions within this story. Besides this, the different character voices made the listening experience even more engaging and entertaining.
In a nutshell, 'Sing Me to Sleep' started strong, with its fresh world-building and main character. However, as the story progressed, I was underwhelmed by the storyline and characters. Those who enjoyed this should check out Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long for another fun romantasy read involving main characters with water-based powers.
____________________________________
For those who have read this and want to discuss it, here are a few questions:
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
This design gives a simple yet gorgeous depiction of the storyline, as it shows the main character, Saoirse, in the middle of rippling water. The genre of the story is also nicely conveyed through the illustration and elaborate text font.
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Vivid descriptions and details smoothly bring this story and world to life. I also loved how the complex world-building was delivered in bite-sized pieces and merged with the unfolding story.
“Knowledge isn’t always power. Sometimes it’s dangerous.”
Storyline: 🌟🌟🌟
The moments of action at the start of this story quickly pulled me in and brilliantly introduced the characters and world. A delicious undercurrent of tension built from Saoirse’s secrets made the storyline even more engaging, but this gradually dissipated as the story eventually became repetitive and shallow. By the climax, I no longer found either the mystery or romance aspects of the storyline gripping and the final revelations had little impact on me.
Main character(s): 🌟🌟🌟
Despite her killer instincts, I initially liked Saoirse as her character is fierce and sassy. Her perspective also felt fresh and complex due to her struggles and weaknesses. That said, it soon became clear that her character is very manipulative, arrogant and cold, which made it hard for me to connect or relate to her.
“sometimes, being loved isn’t enough. Sometimes, you need to be understood.”
Secondary characters: 🌟🌟🌟
While various secondary characters enriched the storyline, Rain, Carrick and Jeune were the main ones who stood out to me. However, these three were still fairly simple characters with little depth.
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟
I initially ate up the clear attraction and interest between the characters, especially as their opposite personalities made their connection even cuter. Sadly, as the story progressed, I struggled to connect with both characters, so this aspect of the story fell flat for me.
Narration & Audio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Dami Olukoya does a brilliant job of creating a natural, authentic voice that conveys the content and emotions within this story. Besides this, the different character voices made the listening experience even more engaging and entertaining.
In a nutshell, 'Sing Me to Sleep' started strong, with its fresh world-building and main character. However, as the story progressed, I was underwhelmed by the storyline and characters. Those who enjoyed this should check out Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long for another fun romantasy read involving main characters with water-based powers.
____________________________________
For those who have read this and want to discuss it, here are a few questions:
dnf
August 19, 2024I didn't reach the 100 page mark on this, so I'm not going to rate it, but safe to say that this book was, at least for me, awful. It reads like a poorly-edited Wattpad "book" complete with the "Hey, sis!" "Hi, bro!" style of character introduction and worldbuilding that makes a negative amount of sense. Throw in a set of parents who had better be huffing Magic Markers for how little they care about their young daughter's extremely dangerous moneymaking schemes and a sister relationship with zero warmth or believability (take it from someone who has three siblings: funny nicknames do not a convincing sibling relationship make) and you've got a book that needed at least three more rounds of developmental edits before it was even close to being ready for publication. Also, I do not understand at all what makes these characters "Fae". How are they Fae? They're just humans with elemental magic. They bear absolutely zero resemblance to mythological Fae except that they have magic, and the wrong kind of magic at that. This is like if I wrote a zombie novel except the zombies walked and talked normally, and ate normal food, and were in no way violent, but were just ever so slightly stinky.
Let me also add this: the older I get, the more I revile the sexualisation of teenage children in these YA books. The opening scene of this book has a seventeen year old girl being alluring, lustful, and sexy towards an adult man in order to lure him into her clutches and then kill him, and this being presented as a power play, some sort of empowering gotcha against the patriarchy. I can't even express how gross and inappropriate I found this. How can you not see what this is? The modern patriarchy itself encourages sexualising children under the guise of "empowerment". That is one of their primary tools of control. How does it not occur to you that you are playing directly into their hands? This is not the female gaze. It's normalising the sexualisation of children. I have and always will believe in being frank and open about sex with teenagers because it's a matter of safety, but I will not ever condone the adultification of teenagers, including presenting teenage girls as young as 16 and 17 as sexy, or adult readers designating teenage boys as their "book boyfriends". I'm not the target audience, and that's obvious, but a) teenagers are not sexy, not even to other teenagers, and I know that to be true because I remember being a teenager, b) presenting teenagers with a book in which their peers are sexy models and not normal teenagers experiencing blunder years can contribute to poor self esteem, like watching Fashion TV, and c) the 17 year old main character in that first scene was not performing sexiness to another teenager but to an adult man, and I don't think I need to explain why that is so egregious. I'm not going on and on about this; it doesn't matter what I say. Adults will keep claiming that sexualised teenage children are "sexually liberated" and I'll keep being the old fuddy-duddy who disapproves. Whatever.
(I have to ask: what was stopping the author from making this an adult book? What on earth was the reasoning for making it YA? Because the above paragraph would be completely defunct if the MC were 21+ and this was an adult book, which it easily could have been with some tweaks. Seriously; you can do what you want in adult books. Adults have developed brains. I still find the idea that empowerment for adult women involves performing sexually for perverted men disgusting, old-fashioned, and silly, but at least we could have a reasonable conversation about that. We could talk about the nuances of the sexual marketplace, commodification of sexuality and consent under capitalism, etc as a collective, as adults. It's just YA where this kind of stuff is inappropriate, which makes it all the more baffling that authors purposely install these barriers around themselves. Are people just intimidated by the idea of writing for adults? How? Why? I find myself often wanting a justification for why a book needed to be YA, and unable to find one.)
The best part of this book was the dedication, which was a truly beautiful sentiment. Another reason why I have chosen not to rate this book is because I support Black women's rights and wrongs, and until publishing deals with its ridiculous racism problem, I can't in good conscience one-star Gabi Burton for writing an underwhelming mediocre badly-written book in a sea of one-star underwhelming mediocre badly-written books by white authors. These books are all equally terrible but we know which one had a harder time getting published.
Let me also add this: the older I get, the more I revile the sexualisation of teenage children in these YA books. The opening scene of this book has a seventeen year old girl being alluring, lustful, and sexy towards an adult man in order to lure him into her clutches and then kill him, and this being presented as a power play, some sort of empowering gotcha against the patriarchy. I can't even express how gross and inappropriate I found this. How can you not see what this is? The modern patriarchy itself encourages sexualising children under the guise of "empowerment". That is one of their primary tools of control. How does it not occur to you that you are playing directly into their hands? This is not the female gaze. It's normalising the sexualisation of children. I have and always will believe in being frank and open about sex with teenagers because it's a matter of safety, but I will not ever condone the adultification of teenagers, including presenting teenage girls as young as 16 and 17 as sexy, or adult readers designating teenage boys as their "book boyfriends". I'm not the target audience, and that's obvious, but a) teenagers are not sexy, not even to other teenagers, and I know that to be true because I remember being a teenager, b) presenting teenagers with a book in which their peers are sexy models and not normal teenagers experiencing blunder years can contribute to poor self esteem, like watching Fashion TV, and c) the 17 year old main character in that first scene was not performing sexiness to another teenager but to an adult man, and I don't think I need to explain why that is so egregious. I'm not going on and on about this; it doesn't matter what I say. Adults will keep claiming that sexualised teenage children are "sexually liberated" and I'll keep being the old fuddy-duddy who disapproves. Whatever.
(I have to ask: what was stopping the author from making this an adult book? What on earth was the reasoning for making it YA? Because the above paragraph would be completely defunct if the MC were 21+ and this was an adult book, which it easily could have been with some tweaks. Seriously; you can do what you want in adult books. Adults have developed brains. I still find the idea that empowerment for adult women involves performing sexually for perverted men disgusting, old-fashioned, and silly, but at least we could have a reasonable conversation about that. We could talk about the nuances of the sexual marketplace, commodification of sexuality and consent under capitalism, etc as a collective, as adults. It's just YA where this kind of stuff is inappropriate, which makes it all the more baffling that authors purposely install these barriers around themselves. Are people just intimidated by the idea of writing for adults? How? Why? I find myself often wanting a justification for why a book needed to be YA, and unable to find one.)
The best part of this book was the dedication, which was a truly beautiful sentiment. Another reason why I have chosen not to rate this book is because I support Black women's rights and wrongs, and until publishing deals with its ridiculous racism problem, I can't in good conscience one-star Gabi Burton for writing an underwhelming mediocre badly-written book in a sea of one-star underwhelming mediocre badly-written books by white authors. These books are all equally terrible but we know which one had a harder time getting published.
May 7, 2023
I received this ARC thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
TW. Please beaware this book contains lead character k*ll*ng quite some people, and there are few 'seductive' scenes written quite disturbingly.
Well,
I usually do these reviews in more cheerful manner, but the disappointment I have over this particular book prevents me from it. 'The Cruel Prince meets To Kill a Kingdom'? I think I've read a different book.
I don't want to sound like a hater, but I feel like the book didn't deliver what it's promised to the reader. AND included some pretty disturbing plot points. I guess anyone checking the reviews knows the synopsis or at least has a rough concept over what this book is about. We get mediocre ya-fantasy story about one of a kind FL (Female Lead) and princeling ML (Male Lead). FL is a siren, last of her kind, and althou I was aware of that, the amount of... underwater type of content present made me reconsider the species we're talking about. The author focused on her luring-by-singing skill, but completely abandoned the 'under the sea' concept. Yes, the FL has to live in disguise but we'd still be given some splish-splash content. Instead we're simply told even presence of water makes FL go wild and it's a nono 90% of time. The rest 10% FL indeed goes wild, listens to water's simple command 'k*ll' and goes berserk on sometimes whoever's nearby. Yes, I do enjoy books with darker themes and even darker characters, close to lead characters being the villain, but here? We get clearly red flag FL which is described of more like a soft-morally-grey character because 'I do this all for my sister!! :('. Excuse me lady, I saw close to noneexistent character development to agree on the 'grey' aspect of your personality. The only moment Saoirse felt any bit human to me was when she was randomly betrayed by someone close, thou the 'villain reveal' itself didn't quite make sense to me so I didn't even shed a tear, sadly. Also I know she's meant to be tough and badass, but the way she's expressing herself made me quite opposed to enjoying her as the teller of the story.
On the other hand we get heavenly handsome ML, the only living prince to the ruling royals over a closed society consisting of different elemental faes, creatures which are same but magicless, and humans who're just lowly servants. All the other magical species are either opressed or... gone bloody way. Ofc ML father is descibed as personification of every bad trait one could have to lead to opressed country he rules, and on the contrary prince seems like perfect soon-to-be-leader that could change how things are with a snap of his finger ASAP he gets the crown. And he's instantly fascinated by FL because why not, it's YA. Skipping some part of the story where FL becomes his new guard to raise more money for her family and survive threats given on her by mysterious predator, we get FL being still red flag as ever, k*ll*ng even someone very close to the prince, still incognito in her assasinations, prince is deep in courting her. On the contrary FL is focused on her mission only, stupidly naive to his advances (really, at the very beginning of the book she's a perfect seducer at random clubs to get her preys fall under her spell, and now she can't understand he has big crush on her - hard to believe). Even so, quite moral out of her considering she's k*ll*ng off his kin one by one and keeping the 'they mass m*rdered my kind they need to pay!!!'. Thou the morality quickly dies over, as when (kinda spoiler but expected because the reveal is needed for plot to move forward lol) she's revealed as the assasin, she still demands ML to help her in her scheme because HER SISTER needs to be rescued. So it should cancel all her crimes, at least just for this moment, because it's all for her sisterrr ;--;. All I can say, poor boy he is. As he mentions later, he can't stand being mad at her as it breaks his heart. Dear Hayes, please, get some help.
The conclusion to this book makes me question if the author just couldn't decide on best way to finish stuff happening and discovered a perfect solution - le sequel, opening pandora's box completely unnecessary for the story to be done IMO. This book could've been saved by remaining a standalone, having dark ending for the FL but actually settling her crimes properly, not some lovey-dovey 'hope never dies' ending we got.
The idea was there, it had potential, but the poor execution, unlikeable characters (except maybe Hayes, I am ready to help with a fundraiser for his therapy over family trauma and stockholm syndrome), and very chaotic story made me as disappointed as you can see in this review. I was able to read the whole book, and after like 100 pages it was readable enough to get quite fast through it so my final rating is 2/5. I know it's just a debut of Gabi Burton, so I'm wishing her all the best she'd get better with time and get what it takes to tell her tales with bit more sparkle.
TW. Please beaware this book contains lead character k*ll*ng quite some people, and there are few 'seductive' scenes written quite disturbingly.
Well,
I usually do these reviews in more cheerful manner, but the disappointment I have over this particular book prevents me from it. 'The Cruel Prince meets To Kill a Kingdom'? I think I've read a different book.
I don't want to sound like a hater, but I feel like the book didn't deliver what it's promised to the reader. AND included some pretty disturbing plot points. I guess anyone checking the reviews knows the synopsis or at least has a rough concept over what this book is about. We get mediocre ya-fantasy story about one of a kind FL (Female Lead) and princeling ML (Male Lead). FL is a siren, last of her kind, and althou I was aware of that, the amount of... underwater type of content present made me reconsider the species we're talking about. The author focused on her luring-by-singing skill, but completely abandoned the 'under the sea' concept. Yes, the FL has to live in disguise but we'd still be given some splish-splash content. Instead we're simply told even presence of water makes FL go wild and it's a nono 90% of time. The rest 10% FL indeed goes wild, listens to water's simple command 'k*ll' and goes berserk on sometimes whoever's nearby. Yes, I do enjoy books with darker themes and even darker characters, close to lead characters being the villain, but here? We get clearly red flag FL which is described of more like a soft-morally-grey character because 'I do this all for my sister!! :('. Excuse me lady, I saw close to noneexistent character development to agree on the 'grey' aspect of your personality. The only moment Saoirse felt any bit human to me was when she was randomly betrayed by someone close, thou the 'villain reveal' itself didn't quite make sense to me so I didn't even shed a tear, sadly. Also I know she's meant to be tough and badass, but the way she's expressing herself made me quite opposed to enjoying her as the teller of the story.
On the other hand we get heavenly handsome ML, the only living prince to the ruling royals over a closed society consisting of different elemental faes, creatures which are same but magicless, and humans who're just lowly servants. All the other magical species are either opressed or... gone bloody way. Ofc ML father is descibed as personification of every bad trait one could have to lead to opressed country he rules, and on the contrary prince seems like perfect soon-to-be-leader that could change how things are with a snap of his finger ASAP he gets the crown. And he's instantly fascinated by FL because why not, it's YA. Skipping some part of the story where FL becomes his new guard to raise more money for her family and survive threats given on her by mysterious predator, we get FL being still red flag as ever, k*ll*ng even someone very close to the prince, still incognito in her assasinations, prince is deep in courting her. On the contrary FL is focused on her mission only, stupidly naive to his advances (really, at the very beginning of the book she's a perfect seducer at random clubs to get her preys fall under her spell, and now she can't understand he has big crush on her - hard to believe). Even so, quite moral out of her considering she's k*ll*ng off his kin one by one and keeping the 'they mass m*rdered my kind they need to pay!!!'. Thou the morality quickly dies over, as when (kinda spoiler but expected because the reveal is needed for plot to move forward lol) she's revealed as the assasin, she still demands ML to help her in her scheme because HER SISTER needs to be rescued. So it should cancel all her crimes, at least just for this moment, because it's all for her sisterrr ;--;. All I can say, poor boy he is. As he mentions later, he can't stand being mad at her as it breaks his heart. Dear Hayes, please, get some help.
The conclusion to this book makes me question if the author just couldn't decide on best way to finish stuff happening and discovered a perfect solution - le sequel, opening pandora's box completely unnecessary for the story to be done IMO. This book could've been saved by remaining a standalone, having dark ending for the FL but actually settling her crimes properly, not some lovey-dovey 'hope never dies' ending we got.
The idea was there, it had potential, but the poor execution, unlikeable characters (except maybe Hayes, I am ready to help with a fundraiser for his therapy over family trauma and stockholm syndrome), and very chaotic story made me as disappointed as you can see in this review. I was able to read the whole book, and after like 100 pages it was readable enough to get quite fast through it so my final rating is 2/5. I know it's just a debut of Gabi Burton, so I'm wishing her all the best she'd get better with time and get what it takes to tell her tales with bit more sparkle.
August 23, 2024
Reread August 2024: I’m so happy I decided to reread this. I loved it just as much. It’s such an incredible book!
Compelling, addictive and intensely readable, Gabi Burton has crafted a gripping and vivid fantasy that truly makes its mark. I couldn't pull myself away from this story.
With seamless worldbuiling that's entirely immersive whilst being easy to follow and understand, a superbly developed cast of characters, unpredictable twists and a whole lot of grey area surrounding motives, morals and actions, Sing Me to Sleep is unquestionably one of my favourite fantasy reads of 2023. It's been a while since I finished a fantasy book desperately craving book two but Sing Me to Sleep has totally changed that. I can already feel myself counting down the days until the sequel to this sensational book is released.
Compelling, addictive and intensely readable, Gabi Burton has crafted a gripping and vivid fantasy that truly makes its mark. I couldn't pull myself away from this story.
With seamless worldbuiling that's entirely immersive whilst being easy to follow and understand, a superbly developed cast of characters, unpredictable twists and a whole lot of grey area surrounding motives, morals and actions, Sing Me to Sleep is unquestionably one of my favourite fantasy reads of 2023. It's been a while since I finished a fantasy book desperately craving book two but Sing Me to Sleep has totally changed that. I can already feel myself counting down the days until the sequel to this sensational book is released.
May 2, 2023
loved how this debut fantasy makes you admire a morally grey siren for her desperation to keep a loved one safe while falling for a swoony prince she shouldn't protect in a prejudiced world she must be against. rtc.
July 3, 2023
This book was not good for me, but first some positives.
The writing was nice and easy to read with just enough descriptive detail given to where I could visualize all the scenes without feeling like pages were being wasted by descriptors. Gabi Burton does not lack an ability to write.
What I did not like.
Mainly the main characters, Saoirse is clearly meant to be a morally gray unlikeable character. I like morally gray characters. It just didn't work in this instance. There was no redemption arc, usually morally gray characters work because just like an anti-hero they have some qualities that still make them charismatic/likeable, or at the very least they have a meaningful reason why they are the way they are. Saoirse didn't have that, she was cold and lacked any real personality and her reasons for killing were because she had to as a siren and to protect her sister, who up until the last 50 pages was never in any real danger (at least not the kind that justifies cold blooded murder). Saoirse never questions her marks and is constantly filled with bloodlust even when she in her own words doesn't need to kill, she revels in killing and even at the end she doesn't seem to understand that murder is bad.
Saoirse was also very manipulative. This was interesting because this ties in with siren folklore, manipulating men to their deaths. The problem I had with this was that pretty much her every action was to manipulate, and no one, not even loved ones were spared either. Even when she wasn't actively being a siren.
The romance was terrible. I did not understand Hayes' attraction at all. I can cope with insta-love, usually it even works quite well as it'll speed up the narrative and keep the story engaging. However there was actually zero reason for him to be remotely interested in her. Fine, we'll ignore the insta-love. Then why does he continue to fall harder for her throughout the book, he doesn't know anything about her and she isn't kind to him at all. But alright, we'll accept her dark and mysterious intrigue is enough. She killed his best friend and lied to his face about it, that should've been an instant end to any attraction and Gabi Burton clearly realises it because she tries to explain why he still loves her, but it falls flat as it makes no sense whatsoever.
The plot was predictable although vaguely entertaining as I was just waiting for Saoirse to finally have to pay the price for her actions, which she didn't, so that was disappointing.
Final problem I had with this book was something very specific. I did not enjoy how the queer representation was presented. There are two lesbian couples in this book and both are not allowed to marry because they are from different species. This no marrying rule is only shown to us in relation to the two lesbian couples, and therefore feels like it is targeted specifically towards the lesbian couples. My unease was compounded as both the same sex couples were lesbian. It left me feeling like the messaging was specifically anti-lesbian. I wonder if it would have felt better if a straight couple in the book faced the same problem, or if at the very least there was also a gay couple facing this problem, I don't know.
Gabi Burton clearly does have a skill in writing, and I would look forward to reading a different book by her in a different series (or perhaps in the next one if I find confirmation of some actual character development). This book just wasn't it for me.
The writing was nice and easy to read with just enough descriptive detail given to where I could visualize all the scenes without feeling like pages were being wasted by descriptors. Gabi Burton does not lack an ability to write.
What I did not like.
Mainly the main characters, Saoirse is clearly meant to be a morally gray unlikeable character. I like morally gray characters. It just didn't work in this instance. There was no redemption arc, usually morally gray characters work because just like an anti-hero they have some qualities that still make them charismatic/likeable, or at the very least they have a meaningful reason why they are the way they are. Saoirse didn't have that, she was cold and lacked any real personality and her reasons for killing were because she had to as a siren and to protect her sister, who up until the last 50 pages was never in any real danger (at least not the kind that justifies cold blooded murder). Saoirse never questions her marks and is constantly filled with bloodlust even when she in her own words doesn't need to kill, she revels in killing and even at the end she doesn't seem to understand that murder is bad.
Saoirse was also very manipulative. This was interesting because this ties in with siren folklore, manipulating men to their deaths. The problem I had with this was that pretty much her every action was to manipulate, and no one, not even loved ones were spared either. Even when she wasn't actively being a siren.
The romance was terrible. I did not understand Hayes' attraction at all. I can cope with insta-love, usually it even works quite well as it'll speed up the narrative and keep the story engaging. However there was actually zero reason for him to be remotely interested in her. Fine, we'll ignore the insta-love. Then why does he continue to fall harder for her throughout the book, he doesn't know anything about her and she isn't kind to him at all. But alright, we'll accept her dark and mysterious intrigue is enough. She killed his best friend and lied to his face about it, that should've been an instant end to any attraction and Gabi Burton clearly realises it because she tries to explain why he still loves her, but it falls flat as it makes no sense whatsoever.
The plot was predictable although vaguely entertaining as I was just waiting for Saoirse to finally have to pay the price for her actions, which she didn't, so that was disappointing.
Final problem I had with this book was something very specific. I did not enjoy how the queer representation was presented. There are two lesbian couples in this book and both are not allowed to marry because they are from different species. This no marrying rule is only shown to us in relation to the two lesbian couples, and therefore feels like it is targeted specifically towards the lesbian couples. My unease was compounded as both the same sex couples were lesbian. It left me feeling like the messaging was specifically anti-lesbian. I wonder if it would have felt better if a straight couple in the book faced the same problem, or if at the very least there was also a gay couple facing this problem, I don't know.
Gabi Burton clearly does have a skill in writing, and I would look forward to reading a different book by her in a different series (or perhaps in the next one if I find confirmation of some actual character development). This book just wasn't it for me.
July 8, 2023
DNF at 15%
this was just ... not it. there was SO much info dumping, and the sad part was, the information dumped on the reader was not even GOOD (it rarely is, honestly, when will authors learn to weave information about their world into their books organically 🙄). The world building was so confused, it read like a 2012 YA Dystopian in the worst way possible but then there were also FAE and Witches, oh and don't forget humans (but they don't really matter). But that's not all, there are also districts sectors for different species, and Fae have four different elemental affinities, only this time around the oppressors are not the Fire Nation, but the Water Tribe water Fae.
Our MC is also, very much a mary sue, and insufferable. She's amazing at what she does (duh), is the best of all her peers (again, duh), but also incredibly beautiful, so much so she needs to actively hide her inhumanely perfect face with a fake scar (gimme a break). And if all of that is not enough, because one might think, that's a pretty stacked character sheet right there, she can just open her mouth and sing, and without a fault, the person will get charmed (girlie casting charm person without using any spell slots over here - if you get this joke, please add me as a friend). On top of all that, she's actually also a homicidal maniac, and kills rando dudes for the lols. She get's money for it now, but like, she would do it anyway, so ... not sure how someone can call that morally grey, when it's just chaotic evil (yah, she tries to justify it to herself as "I'm dOiNg iT fOr mY siStEr" but like we all know that's just a big fat lie to herself bc at the end of the day, she just enjoys slitting throats, so at least she could be honest with herself). Anyway, enough with the DnD references.
Descriptions of our characters surroundings on the other hand were just non - existent. The story starts out in a pub for example, but do I know how it looked like?? Nope. Same with Characters, I guess one dude's cheekbones looked like glass, whatever that's supposed to mean. Not sharp like glass, not cut like glass, just glass. Guess our poor man was just see-through. And everyone's eyes were a different crystal colour, but that's as far as we get.
I'm sad to put the book down, because the Fairyloot Edition is STUNNING, but there's other books waiting to be picked up, so goodbye it is.
this was just ... not it. there was SO much info dumping, and the sad part was, the information dumped on the reader was not even GOOD (it rarely is, honestly, when will authors learn to weave information about their world into their books organically 🙄). The world building was so confused, it read like a 2012 YA Dystopian in the worst way possible but then there were also FAE and Witches, oh and don't forget humans (but they don't really matter). But that's not all, there are also
Our MC is also, very much a mary sue, and insufferable. She's amazing at what she does (duh), is the best of all her peers (again, duh), but also incredibly beautiful, so much so she needs to actively hide her inhumanely perfect face with a fake scar (gimme a break). And if all of that is not enough, because one might think, that's a pretty stacked character sheet right there, she can just open her mouth and sing, and without a fault, the person will get charmed (girlie casting charm person without using any spell slots over here - if you get this joke, please add me as a friend). On top of all that, she's actually also a homicidal maniac, and kills rando dudes for the lols. She get's money for it now, but like, she would do it anyway, so ... not sure how someone can call that morally grey, when it's just chaotic evil (yah, she tries to justify it to herself as "I'm dOiNg iT fOr mY siStEr" but like we all know that's just a big fat lie to herself bc at the end of the day, she just enjoys slitting throats, so at least she could be honest with herself). Anyway, enough with the DnD references.
Descriptions of our characters surroundings on the other hand were just non - existent. The story starts out in a pub for example, but do I know how it looked like?? Nope. Same with Characters, I guess one dude's cheekbones looked like glass, whatever that's supposed to mean. Not sharp like glass, not cut like glass, just glass. Guess our poor man was just see-through. And everyone's eyes were a different crystal colour, but that's as far as we get.
I'm sad to put the book down, because the Fairyloot Edition is STUNNING, but there's other books waiting to be picked up, so goodbye it is.
April 7, 2024
Ecouteeeez, j'ai bien accroché ! Malgré des moments un peu wtf où j'ai trouvé que l'intrigue était un peu tirée par les cheveux, trop simplement liée, ou encore où les personnages faisaient des trucs d'une manière qui manquait un, peu de subtilité... bah j'ai été happée. C'est original, bien badass, bien girl power comme on aime et l'intrigue qui mêle un peu enquête et enjeux politiques est vraiment addictive. Les personnages sont attachants et la romance bien slow burn a eu raison de mon petit coeur de fangirl, sans grande surprise. D'ailleurs, je ne cautionne absolument pas la fin et une petite recherche google m'annonce que le tome 2 n'est même pas encore sorti en VF, WATCH ME SUFFER, j'ai trop envie de lire la suite aaaarghhhhh.
Bref, une très chouette lecture !
Bref, une très chouette lecture !
June 4, 2023
This book sounded like it was right up my alley😭😭😭 and yet I couldn’t get into it at all. My biggest issue was the credibility of the characters relationships. I didn’t believe the closeness of the MC’s relationships. I think the problem was that the author was constantly telling us that this was all for the MC’s sister and yet I couldn’t see why the MC was absolutely obsessed with keeping her sister safe?? It felt like “LOOK AT ME LOVE MY SISTER” but not, “see why I care”?
Also I didn’t understand the whole secrecy of the sisters species. It was just such a drab outcome and didn’t feel like we should have waited until the end of the book to find out. Quite underwhelming. Plus the bad guy was predictable too….
Additionally, the trials that were made to be a BIG deal at the start of the book lasted about two pages. A lot of this book was just toooo easy. And too repetitive. We got almost the same description every time the MC killed someone. I got bored. I wanted to keep putting this book down but I thought hey, maybe it might get better? (To me, it didn’t).
The prince’s obsession was a little weak. Obsessed with her only cause she was mysterious. And I’m convinced he is also a siren 100% Im calling it. He sounds just as mesmerising clearly.
Anyway, urgh. This sounded SO GOOD
Also I didn’t understand the whole secrecy of the sisters species. It was just such a drab outcome and didn’t feel like we should have waited until the end of the book to find out. Quite underwhelming. Plus the bad guy was predictable too….
Additionally, the trials that were made to be a BIG deal at the start of the book lasted about two pages. A lot of this book was just toooo easy. And too repetitive. We got almost the same description every time the MC killed someone. I got bored. I wanted to keep putting this book down but I thought hey, maybe it might get better? (To me, it didn’t).
The prince’s obsession was a little weak. Obsessed with her only cause she was mysterious. And I’m convinced he is also a siren 100% Im calling it. He sounds just as mesmerising clearly.
Anyway, urgh. This sounded SO GOOD
July 16, 2023
My Selling Pitch:
Do you want to read about a 17-year-old siren who’s a bodyguard for a prince and oh my god, she falls in love with him in a plot that’s never ever ever ever ever been done before? If you didn’t catch the sarcasm, can you at least catch the 17? Let’s not make children sexy.
This is one of my do not read titles.
Pre-reading:
Fairyloot books are so pretty, but I very rarely like them.
Thick of it:
It’s giving Hunger Games and Fourth Wing (but only for like two chapters, and it would’ve been a better book if we had stuck with this vibe.)
Oh, this is another fairy porn book.
impundulu
These idiots are 17? Girl.
I do not want a seductive 17-year-old. That’s yucky.
She described him in relation to her thighs? Why???
vellum
dashiki
She’s not like other girls. She doesn’t like to party
Welcome to your adult job. Let’s do a scavenger hunt.
It never rubs me the right way when we have main characters that are just chill with slavery, but it seems extra wrong when those characters are people of color.
I really don’t like that the author chose to make this character 17 with her seducing full-grown adults. That’s really yucky to me. Especially because she’s been doing it for a few years so she was a full-ass 12-year-old child. It’s like so easy to not make children sexy. They’re children. They’re not sexy.
The seduction powers make no sense.
They have friendship necklaces? C’mon.
This book is aggressively YA.
This pinecone nickname and how shrill the audiobook narrator is when she says it is driving me nuts.
I smell a love triangle, so I can’t wait for her childhood bestie to turn out to be evil because oh my god, how would she choose otherwise?
Omg, calm down, edgelord.
These are the most unprofessional guards in the entire world.
Girlypop, beggars can’t be choosers.
She’s not like other girls. She doesn’t like makeup.
It’s giving revenge fantasy, and that’s just never my vibe.
This is workplace sexual harassment.
Ooo a honey-scented love interest. That’s a new one. (You know aside from the bear book😂)
Did a siren kill the brother or seduce the brother?
That’s a little homoerotic, sir.
Oh look, I was right.
Time for some retconning.
I don’t care about this book. If it’s a series, you just know it’s gonna end like lol your brother isn’t dead. He’s ruling or a prisoner in the siren kingdom that isn’t destroyed. (I grossly overestimated how much plot this book would get to.)
And Spektryl is the brother or the bestie.
I feel like she could also get arrested for all Spektryl’s crimes, and the prince has to break her out or something.
So we’re supposed to think that’s a justified death just because he called her little sister a mean name? Absolutely not. Cool motive-still murder.
I do not like these characters. They’re both so stupid.
We’re at the like climax of the novel, and I’m so fucking bored.
When I sing men do as I say, so fucking sing to him, you dumb cunt.
It’s the way she and Jeune have more chemistry than she does with the prince.
He’s not like his parents because he literally does nothing because he’s fucking stupid.
Is an ignorant king really better than a king out for his own interests?
Do you trust me? No. Then hey, maybe don’t enter a romantic relationship with that person. Maybe stop hanging around them.
Oh yeah, we just bribed the gym teacher for this test that would reveal that she’s a human and no one questioned it. This book is so bad.
Why are his motivations even in question? The royal family killed his mom. That’s not really something you get over.
Why am I completely on the villains’ side?
He’s really not compassionate. He’s lazy and useless and ignorant, and that’s just as bad.
I love a monologue explanation. God, I’m so bored.
How would that prove that it’s actually poison if it doesn’t affect her? Oh my god, these villains are so bad.
Yeah, I mean you’re literally dumb. Why would they give you your sister back? Also, why don’t the villains just kill her? Like I know plot armor, but fucking come on.
Wow, that was really easy to unknot. Super convenient that they didn’t tie her hands together. This book is idiotic.
Why would you send her home if the villains know where she lives?
Why do we care if they kill the evil king and queen again? Like the prince doesn’t even really like them. Like oh no, an army will come through the barrier and kill people to stop genocide and slavery. How terrible.
One horse trope
Drunken control is an oxymoron.
Why tie them up? Literally just kill them.
I mean, you don’t need both of them.
Also, couldn’t you just sing a song and be like tell me your secrets and they would have to and then you could kill them? Wouldn’t that work?
Wow, that was literally so bad.
Post-reading:
This book has been done so many times before and so much better.
The main characters are unlikeable. The magic system is underdeveloped and makes no sense. It’s gross to have a 12-year-old child seducing adults. The leads have no romantic chemistry, yet they have an inherently toxic relationship. Wild idea, if someone kills your best friend don’t forgive them, or be in love with them. The monarchy is evil for the sake of being evil. The villains are arguably evil for the sake of being evil. All of the book’s world-building is done through info dumping. The monarchy allows its prince to be guarded by literal children and the most unprofessional guards in the world after they’ve already had one son killed. The parents may as well not exist in this book for how much authority they have over their children.
It’s just bad all around and there’s nothing redeeming about it, and I don’t think anyone should read this.
Who should read this:
No one
YA fantasy romance lovers
mermaid/siren lovers
Do I want to reread this:
No
Similar books:
* A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas-literally any fantasy romance. I will say this is similar.
* Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson-bucket enemies to lovers fantasy romance
* Bow Before the Elf Queen by J. M. Kearl-bucket enemies to lovers fantasy romance
* Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken-terrible enemies to lovers fantasy romance
* A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand-terrible enemies to lovers fantasy romance
Unhinged Summary:
Not Halle’s Ariel is training to be a guard for the kingdom because top guards make bank and she needs major schmoney to afford her foster sister’s private school. It’s so expensive that she needs a side hustle. She’s an assassin. Somehow a super secret resistance organization decided it was a good idea to hire a literal child to be an assassin. But like oh my god, why wouldn’t they hire her? She’s secretly a siren. That means that men take one look at her face, and instantly want to rape her. That’s how beauty works. But don’t worry, if she sings to them, she can mind control them. But oh no Cleo, if she touches water, the water can mind control her and force her to kill men. Kind of. Not really. But it’s a great excuse to be “morally gray” and have literally no qualms or guilt about killing random people.
It’s time for graduation, and homegirl is psyched. She’s like yes I’m gonna go be a police captain for a sector of the kingdom because I’m top of my class. And the principal is like lol plot twist. The monarchy has decided to hire our top graduate, who is still a literal child to be a guard for the prince. And she’s like lol pass. And her sister is like lol not pass. Somebody gave me a note to blackmail you. They said that they know you’re a Siren, and they’re gonna tell everyone unless you pay them, but they signed it xoxo, Prince Harry. And Ariel is like convenient. Hey teach, I changed my mind. I’m gonna go be a guard for the prince, and that way I can figure out who the blackmailer is. And the audience is like literally how would that solve it? Like there’s so many other steps you could take. Also, the blackmailer knows who your sister is and you’re just gonna leave her alone and unguarded? And Ariel is like yep. This definitely won’t bite me in the ass.
So now she’s part of the prince’s guard, and when she gets there, her fellow guards are like welcome to your professional job. Let’s do a scavenger hunt. And she’s like lol don’t touch my stuff. I don’t want you to see that I use magic beads to make me look unrecognizably ugly. Why have a normal disguise, when I can look like a burn victim? And the prince is like lol let’s go to a party. And she’s like lol I’m not like other girls. I hate parties and makeup. And she gathers up all her fellow guards, and she’s like oh my god, guys. Totally crazy idea for team bonding-let’s take this BuzzFeed quiz called what your handwriting says about you. So they do, and she’s like damn, none of them are a match for the blackmailer. Then her assassin boss sends her a letter and asks her to kill this guy called Felix. And she’s like lol OK. And the boss is like do you want some more details or like do you wanna know why we want this guy murdered? And she’s like absolutely not. Say less. So she kills the guy. But oh no, it was the prince’s Bestie! Now she feels bad, because the prince is a major hottie, and hotties can’t be sad.
So the prince is like we have to figure out who did this! Hey brand new guard, I’m gonna appoint you to be head of the Nancy Drew committee, and we’re gonna solve this mystery. And she’s like lol, sure thing. Then the blackmailer contacts her again and is like find out about the king’s genocide or your sister gets it. And she’s like what genocide? And they’re like exactly. So she seduces a random advisor and is like tell me all the kingdom’s secrets. And he’s like oh my god, tits. Sure thing. Whatever you want to know. So the king put up a magical wall around the kingdom to keep out magical creatures. It’s tied to his life force. And Ariel is like convenient. Go on. And he’s like a bunch of magical creatures got trapped here when the wall went up because the king didn’t send out any eviction notices. And like letting them live their lives out in peace would be totally boring, so the king had us murder them all. And homegirl is like damn, so that’s why I’ve had to hide what species I am my whole life. I never thought to question this before! Blind hatred was a super convincing motive to me. And the audience is like blind hatred is literally still the motive. And Ariel is like well, it’s decided then. The Royals are definitely evil.
And the prince is like speaking of evil, my dad’s the worst. I have daddy issues because he loved my brother more than me. And Ariel is like I didn’t know you had a brother. And the Prince is like oh yeah, I don’t. He was murdered probably. And she’s like did you just say probably? And he shrugs and is like I don’t know. It’s only book one. The author needs some plot twists for the rest of this series, okay?
Then it’s the prince’s birthday rehearsal, and somebody tries to use water magic to drown him. But don’t worry, Ariel rescues Prince Eric. And the audience is like oh my god, shouldn’t the water make her kill everybody? And the author is like oh my god, no. This is true love and actually, she can resist the water’s compulsion. And the audience is like oh, so she like definitely didn’t have to kill anybody in this book? And the author is like correct. She’s morally gray! And the audience is like no, she’s actively a bad person.
Then it’s the prince’s actual birthday, and Ariel’s ugly disguise wears off and everybody realizes that she’s the super hot siren that’s been killing everybody. Le gasp. So the prince is like oh my god, guards, arrest her. She killed my Bestie. I’m gonna go hide. And Ariel is like wait, let me pass you this note. Check yes if you like me, and then meet me at the ship’s super secret hidey-hole. I can explain everything. So the prince’s guards arrest her, but plot twist, the guards are actually part of the resistance, so now it’s time for a villain monologue. The witch guard is like lol I work for the resistance because the king sucks. And Ariel is like OK, I understand that, but what about the fae guards? This corrupt kingdom setup benefits them. And the fae guard is like because I want a competent king who’s fair to everyone? What do you mean why? Also, if it wasn’t obvious, we’re the ones who have been blackmailing you, and we know that you’re a siren. And she’s like if you know that I’m a siren, why wouldn’t you gag me so that I can’t use my mind-control singing powers? And they’re like because we’re terrible villains. And she’s like well lucky for you guys, I took a drug so that I could be around the ocean and not go crazy, but it means my siren powers don’t work. And the audience is like so she really never needed to kill anyone this whole book.
So the guards are like tell us where the prince is so we can murder him. And Ariel’s like wow, you guys are bad bodyguards. You lost him and you wanna kill him? That’s like the exact opposite of your job description. And they’re like OK, well what if we hired you to kill him? By the way, we’re also your assassin bosses. So like kill the Prince, or we’re gonna kill your sister. So they just let her go. Because repeat after me, they are the worst villains.
Ariel’s like oh my god, I can’t kill the prince. I’m in love with him. (And the audience is like literally why?) I guess, I’ll have to help him fake his death! So she goes to her witchy aunt and is like quick, I need a potion that makes you look dead, but doesn’t kill you. And the aunt is like oh my god, that’s way too hard. I’m just gonna give you real poison and you’ll just use your water powers to keep it in the prince’s mouth instead of going to his stomach because that’s how digestion works. And Ariel’s like flawless plan. So she goes to the see the prince, and she’s like hey, lover boy. And he’s like hey, sexy traitor. And she’s like oh my god, you’re still mad about that? He’s like you lied to me all book and have killed tens of people. And she’s like oh my god, don’t be so sensitive. Anyway, I’m gonna save your life. You’re gonna pretend to be kidnapped by me and drink this poison. And he’s like not actual poison, right? And she’s like no, actual poison. And he’s like I don’t like this plan. And she’s like too bad.
So she brings him to the villains and because plot, she doesn’t use her siren powers to mind control the villains, and the villains wait for her to kill the prince. They don’t just like shoot both of them with a crossbow. But the villains do want to check that she’s giving him actual poison. Ariel is like this poison only affects Fae. And the villains are like oh yeah, drink some then. And the audience is like literally how would that prove that it’s poison if it wouldn’t work on her anyway? So she drinks some and she’s fine, and they’re like OK. We believe you. Poison the prince. And the audience is like she literally could’ve just given him orange juice and told him to hold his breath.
So the villains are like great, he’s dead. Push him in the ocean. So she does. And they’re like nice doing business with you. We’re gonna drown your sister. So they throw her sister tied to an anvil into the ocean. And then the villains just leave her, even though they know she’s a siren. They’re like we gotta go kill the king and queen, peace! So Ariel jumps into the ocean to save them. None of the villains got Boy Scout badges for knot-tying, so her sister was literally just able to untie herself and is fine. And the prince is fine because she fake poisoned him. Have I mentioned that these villains are awful?
Ariel’s like oh my god, we have to go save the king so that the wall doesn’t fall so that the resistance army doesn’t come save everyone from genocide and monarchy! And the audience is like why? So she sings her siren song and now every townsperson is her minion to go attack the villains. The villains just have the world’s best earplugs except they’re literally just cotton balls so her song can’t affect them. But like obviously, they get defeated by the hundreds of townspeople.
But oh no, the king is actively fighting the last member of the resistance in his panic room. And as a seventeen-year-old, Ariel is obviously a swords master, so she takes over and defeats the resistance villain. And they’re like oh my god, is he dead? And the king is like I’ll check. And no one is like sir, you’re the king. Stay back. So not a plot twist, the villain isn’t dead yet and he kills the king. Then Ariel actually kills the villain. So yay, the day is saved. They can’t kill the other resistance members because they want to interrogate them. And the audience is like couldn’t she just sing and say tell me all your secrets? And the author is like lol no, I forgot about that.
The prince is like oh my god, I’m the king now. Also, I forgive you for killing my bestie because I’m in love with you. And the audience is like literally why? And then he’s like when I was going through my dead dad’s desk, I found letters between him and this police captain who was supposed to be dead. Plot twist, she’s not dead. So as your king, I command you to be Nancy Drew again. Because that worked out super well for me the first time. Book two, baby. Here we come. The end!
Do you want to read about a 17-year-old siren who’s a bodyguard for a prince and oh my god, she falls in love with him in a plot that’s never ever ever ever ever been done before? If you didn’t catch the sarcasm, can you at least catch the 17? Let’s not make children sexy.
This is one of my do not read titles.
Pre-reading:
Fairyloot books are so pretty, but I very rarely like them.
Thick of it:
It’s giving Hunger Games and Fourth Wing (but only for like two chapters, and it would’ve been a better book if we had stuck with this vibe.)
Oh, this is another fairy porn book.
impundulu
These idiots are 17? Girl.
I do not want a seductive 17-year-old. That’s yucky.
She described him in relation to her thighs? Why???
vellum
dashiki
She’s not like other girls. She doesn’t like to party
Welcome to your adult job. Let’s do a scavenger hunt.
It never rubs me the right way when we have main characters that are just chill with slavery, but it seems extra wrong when those characters are people of color.
I really don’t like that the author chose to make this character 17 with her seducing full-grown adults. That’s really yucky to me. Especially because she’s been doing it for a few years so she was a full-ass 12-year-old child. It’s like so easy to not make children sexy. They’re children. They’re not sexy.
The seduction powers make no sense.
They have friendship necklaces? C’mon.
This book is aggressively YA.
This pinecone nickname and how shrill the audiobook narrator is when she says it is driving me nuts.
I smell a love triangle, so I can’t wait for her childhood bestie to turn out to be evil because oh my god, how would she choose otherwise?
Omg, calm down, edgelord.
These are the most unprofessional guards in the entire world.
Girlypop, beggars can’t be choosers.
She’s not like other girls. She doesn’t like makeup.
It’s giving revenge fantasy, and that’s just never my vibe.
This is workplace sexual harassment.
Ooo a honey-scented love interest. That’s a new one. (You know aside from the bear book😂)
Did a siren kill the brother or seduce the brother?
That’s a little homoerotic, sir.
Oh look, I was right.
Time for some retconning.
I don’t care about this book. If it’s a series, you just know it’s gonna end like lol your brother isn’t dead. He’s ruling or a prisoner in the siren kingdom that isn’t destroyed. (I grossly overestimated how much plot this book would get to.)
And Spektryl is the brother or the bestie.
I feel like she could also get arrested for all Spektryl’s crimes, and the prince has to break her out or something.
So we’re supposed to think that’s a justified death just because he called her little sister a mean name? Absolutely not. Cool motive-still murder.
I do not like these characters. They’re both so stupid.
We’re at the like climax of the novel, and I’m so fucking bored.
When I sing men do as I say, so fucking sing to him, you dumb cunt.
It’s the way she and Jeune have more chemistry than she does with the prince.
He’s not like his parents because he literally does nothing because he’s fucking stupid.
Is an ignorant king really better than a king out for his own interests?
Do you trust me? No. Then hey, maybe don’t enter a romantic relationship with that person. Maybe stop hanging around them.
Oh yeah, we just bribed the gym teacher for this test that would reveal that she’s a human and no one questioned it. This book is so bad.
Why are his motivations even in question? The royal family killed his mom. That’s not really something you get over.
Why am I completely on the villains’ side?
He’s really not compassionate. He’s lazy and useless and ignorant, and that’s just as bad.
I love a monologue explanation. God, I’m so bored.
How would that prove that it’s actually poison if it doesn’t affect her? Oh my god, these villains are so bad.
Yeah, I mean you’re literally dumb. Why would they give you your sister back? Also, why don’t the villains just kill her? Like I know plot armor, but fucking come on.
Wow, that was really easy to unknot. Super convenient that they didn’t tie her hands together. This book is idiotic.
Why would you send her home if the villains know where she lives?
Why do we care if they kill the evil king and queen again? Like the prince doesn’t even really like them. Like oh no, an army will come through the barrier and kill people to stop genocide and slavery. How terrible.
One horse trope
Drunken control is an oxymoron.
Why tie them up? Literally just kill them.
I mean, you don’t need both of them.
Also, couldn’t you just sing a song and be like tell me your secrets and they would have to and then you could kill them? Wouldn’t that work?
Wow, that was literally so bad.
Post-reading:
This book has been done so many times before and so much better.
The main characters are unlikeable. The magic system is underdeveloped and makes no sense. It’s gross to have a 12-year-old child seducing adults. The leads have no romantic chemistry, yet they have an inherently toxic relationship. Wild idea, if someone kills your best friend don’t forgive them, or be in love with them. The monarchy is evil for the sake of being evil. The villains are arguably evil for the sake of being evil. All of the book’s world-building is done through info dumping. The monarchy allows its prince to be guarded by literal children and the most unprofessional guards in the world after they’ve already had one son killed. The parents may as well not exist in this book for how much authority they have over their children.
It’s just bad all around and there’s nothing redeeming about it, and I don’t think anyone should read this.
Who should read this:
No one
YA fantasy romance lovers
mermaid/siren lovers
Do I want to reread this:
No
Similar books:
* A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas-literally any fantasy romance. I will say this is similar.
* Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson-bucket enemies to lovers fantasy romance
* Bow Before the Elf Queen by J. M. Kearl-bucket enemies to lovers fantasy romance
* Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken-terrible enemies to lovers fantasy romance
* A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand-terrible enemies to lovers fantasy romance
Unhinged Summary:
Not Halle’s Ariel is training to be a guard for the kingdom because top guards make bank and she needs major schmoney to afford her foster sister’s private school. It’s so expensive that she needs a side hustle. She’s an assassin. Somehow a super secret resistance organization decided it was a good idea to hire a literal child to be an assassin. But like oh my god, why wouldn’t they hire her? She’s secretly a siren. That means that men take one look at her face, and instantly want to rape her. That’s how beauty works. But don’t worry, if she sings to them, she can mind control them. But oh no Cleo, if she touches water, the water can mind control her and force her to kill men. Kind of. Not really. But it’s a great excuse to be “morally gray” and have literally no qualms or guilt about killing random people.
It’s time for graduation, and homegirl is psyched. She’s like yes I’m gonna go be a police captain for a sector of the kingdom because I’m top of my class. And the principal is like lol plot twist. The monarchy has decided to hire our top graduate, who is still a literal child to be a guard for the prince. And she’s like lol pass. And her sister is like lol not pass. Somebody gave me a note to blackmail you. They said that they know you’re a Siren, and they’re gonna tell everyone unless you pay them, but they signed it xoxo, Prince Harry. And Ariel is like convenient. Hey teach, I changed my mind. I’m gonna go be a guard for the prince, and that way I can figure out who the blackmailer is. And the audience is like literally how would that solve it? Like there’s so many other steps you could take. Also, the blackmailer knows who your sister is and you’re just gonna leave her alone and unguarded? And Ariel is like yep. This definitely won’t bite me in the ass.
So now she’s part of the prince’s guard, and when she gets there, her fellow guards are like welcome to your professional job. Let’s do a scavenger hunt. And she’s like lol don’t touch my stuff. I don’t want you to see that I use magic beads to make me look unrecognizably ugly. Why have a normal disguise, when I can look like a burn victim? And the prince is like lol let’s go to a party. And she’s like lol I’m not like other girls. I hate parties and makeup. And she gathers up all her fellow guards, and she’s like oh my god, guys. Totally crazy idea for team bonding-let’s take this BuzzFeed quiz called what your handwriting says about you. So they do, and she’s like damn, none of them are a match for the blackmailer. Then her assassin boss sends her a letter and asks her to kill this guy called Felix. And she’s like lol OK. And the boss is like do you want some more details or like do you wanna know why we want this guy murdered? And she’s like absolutely not. Say less. So she kills the guy. But oh no, it was the prince’s Bestie! Now she feels bad, because the prince is a major hottie, and hotties can’t be sad.
So the prince is like we have to figure out who did this! Hey brand new guard, I’m gonna appoint you to be head of the Nancy Drew committee, and we’re gonna solve this mystery. And she’s like lol, sure thing. Then the blackmailer contacts her again and is like find out about the king’s genocide or your sister gets it. And she’s like what genocide? And they’re like exactly. So she seduces a random advisor and is like tell me all the kingdom’s secrets. And he’s like oh my god, tits. Sure thing. Whatever you want to know. So the king put up a magical wall around the kingdom to keep out magical creatures. It’s tied to his life force. And Ariel is like convenient. Go on. And he’s like a bunch of magical creatures got trapped here when the wall went up because the king didn’t send out any eviction notices. And like letting them live their lives out in peace would be totally boring, so the king had us murder them all. And homegirl is like damn, so that’s why I’ve had to hide what species I am my whole life. I never thought to question this before! Blind hatred was a super convincing motive to me. And the audience is like blind hatred is literally still the motive. And Ariel is like well, it’s decided then. The Royals are definitely evil.
And the prince is like speaking of evil, my dad’s the worst. I have daddy issues because he loved my brother more than me. And Ariel is like I didn’t know you had a brother. And the Prince is like oh yeah, I don’t. He was murdered probably. And she’s like did you just say probably? And he shrugs and is like I don’t know. It’s only book one. The author needs some plot twists for the rest of this series, okay?
Then it’s the prince’s birthday rehearsal, and somebody tries to use water magic to drown him. But don’t worry, Ariel rescues Prince Eric. And the audience is like oh my god, shouldn’t the water make her kill everybody? And the author is like oh my god, no. This is true love and actually, she can resist the water’s compulsion. And the audience is like oh, so she like definitely didn’t have to kill anybody in this book? And the author is like correct. She’s morally gray! And the audience is like no, she’s actively a bad person.
Then it’s the prince’s actual birthday, and Ariel’s ugly disguise wears off and everybody realizes that she’s the super hot siren that’s been killing everybody. Le gasp. So the prince is like oh my god, guards, arrest her. She killed my Bestie. I’m gonna go hide. And Ariel is like wait, let me pass you this note. Check yes if you like me, and then meet me at the ship’s super secret hidey-hole. I can explain everything. So the prince’s guards arrest her, but plot twist, the guards are actually part of the resistance, so now it’s time for a villain monologue. The witch guard is like lol I work for the resistance because the king sucks. And Ariel is like OK, I understand that, but what about the fae guards? This corrupt kingdom setup benefits them. And the fae guard is like because I want a competent king who’s fair to everyone? What do you mean why? Also, if it wasn’t obvious, we’re the ones who have been blackmailing you, and we know that you’re a siren. And she’s like if you know that I’m a siren, why wouldn’t you gag me so that I can’t use my mind-control singing powers? And they’re like because we’re terrible villains. And she’s like well lucky for you guys, I took a drug so that I could be around the ocean and not go crazy, but it means my siren powers don’t work. And the audience is like so she really never needed to kill anyone this whole book.
So the guards are like tell us where the prince is so we can murder him. And Ariel’s like wow, you guys are bad bodyguards. You lost him and you wanna kill him? That’s like the exact opposite of your job description. And they’re like OK, well what if we hired you to kill him? By the way, we’re also your assassin bosses. So like kill the Prince, or we’re gonna kill your sister. So they just let her go. Because repeat after me, they are the worst villains.
Ariel’s like oh my god, I can’t kill the prince. I’m in love with him. (And the audience is like literally why?) I guess, I’ll have to help him fake his death! So she goes to her witchy aunt and is like quick, I need a potion that makes you look dead, but doesn’t kill you. And the aunt is like oh my god, that’s way too hard. I’m just gonna give you real poison and you’ll just use your water powers to keep it in the prince’s mouth instead of going to his stomach because that’s how digestion works. And Ariel’s like flawless plan. So she goes to the see the prince, and she’s like hey, lover boy. And he’s like hey, sexy traitor. And she’s like oh my god, you’re still mad about that? He’s like you lied to me all book and have killed tens of people. And she’s like oh my god, don’t be so sensitive. Anyway, I’m gonna save your life. You’re gonna pretend to be kidnapped by me and drink this poison. And he’s like not actual poison, right? And she’s like no, actual poison. And he’s like I don’t like this plan. And she’s like too bad.
So she brings him to the villains and because plot, she doesn’t use her siren powers to mind control the villains, and the villains wait for her to kill the prince. They don’t just like shoot both of them with a crossbow. But the villains do want to check that she’s giving him actual poison. Ariel is like this poison only affects Fae. And the villains are like oh yeah, drink some then. And the audience is like literally how would that prove that it’s poison if it wouldn’t work on her anyway? So she drinks some and she’s fine, and they’re like OK. We believe you. Poison the prince. And the audience is like she literally could’ve just given him orange juice and told him to hold his breath.
So the villains are like great, he’s dead. Push him in the ocean. So she does. And they’re like nice doing business with you. We’re gonna drown your sister. So they throw her sister tied to an anvil into the ocean. And then the villains just leave her, even though they know she’s a siren. They’re like we gotta go kill the king and queen, peace! So Ariel jumps into the ocean to save them. None of the villains got Boy Scout badges for knot-tying, so her sister was literally just able to untie herself and is fine. And the prince is fine because she fake poisoned him. Have I mentioned that these villains are awful?
Ariel’s like oh my god, we have to go save the king so that the wall doesn’t fall so that the resistance army doesn’t come save everyone from genocide and monarchy! And the audience is like why? So she sings her siren song and now every townsperson is her minion to go attack the villains. The villains just have the world’s best earplugs except they’re literally just cotton balls so her song can’t affect them. But like obviously, they get defeated by the hundreds of townspeople.
But oh no, the king is actively fighting the last member of the resistance in his panic room. And as a seventeen-year-old, Ariel is obviously a swords master, so she takes over and defeats the resistance villain. And they’re like oh my god, is he dead? And the king is like I’ll check. And no one is like sir, you’re the king. Stay back. So not a plot twist, the villain isn’t dead yet and he kills the king. Then Ariel actually kills the villain. So yay, the day is saved. They can’t kill the other resistance members because they want to interrogate them. And the audience is like couldn’t she just sing and say tell me all your secrets? And the author is like lol no, I forgot about that.
The prince is like oh my god, I’m the king now. Also, I forgive you for killing my bestie because I’m in love with you. And the audience is like literally why? And then he’s like when I was going through my dead dad’s desk, I found letters between him and this police captain who was supposed to be dead. Plot twist, she’s not dead. So as your king, I command you to be Nancy Drew again. Because that worked out super well for me the first time. Book two, baby. Here we come. The end!
September 27, 2024
This has been sitting on my selves for so long because I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, boy was I wrong, I loved this book. It's always interesting reading the low rated reviews of books you love, for this one I can see why people might not like it. It is a little info dumpy at the beginning which might be an issue for some, I would have preferred the world building given in a more entertaining way, but it didn't effect my enjoyment.
It's one of those books where I think technically it probably isn't a five star read, it's a little simplistic at times and does read young, however the story, the characters, the world building and the reveals all had me hooked. I loved the main character in this book, I do understand people's hate of sexualising a 17 year old, but that happens in real life unfortunately and this book sheds light on it. Our main character is beyond beautiful and she uses it to people's demise, at first it's all she is, only noticed when she's beautiful and ignored all because of a bit a scaring. Women are often looked at as more important for the beauty and this book explores this beautifully.
As a fantasy reader who isn't that fond of romance, this one worked for me, maybe because it was a little understated and pure. I think romance lovers might pick faults with the main characters relationship with the prince but I thought it worked. He is very naïve and a little dumb but he did grown throughout this book and I'm interested in how he'll change in the next book.
So lets talk about this world, for a fairly short fantasy this book packs a lot of world building in, which is why there is a little info dumping. We then follow along with our main character as the rest of the worlds secrets unfold which I enjoyed a lot more. It did frustrate me how much her Aunties didn't tell her, they could have saved her a lot of hassle and the excuses of why they didn't were weak.
For me this book had it all from the found family and relationship development to the plot in general and the action scenes. Not a perfect book, but perfectly made for my reading tastes. The way this book got dark in places too, I really enjoyed, all the characters were somewhat morally grey and so well done.
It's one of those books where I think technically it probably isn't a five star read, it's a little simplistic at times and does read young, however the story, the characters, the world building and the reveals all had me hooked. I loved the main character in this book, I do understand people's hate of sexualising a 17 year old, but that happens in real life unfortunately and this book sheds light on it. Our main character is beyond beautiful and she uses it to people's demise, at first it's all she is, only noticed when she's beautiful and ignored all because of a bit a scaring. Women are often looked at as more important for the beauty and this book explores this beautifully.
As a fantasy reader who isn't that fond of romance, this one worked for me, maybe because it was a little understated and pure. I think romance lovers might pick faults with the main characters relationship with the prince but I thought it worked. He is very naïve and a little dumb but he did grown throughout this book and I'm interested in how he'll change in the next book.
So lets talk about this world, for a fairly short fantasy this book packs a lot of world building in, which is why there is a little info dumping. We then follow along with our main character as the rest of the worlds secrets unfold which I enjoyed a lot more. It did frustrate me how much her Aunties didn't tell her, they could have saved her a lot of hassle and the excuses of why they didn't were weak.
For me this book had it all from the found family and relationship development to the plot in general and the action scenes. Not a perfect book, but perfectly made for my reading tastes. The way this book got dark in places too, I really enjoyed, all the characters were somewhat morally grey and so well done.
June 19, 2024
THIS is how you do morally grey protagonists!! LOVED this book - full review to come <3
August 29, 2024
I was surprised how into this book I got so fast. Read it in 2 days and had a lot of fun. Loved how down bad the prince was for Saoirse. Boy was heart eyeing her 24/7.
Has a lot of world building thrown at you in the first few chapters but the world was interesting and pretty easy to understand. The main character does do one thing that pissed me off soooooo bad that I had to put the book down. She’s over all a great character. Excited to read the next book!🧜🏾♀️
Has a lot of world building thrown at you in the first few chapters but the world was interesting and pretty easy to understand. The main character does do one thing that pissed me off soooooo bad that I had to put the book down. She’s over all a great character. Excited to read the next book!🧜🏾♀️
July 6, 2023
the world building, magic system, and social commentary in this book are phenomenal! also love the betrayals and the characters' dynamic with each other. could've done without the romance, but this is the first time in a long time that ive been obsessed with a plot-driven book so im def not complaining! i really hope this book gets all the hype it deserves 😍
July 19, 2023
Let me preface this review by saying this book had so much potential to be amazing! It's such a cool concept but the execution was not there at all.
This book was so disappointing. I'm not sure if it was rushed due to the hype of little mermaid or for some other reasons, but it needed a few more rounds in editing. There were so many plot holes or things just told rather than shown. I felt little to no connection to any of the characters and the relationship between the fmc and male love interest was so poorly written.
I am all for prickly independent girl x golden retriever boy but this man had zero brain cells working. He met the fmc and immediately decided she was more qualified and trustworthy than the guards who had been working with him for years all bc she was "interesting".
This book was so disappointing. I'm not sure if it was rushed due to the hype of little mermaid or for some other reasons, but it needed a few more rounds in editing. There were so many plot holes or things just told rather than shown. I felt little to no connection to any of the characters and the relationship between the fmc and male love interest was so poorly written.
I am all for prickly independent girl x golden retriever boy but this man had zero brain cells working. He met the fmc and immediately decided she was more qualified and trustworthy than the guards who had been working with him for years all bc she was "interesting".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2026
2.75 ★— There’s something almost painful about a book with a gorgeous concept and cover that just doesn’t come together, and this was one of those for me.
The story centers on Saoirse Sarkova, a siren who is selected to serve as a guard to the crown prince, while secretly balancing a second life as an assassin. Using her siren powers to lure her targets, she struggles to keep the destructive nature of her abilities at bay.
Let me start by saying that I love morally grey heroines. I want more stories that allow women to do morally bad things and actually sit in that discomfort. The idea of Saoirse as a siren, someone who constantly grapples with a hidden, darker instinct to kill, is genuinely so good and intriguing! Unfortunately, the book failed to anchor that concept in a world and cast of characters that felt just as compelling.
The MMC, who turns out to be the crown prince, felt especially underdeveloped. Their dynamic, built on his quick fascination with her, could have worked, but there simply wasn’t enough depth to him as a character to make their connection feel natural or earned. From his side, it read as insta-love, and too often the book flattened him into a puppyish, overly devoted love interest. That kind of dynamic can be interesting, but here it wasn’t given the space or development it needed to work.
While I thought the atmosphere of the book was solid, most of the story itself felt frustratingly flat. From Saoirse’s relationship with her sister to the supposed weight of her double life as an assassin, very little carried the emotional impact it should have.
Ultimately, this felt like a book full of excellent ideas that never quite managed the transition into a story with enough depth to make them truly work. I am sad about it.
The story centers on Saoirse Sarkova, a siren who is selected to serve as a guard to the crown prince, while secretly balancing a second life as an assassin. Using her siren powers to lure her targets, she struggles to keep the destructive nature of her abilities at bay.
Let me start by saying that I love morally grey heroines. I want more stories that allow women to do morally bad things and actually sit in that discomfort. The idea of Saoirse as a siren, someone who constantly grapples with a hidden, darker instinct to kill, is genuinely so good and intriguing! Unfortunately, the book failed to anchor that concept in a world and cast of characters that felt just as compelling.
The MMC, who turns out to be the crown prince, felt especially underdeveloped. Their dynamic, built on his quick fascination with her, could have worked, but there simply wasn’t enough depth to him as a character to make their connection feel natural or earned. From his side, it read as insta-love, and too often the book flattened him into a puppyish, overly devoted love interest. That kind of dynamic can be interesting, but here it wasn’t given the space or development it needed to work.
While I thought the atmosphere of the book was solid, most of the story itself felt frustratingly flat. From Saoirse’s relationship with her sister to the supposed weight of her double life as an assassin, very little carried the emotional impact it should have.
Ultimately, this felt like a book full of excellent ideas that never quite managed the transition into a story with enough depth to make them truly work. I am sad about it.
February 9, 2025
i LOVEEE a morally grey YA fantasy!!! Saoirse i’m on your side!!! a little slow paced - this probably could’ve been a standalone but will be picking up book 2!
September 28, 2023
If a book contains a mermaid, siren, or other humanoid-aquatic creature, I will buy it.
February 8, 2024
A MASTERPIECE. Sheer perfection. I need the sequel yesterday. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
October 8, 2024
very fast paced book, perfect for one night, but sometimes the action was going to fast, I didn't have time to like the characters or care about them or wonder about the mystery here, it just felt like a lot of things happened and none were explained or expanded properly
August 10, 2024
Wow ! Quel coup de cœur ! 💖
Ce livre est une pépite : je l’ai adoré du début à la fin !
La plume de l’autrice est d’une fluidité incroyable, c’est un véritable page turner ! L’intrigue est lancée sans temps morts, on plonge directement dans une histoire captivante, sans aucune longueur inutile.
Le worldbuilding est à la fois accessible et riche, nous plongeant dans un univers magique et magnifique.
J'ai adoré Saoirse (Sacha apparement 😂) la protagoniste, une sirène à la fois badass et morally grey qui contraste parfaitement avec le love interest, beaucoup plus candide et naïf (mais tellement charismatique et attachant). Cette dynamique changeant du schéma classique m’a vraiment séduite. Leur relation est un slow burn… vraiment très slow 😏
Le dénouement est plein de révélations surprenantes : chaque page tournée m’a laissée de plus en plus stupéfaite, impossible d’arrêter ma lecture à partir des derniers 20% du livre !!
La fin n’est pas un cliffhanger frustrant, mais elle donne tellement envie de découvrir la suite. Malheureusement, il faudra patienter jusqu'au 20 août pour la sortie en VO du second et dernier tome, il n’y a donc pas encore de date pour la sortie VF mais je pense qu’on n’est pas prêts pour ce qui nous attend !
Ce livre est une pépite : je l’ai adoré du début à la fin !
La plume de l’autrice est d’une fluidité incroyable, c’est un véritable page turner ! L’intrigue est lancée sans temps morts, on plonge directement dans une histoire captivante, sans aucune longueur inutile.
Le worldbuilding est à la fois accessible et riche, nous plongeant dans un univers magique et magnifique.
J'ai adoré Saoirse (Sacha apparement 😂) la protagoniste, une sirène à la fois badass et morally grey qui contraste parfaitement avec le love interest, beaucoup plus candide et naïf (mais tellement charismatique et attachant). Cette dynamique changeant du schéma classique m’a vraiment séduite. Leur relation est un slow burn… vraiment très slow 😏
Le dénouement est plein de révélations surprenantes : chaque page tournée m’a laissée de plus en plus stupéfaite, impossible d’arrêter ma lecture à partir des derniers 20% du livre !!
La fin n’est pas un cliffhanger frustrant, mais elle donne tellement envie de découvrir la suite. Malheureusement, il faudra patienter jusqu'au 20 août pour la sortie en VO du second et dernier tome, il n’y a donc pas encore de date pour la sortie VF mais je pense qu’on n’est pas prêts pour ce qui nous attend !
May 20, 2025
Overall rating: 3.25/5
Sigh.... I had so many hopes for this book; it had so much potential but didn't deliver. The magic was cool and the plot seemed pretty decent but what really made me lower the stars were the characters and their development.
I'll talk about what I liked so far. I really liked the overall dark themes in the book surrounding Saoirse as her magic was deadly and the author didn't sugar-coat it. The magic behind being a siren was so cool! I'll always love a little manipulation girl boss moment and how the water can essentially influence it. Like how the water controls the person and not the other way around. I've seen it in quite a few mermaid and siren media but it never gets old. Saoirse's powers are probably the biggest reason as to why I'll continue the series.
Another reason is Hayes. He felt like one of the only characters to genuinely want to do better. He starts as a naive and spoiled prince but underneath he is scared and needs motivation to want to do better. By the end of the book, I felt as if Hayes could make a good leader but since there wasn't too much politics involved in this story I'm not 100% sure. I also love how empathic he is because SPOILER ALERT the FMC is high-key insufferable so I was really surprised by how genuine he was with her.
Now moving on to things I didn't like. Saoirse. I really didn't like her character. And it's mainly stemming from her inability to follow her convictions and to think things through. Listen... girly is a little bit slow because at the beginning of the book she starts off as an assassin but has no idea who she's killing or who she works for.... like huh? HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW UR EMPLOYER??? Make it make sense. Then there's the fact that her character is very hypocritical.. which is probably the point but it was still very annoying to read. Especially when it came to her sister. I couldn't give two flying fucks about that lil human and I think that's where the main problem lies as I didn't see why Saoirse's obsession with her sister mattered... Like I read about it from Saoirse but I couldn't see it. From the books, she seemed like a very over-controlling sibling for no reason as they didn't even hang out that much to be considered close.... but whatever....
Overall this book was meh and I'm sad because I expected more.
Sigh.... I had so many hopes for this book; it had so much potential but didn't deliver. The magic was cool and the plot seemed pretty decent but what really made me lower the stars were the characters and their development.
I'll talk about what I liked so far. I really liked the overall dark themes in the book surrounding Saoirse as her magic was deadly and the author didn't sugar-coat it. The magic behind being a siren was so cool! I'll always love a little manipulation girl boss moment and how the water can essentially influence it. Like how the water controls the person and not the other way around. I've seen it in quite a few mermaid and siren media but it never gets old. Saoirse's powers are probably the biggest reason as to why I'll continue the series.
Another reason is Hayes. He felt like one of the only characters to genuinely want to do better. He starts as a naive and spoiled prince but underneath he is scared and needs motivation to want to do better. By the end of the book, I felt as if Hayes could make a good leader but since there wasn't too much politics involved in this story I'm not 100% sure. I also love how empathic he is because SPOILER ALERT the FMC is high-key insufferable so I was really surprised by how genuine he was with her.
Now moving on to things I didn't like. Saoirse. I really didn't like her character. And it's mainly stemming from her inability to follow her convictions and to think things through. Listen... girly is a little bit slow because at the beginning of the book she starts off as an assassin but has no idea who she's killing or who she works for.... like huh? HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW UR EMPLOYER??? Make it make sense. Then there's the fact that her character is very hypocritical.. which is probably the point but it was still very annoying to read. Especially when it came to her sister. I couldn't give two flying fucks about that lil human and I think that's where the main problem lies as I didn't see why Saoirse's obsession with her sister mattered... Like I read about it from Saoirse but I couldn't see it. From the books, she seemed like a very over-controlling sibling for no reason as they didn't even hang out that much to be considered close.... but whatever....
Overall this book was meh and I'm sad because I expected more.
July 31, 2024
4.5⭐️
• identités cachés
• sirens
• garde du corps/ prince
• meurtres
• chantage
• mercenaires & assassins
• retournements de situations
• secrets
• complots politiques
J’ai trop aimé le personnage de Saoirse !! C’est une siren qui cache son identité et ferait n’importe quoi pour protéger sa petite sœur. Elle est également assoiffée de sang et se bat contre elle-même pour calmer ses pulsions dues à sa nature de siren. Saoirse manipule, joue de sa beauté et de sa voix pour envoûter ses victimes, étant des hommes, pour finir par les tuer et calmer ses envies de meurtre. Une tueuse d’hommes ?! (SMASH 👀)
Sa relation avec sa petite sœur est vraiment mignonne. Elle est très protectrice envers elle et l’aime de tout son cœur. Elle serait vraiment capable de se mettre en danger pour la protéger ! En ce qui concerne la romance, il s’agit d’un slow burn. Elle est un peu en second plan et manque un peu de profondeur. D’ailleurs, je n’ai pas su m’attacher davantage au love interest, Hayes, donc j’espère que, dans le second tome, son personnage sera plus travaillé.
Tout au long du livre, on découvre des choses, des secrets et que tout n’était enfaite que mensonges ! Il y a donc plusieurs retournements de situations certains sont prévisibles mais reste choquants tandis que d’autres nous prennent littéralement par surprise.
Le le 01/04/2024
• identités cachés
• sirens
• garde du corps/ prince
• meurtres
• chantage
• mercenaires & assassins
• retournements de situations
• secrets
• complots politiques
J’ai trop aimé le personnage de Saoirse !! C’est une siren qui cache son identité et ferait n’importe quoi pour protéger sa petite sœur. Elle est également assoiffée de sang et se bat contre elle-même pour calmer ses pulsions dues à sa nature de siren. Saoirse manipule, joue de sa beauté et de sa voix pour envoûter ses victimes, étant des hommes, pour finir par les tuer et calmer ses envies de meurtre. Une tueuse d’hommes ?! (SMASH 👀)
Sa relation avec sa petite sœur est vraiment mignonne. Elle est très protectrice envers elle et l’aime de tout son cœur. Elle serait vraiment capable de se mettre en danger pour la protéger ! En ce qui concerne la romance, il s’agit d’un slow burn. Elle est un peu en second plan et manque un peu de profondeur. D’ailleurs, je n’ai pas su m’attacher davantage au love interest, Hayes, donc j’espère que, dans le second tome, son personnage sera plus travaillé.
Tout au long du livre, on découvre des choses, des secrets et que tout n’était enfaite que mensonges ! Il y a donc plusieurs retournements de situations certains sont prévisibles mais reste choquants tandis que d’autres nous prennent littéralement par surprise.
Le le 01/04/2024
July 31, 2023
Morally grey women >>>>>>
This book had me hooked from page one, I was engaged from beginning to end. I really adored the way the world building engaged with how Saoirse must manage her magic as a Siren and pretend to be Fae. The hot-powerful-woman-murders-men was done so well and balanced with consequences. It was fun and heartwarming and serious and sad and joyful.
Wholeheartedly recommend & I cannot wait for book two.
This book had me hooked from page one, I was engaged from beginning to end. I really adored the way the world building engaged with how Saoirse must manage her magic as a Siren and pretend to be Fae. The hot-powerful-woman-murders-men was done so well and balanced with consequences. It was fun and heartwarming and serious and sad and joyful.
Wholeheartedly recommend & I cannot wait for book two.
June 24, 2023
2023 reads: 196/350
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
saoirse is a siren, though no one outside of her family knows. if anyone else found out, it would mean execution. so perhaps it’s not the smartest idea to station herself in the castle, sleeping under the same roof as the people who put this rule in place, but when someone starts to blackmail her sister, saoirse will do anything to find them. this role brings her many surprises, including her attraction to prince hayes, who, by all means, she should hate…
i’ve followed the author on tiktok for a long time, so i’ve been really anticipating this book! i love both mermaids and hidden identities, both of which this book had. i also love strong family relationships, and it was awesome seeing saoirse’s relationship with her little sister.
this book had so many shocking twists and left my mind reeling. and with the way things ended…well, for the sake of avoiding spoilers, let me just say that book two cannot come fast enough!
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
saoirse is a siren, though no one outside of her family knows. if anyone else found out, it would mean execution. so perhaps it’s not the smartest idea to station herself in the castle, sleeping under the same roof as the people who put this rule in place, but when someone starts to blackmail her sister, saoirse will do anything to find them. this role brings her many surprises, including her attraction to prince hayes, who, by all means, she should hate…
i’ve followed the author on tiktok for a long time, so i’ve been really anticipating this book! i love both mermaids and hidden identities, both of which this book had. i also love strong family relationships, and it was awesome seeing saoirse’s relationship with her little sister.
this book had so many shocking twists and left my mind reeling. and with the way things ended…well, for the sake of avoiding spoilers, let me just say that book two cannot come fast enough!
June 13, 2023
Damnnn this was so so gooooood one of the best siren books I’ve read there isn’t enough of them and also not enough books where the main character is genuinely morally grey and enjoys killing. Her love for Rain is so adorable and so perfect I love that she picks her over everyone also talk about slowww burrnnnn I’m obsessed ahhhh I was kicking myself at that ending as well I can’t wait for the sequel
July 24, 2021
I’m so excited for a book about fae and mythology that demonstrates that the idea of whiteness is a tool of colonization, not an organic part of a culture and its lore. This book will be so lovely for young, critical thinkers and people just wanting a fresh spin on a classic story full of badass ladies and swoony princes alike. So excited!
August 7, 2023
"You don't get to claim you're a monster just so you can pretend you don't have choices. You do, and you keep choosing wrong."
This was an incredible YA fantasy debut and must read for fans of morally-gray characters, sirens, and shifting alliances.
This was an incredible YA fantasy debut and must read for fans of morally-gray characters, sirens, and shifting alliances.
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