The Siren Sea

by Cidney Swanson

352 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 2025

Reviews

[Abby (Reader of Clean Books)]

I just didn't really feel like reading it.

The cover and art on the inside of the cover is AI 😭. That automatically made me distrust that the book was written by a human and not a computer.

[★*☆♪Ev★*☆♪]

This was soooo good! I really enjoyed the story. It was so interesting to read, and it drew me in. I love the banter and the danger. It was a story full of emotion and adventure. It's totally worth reading!

[Cindy]

The two main protagonists in the beginning of this story, Cyril and Katrin are brother and sister. Life dealt them a rough blow at a young age and they each handle it differently. Katrin throws herself into keeping up the family farm, her studies at school and continuing to learn about being an herbalist. She is prickly, easily irritated and cuts off some failed attempts at friendship with her introverted personality, so even though she craves friendship, she becomes a loner.
Meanwhile, Cyril has big plans. After he finishes in school, he wants to move to the capital and is trying to make friends with the upper class students in hopes that it will help him land a job in the future. Sadly, he is quite gullible and what he rationalizes as common pranks and normal school hijinks perpetrated against him are actually quite cruel. Constantly trying to fit in, he makes some bad choices that will hurt he and his sister‘s future, too naive to see that he is being set up to fail.
There is a parallel storyline with two other individuals, Diogenes the woodsman and Astrid, the granddaughter of a princess. They become close through shared experiences as he is hired to transport her to the capitol.
The layers of these stories intertwine in interesting and unexpected ways, with the backdrop of magic, greed, and deception. It was a difficult book to put down. I found myself wanting to smack some sense into Cyril, to tell Katrin to lighten up a bit and enjoy life, but the personalities of each character and their misconceptions wove together to make the resolutions that much sweeter. I highly recommend sitting down and getting lost in the pages of this story. You won’t be disappointed.

[Marina Shankle]

This is one of those books in which the world-building happens in such a natural way. When I was reading it, I never got bogged down with the details of geography or culture or the way magic (or magia) works in this fantasy realm. I learned all about those things while engrossed in the plot and in the plight of the characters. The challenges and struggles faced by Katrin, Cyril, Gen, and Astrid kept me hooked and tugged on my heartstrings.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable fantasy read that blends a well-built world inspired by Celtic and Slavic folktales with an adventurous plot that follows interesting, believable young characters.

[The Book Ssirren]

This book was very intriguing. It definitely gets you from the beginning. The characters were written in a way that you could really see them as who they were portrayed to be. I apologize, I forget names quickly. But the brother. That poor guy wanted to be liked so much, that he let the others be mean to him. And the sister. She needed to break loose a little more. Mom, what a sad and lonely life. But overall, I did like this book. It’s a great story and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to read this as an ARC❤️

[Michelle Cyr]

The Siren Sea by Cidney Swanson completely swept me away. It has that rare kind of magic where adventure, heart, and wonder blend so seamlessly you forget you’re reading — you’re living it. The world feels vast and dangerous yet beautiful, and the characters carry an emotional sincerity that makes every choice matter.

It’s equal parts thrilling and comforting, like standing on the edge of the ocean knowing something extraordinary is waiting just beyond the waves. I closed the book with that quiet ache only a truly special story leaves behind — and immediately wanted to dive back in.

[Laura]

If you saw these books advertised as clean and great for teens and YA they are not. At least not to my standards. They aren’t explicit but there is still plenty of inappropriate things going on. Multiple references to a boys bodily responses to a sirens naked chest etc. wanting to “join himself” to her. That’s where I stopped after several like portions before.

[Kathleen White]

loved how it grew the mystery of what will happen ans how quickly the story went and when it ended I was like no I dont want it to end highly recommend

[TM_ReadsBooks]

Great story! Such a fantastic read. Highly recommend! Looking forward to the next book!