The Siren

by Kiera Cass

[liz089]

Read more about this review and others on my blog Freyja Eats Books

STANDALONE or SERIES.
Standalone, it was originally self-published in 2009, but she re-written the story and it just came out last month.

WHY this book.
Because I loved her other series, The Selection, very much. She has an easy and compelling way of writing that I really like.

FIRST THOUGHTS.
It was a bit heavier than I expected to be honest. The Selection series is, overall, a happy series with a lot of romance and stuff, but she keeps it light. In this novel there is more depression and sadness covering the story. But, it read away easy enough… Can’t help to be a bit disappointed..

PLOT.
The story is about Kahlen, who has been an obedient siren for over the last 80 years. But she starts having more thought about life, about what she could have but can’t because of what she is.. she meets a guy (don’t they always), Akinli, and falls in love. But being a siren forbids her for acting upon it, and she takes her distance. She gets a bit depressed, and misses him a lot.. Things go wrong when she sings for the Ocean and she ends up at Akinli’s feet. They fall deeper and deeper until they kiss and she speaks to him. But speaking to a normal human means condemning him to the Ocean, and to safe him she’s punished by adding 50 more years to her sentence as a siren and to never see him again. She agrees, but falls ill soon afterward (which is impossible for siren’s). And the weird thing being, she is not the only one.. Akinli is dying too…

I did like the story, though the plot was of course not the most original one. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, something happens what prevents them from being together, but in the end they have a happily ever after. What I did like though was the whole siren myth stuff. It was something different, especially the connection to the Ocean, and almost making Her like a person. I liked how it had a purpose, a goal. They don’t sing people to their dead for nothing, but to feed the Ocean and the Ocean gives life in return.. Liked that spin to it.
It was easy paced, not too fast, not too slow, and I was finished in no time.

ROMANCE.
The romance was quite cute. Because Kahlen can’t talk, their conversations consisted mostly of Akinli doing all the talking and her writing something down every now and then. But it was okay. Nothing hot and steamy, and kind of cliché with the loving and destiny… To me, not really special or breath-taking, but I was not bothered too much with it. It fitted.

EMOTION.
Even though I did not feel a lot along the way, I did get a bit down. When the vibe of the book is a bit sad and depressing, it influences me.

SETTING.
I really enjoyed the setting, with sirens coming from different times, with different backgrounds.
I loved how she pictured the sirens and why they do what they do. It’s not that they eat them, or suck their souls out, but they do it for their “master” the Ocean. She gets hungry and feeds on the humans. In return, she gives to the humans and serve them in her own way. I liked that, it has a harmony to it. There are of course some rules to being a siren, like you can’t ever talk to humans (unless you are singing them to their dead) and you serve the Ocean for 100 years, after which you become human again (with no memory of the past) and you can live out your life. You are immortal for those years, so you don’t age and can’t get sick or die.
Also, when they went looking for a cure they went through all kind of folklore and myths, I liked that, it’s not like the cure just magically came upon them.

CHARACTERS.
I found the main character a bit depressing, makes sense of course after living such a long life.. Especially if you can barely interact with humans. But overall she had a negative view, a negative personality and I dislikes that. That might be because I always try to look at things positive, but well..
Akinli was very nice, a real good person, always looking at things from the bright side, and I appreciated that.

I was kind of confused about her sisters, I did really like Aisling, but the others were quite whimsical. They were there for her, but not. They followed her but where not really there for her. But in the end they helped her and that’s what matters the most I suppose.

THE BAD.
Overall, the book had kind of a negative vibe and even though nothing’s wrong with more serious stories but it did not really fit in my opinion. Especially not with the cliché soulmates love conquers all stuff going on. Both of them are fine on their own, but I found it was not a great combination.

FAVORITE QUOTES.
"She told me to live..
I didn't know how to tell Her that simply being alive was not enough to be called living."
.
“Wanting to cry doesn’t mean you can. Or at least not in any way that can give you some sort of satisfaction. It’s a luxury really. The same goes for songs and laughter, or the words whispered in the ear of a friend.”
.
“Books were a safe place, a world apart from my own. No matter what had happened that day, that year, there was always a story in which someone overcame their darkest hour. I wasn't alone.”

FINAL THOUGHTS.
Even though I finished the book very fast, it was not that great of a story to me. I liked it yes, but it was not a great read. It was predictable and cliché, and I had not a lot of connections to the main character. Even though she re-wrote it, it was not as good as her Selection series. Maybe it is not fair to compare, but I could not, not compare it and I find The Siren flawed. I was really looking forward to it, and it did not live up to my expectations. It was a fine read nevertheless, Kiera Cass writes very easy and compelling, which added to my rating. And all the mythical stuff was quite interesting. Don’t really know if I would recommend it.. But I would like to rate it with 3 Freyja’s.