ARC Review: The Siren

About The Book:

  

  Title: The Siren

  Author: Kiera Cass
  Pub. Date: January 26th, 2015
  Publisher: Harper Teen
  Pages: 336

  Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Mythology

  Rate: 2.5/5 stars

Synopsis :

A girl with a secret.
The boy of her dreams.
An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again. 

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude...until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

Review:

I don't normally like to compare multiple books written by the same author to each other, but since I saw Epic Reads compare The Siren to The Selection, I'm going to take the liberty. The best word to describe The Selection series is addicting. Did you ever watch a reality TV show and think "God, this is such a train wreck" but keep on watching? I don't want to say The Selection series is a train wreck - because it's not. But I can't think of another way to describe it. You know it's not the best series and you probably know how it's going to end, but you keep on reading anyway.

I'll admit, I don't know as much about mythology as I'd like. I know mostly the general idea but not many details about anything in particular, especially Sirens. I know they were supposed to be very beautiful and I know they supposedly lured sailors to their death. I have no idea if the mythology in The Siren is accurate or a retelling, but it's great. In The Siren, The Ocean is essentially the mother to the sirens. She saves girls who are drowning that really, really want to live. These girls want to live so much that they agree to serve The Ocean for 100 years, sinking ships in order to "feed" The Ocean. YES She essentially EATS people. All of The Sirens live together and share a sisterly bond. This was actually my favorite aspect of the book. The familial relationship was so much better than the boyfriend-girlfriend one and I really think it should have been pitched that way.

I was most disappointed by the romance in this book, which is odd seeing as how Kiera rocks at romance. Before The Siren, I didn't know it was possible for Kiera to write boring guys but Akinli proves that she can. Besides having a name that I wanted to pronounce like Mount McKinley, I was never once attracted to him. He was in such a little portion of the book I remember literally 5 scenes with him. I just wasn't impressed by character and there wasn't anything that really stood out to me.

A love story as epic as Maxon and America? Not quite. If you make that claim you better be able to back it up ;). I see this book about more of a sisterly bond than a romance. I think The Siren would be a great Summer read or even a buddy read with your sister. Just don't don't pick this up hoping for the love story Kiera created in The Selection - unfortunately, you will be disappointed. 

- Jocelyn