Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Vanessa and Justine Sands have vacationed in Winter Harbor, Maine for as long as they can remember. The beach town holds fond memories, especially of the days spent with the Carmichael boys, Simon and Caleb. Vanessa is bound and determined to get over her fears of cliff-diving and the ocean, and be more like her fearless sister this summer.

But when Justine's body washes up on the beach after a particularly heated argument with her parents, Vanessa can't believe Justine's death was a suicide, despite what the doctors say. Plus Caleb has disappeared. As she sets out with Simon to uncover the truth, bodies keep washing up on the shore. All of those dead are men, and all are smiling. Vanessa soon finds out Justine's death is part of something much larger and older than her family problems, and she is somehow inexorably entwined.

Siren by Tricia Rayburn was not what I expected it to be. I read the title and my mind went to mermaids, which, as you may know, are traditionally quite similar to sirens. I'd been dying to read a mermaid book, and thought this might fill the void. It hasn't, but that isn't to say I didn't enjoy Siren all the same.

Vanessa is not the strongest heroine I've ever read, but she's not the worst either. At the start of the book, I was afraid she was going to be her wimpy, afraid of everything self the entire time, and she wasn't. Part of why she's a wimp is that she's lived in her older sister, Justine's, shadow her entire life. She also depends on her way too much. Despite this, she harbors no resignation and they are as close as can be. I also admired that she was so bound to find out what happened to Justine, despite the fact that she was so afraid of EVERYTHING.

I am a die-hard lover of nerds. Simon is so utterly adorable in his nerdiness, so I obviously loved him. He is so sweet. It's nice to have a guy who isn't a tortured soul or a bad boy. Simon is just his sweet sweet self, and he loves Vanessa. Swoon. :) :)

There are a lot of good characters, with lots of interesting traits that I'd like to know more about in the second book. I also liked the different concept of sirens, especially that they're able to really be like normal women and live lives like normal people, but have this seduction ability. They don't just sit in lagoons or on rocks waiting for the sailor to come by. I also liked that they're not inherently evil, as they can be portrayed a lot of times. Each woman makes her choice about how she wants to live her life.

I have lots and lots and lots of questions, and hope Tricia Rayburn can answer them in book 2, which is out now! This is really my biggest complaint. I need my questions answered!!! I feel like an author needs to give the reader enough answers to be satisfied, but leave us hanging enough that we'll want to read another book (if it's a series), or, really, they should believe their characters are compelling enough to keep us intrigued. I'll be picking up the second book quite soon though. :)

Risk a paper cut? Anyone interested in the mythology of mermaids and sirens will be interested to read a new take on them, and anyone who just likes a good, kinda creepy story will like this book too!


To buy: Amazon