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Many years ago, Kahlen nearly drowned, only to be rescued by the Ocean. She’s served as a siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless others to their deaths to repay her debt. But is the price for a second chance worth the lives of so many strangers? A word — any sound at all — from her could kill, but she can’t resist the pull of living on land, watching people and centuries pass her by, longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again. A day when she’ll finally forget the nightmares and all that she’s done.
Kahlen is resigned to live this half-life and finish her sentence in self-inflicted solitude — to not break any rules or anger the Ocean — but then she meets Akinli. He’s handsome and caring and kind. It doesn’t bother him that she can’t talk. To him, she’s just a normal girl.
Kahlen swore to herself she would never get entangled with a human until her time serving the Ocean was up, but she cannot deny her connection with Akinli. Falling in love with a human breaks all the Ocean’s rules, but how can Kahlen stop it from happening? How can she protect Akinli from her siren nature? And how can she keep the Ocean from ever discovering the truth?
The Siren is not a deep read or anything super spectacular, and some readers might get bored with the plot as this story is less about the romance (where the main love interest is on the periphery for most of the book) and more about the relationships Kahlen has with her siren sisters, the mother Ocean, and her own heart. However, amid the emotion and the drama, I loved the unique take the story took on sirens and how the Ocean herself was personified, and overall, I enjoyed this book for what it was: a fast read with a somewhat cheesy, yet adorable, romance, full of strong bonds and sisterhoods.
Rated: Mild, for very little language (I think there was only one instance of moderate language and only a handful of uses of mild language.) A girl endures abuse from her family and her father tries to drown her. In some scenes, the drownings can be disturbing, made worse by how much it tears at the main character’s emotions while also being necessary to seduce people to their death to feed the ocean. Side characters frequent night clubs, and several comments allude to a girl having affairs with many boys over time.
