Review: The Siren

The Siren by Kiera Cass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

80 years ago, Kahlen's ship was a hostage to the Ocean and her sirens. Everyone on the ship was jumping overboard because of the beautiful song they were hearing from afar. Kahlen's parents and younger brothers were part of the human lives that were taken to appease the Ocean. Kahlen would have been another person if she hadn't resisted the song long enough to pray to live.

The Ocean heard her and spared her life to make her one of her daughters, one of her sirens, for 100 years. Kahlen agreed, not realizing what she was committing herself to, and has done the Oceans bidding ever since.

But after 80 years, Kahlen is not sure she can live being a siren any more. She does everything that the Ocean wants her to do, but it destroys Kahlen little by little every time she has to sing the song to capture another human life. She even has nightmares about some of the victims - even though the Ocean has told her that she should not remember anything about the song.

The only thing that Kahlen has ever wanted in life was to get married and have a family. And Kahlen thinks she may have found the one she wants to be with: Akinli. The bad part is that she found him 20 years too soon. By the time Kahlen is out of her time with the Ocean, Akinli will be 40 years old whereas Kahlen will still be a girl at age 19.

Even though Kahlen knows it's wrong, she just wants to spend time with Akinli, even if it's just for a day. But the more that Kahlen is around Akinli, the more she wants what she can't have. And the more she is upsetting the Ocean, who can do anything she pleases to makes sure she gets what she wants...

When an impossible event happens, many people, including Akinli, the Ocean, Kahlen and her sisters, are going to have to make important decisions to fix the situation. But one thing is for certain: things are not going to be the same as they once were.

I have been wanting to read this book for awhile now, so I was very excited to see it on the shelf at the library and instantly grabbed it! I haven't read too many stories about sirens, but enough to know what they are and what they do, so I was very excited to read this version. Especially since I love her "Selection" series so much!

And while you fellow "Selection" lovers out there are picking this up, I want to let you know now that this isn't as amazing as that series. I really liked it, don't get me wrong, but it's just not quiet there yet. Which makes sense since Kiera Cass wrote this book before the Selection series.

Kahlen is such a kind hearted spirit, so it makes sense why she has always had an issue with singing the song to kill humans. She doesn't want to ends lives - she wants to be able to live her own alongside them! So I definitely feel really bad for her and couldn't imagine having to go through that every year when they did a major song. I think I would have asked the Ocean to end my life a long time ago when I realized what my duty was in life.

It was nice seeing the other sisters and how they were dealing with their lifestyle. They all have their own issues but they all found ways of dealing with them. Kahlen, only wanting to be a wife and mother, couldn't do what she loved because they were forbidden from the Ocean. The other girls loved to party, paint, explore - something that they could do from day to day.

Akinli is such a sweetheart! Seriously! Kahlen couldn't talk, but did that stop Akinli? Not in the slightest! He was always finding knew topics to talk about and making sure that he was very attentive of Kahlen's answers and mannerisms. I'm sort of jealous of Kahlen that she had all of his attention!

Overall, this was such a sweet novel about love. Not only between Kahlen and Akinli, but also between Kahlen and the Ocean. There are all kinds of love out there in the world, and this novel touches on 2 different kinds of love that exist in the world.

I'm very glad that I finally got to pick this up and explore Cass's first novel published :)

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