Bloody Bookaholic: YA Review: Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Title: Siren
Author: Tricia Rayburn
Series: Siren Trilogy
Book #: 1
Pages: 377
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating:

.7
Published July 13th 2010
by EgmontUSA

Vacationing in Winter Harbor, Maine, is a tradition for Vanessa and Justine Sands, and that means spending time with the Carmichael boys. This summer, Vanessa is determined to channel some of her older sister’s boldness, get over her fear of the ocean, and maybe turn her friendship with Simon Carmichael into something much more.

But when Justine goes cliff-diving after a big family argument, and her body washes ashore the next day, Vanessa is sure that it was more than an accident. She is more certain of this, when she discovers that her sister was keeping some big secrets and Caleb Carmichael’s gone missing. Suddenly, the entire oceanfront town is abuzz when a series of grim, water-related accidents occur, with the male victims washed ashore grinning from ear to ear.

Vanessa and Simon team up to figure out if these creepy deaths have anything to do with Justine and Caleb. But will what Vanessa discovers mean the end of her summer romance, or even life as she knows it?

Taschima's POV:

Ive read many mixed reviews on this book. 3 stars seem to be the medium for this series, and I even saw a one star around Goodreads. All I got to say to this is, why?

I mean, it isn't the BEST YA book out there, but I found it enjoyable and entertaining. And oh so haunting. The book has to do with Vanessa and her sister Justine, who dies at the beginning of their summer vacation. We go through the book with Vanessa as she is trying to search for answers not only to her sister's death, but about her sister's life and choices. Along the way other strange deaths keep occurring, deaths were the people who are killed don't seem to mind being dead at all since when they are found they always have this big creepy smile on their face. As if whatever killed them was worth every second of it.

I don't know if other people's expectations were too high, and mine too low, and that's why I enjoyed it more than most. It might be. I mean I looked at that cover and it didn't really inspire much reading giddiness inside me, even if the story was about mermaids. I mean, I like the Little Mermaid, but other than that what can you really do with mermaids? Aren't they suppose to be bound to the sea? In this book they aren't. But they need large amounts of salt water to keep their strength.

I was pleasantly surprised with this novel. I liked the characters. I liked how the author handled the grief of the surviving sister, and the couple of twists I wasn't really expecting. It also left me at the end with a BUNCH of questions, which must be answered in the next couple of books. The sister kept talking to Vanessa even beyond the grave, how? What will Vanessa do with her life from now on? How will the author manage the next book in the series? Well, I'm waiting for Undercurrent for those answers.

One of the things that bothered me was that at times I was a bit lost as to what exactly was happening. But I think that the emotion of the book and the story make up for it. Maybe I'm not as picky as other people. Nah, that's a lie. If I don't like something I'll say it and to hell with it, but I did enjoy this book and I think that before you kick it to the curb (as I did at the beginning) you should at least give it a chance. It may not be for everybody, but it might just be for you. And if you have my taste in books at all, the you surely will enjoy this haunting mermaid tale.

Books In the Series: