Audio Review: The Siren by Kiera Cass

The Siren by Kiera Cass
Published by HarperCollins on 2016-01-26
Length: 7hrs
Reviewing Audiobook from Audible
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2019 Audiobook Challenge, Beat the Backlist 2019

From Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series, comes a captivating stand-alone fantasy romance.

Kahlen is a Siren, bound to serve the Ocean by luring humans to watery graves with her voice, which is deadly to any human who hears it. Akinli is human—a kind, handsome boy who's everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. Falling in love puts them both in danger . . . but Kahlen can't bear to stay away. Will she risk everything to follow her heart?

The Siren by Kiera Cass is one of my new favorite reads. A standalone romance about the mythical creatures, the book is unlike anything I’ve ever read or I guess in this case listened too. I enjoyed the mythology blended with life today, the heartbreaking romance, and the bond between sisters who don’t share blood. Beautifully written, The Siren is sure to tug at your heartstrings.

Kahlen was supposed to die, but the ocean gave her a choice. Serve her and she could live. Kahlen chose to live, but that choice came with chains. She now serves the ocean as a siren. After 100 years, she will be given a new life to live as her own with no memory of her previous life or the work she did for the ocean. It’s been 80 years of service, and Kahlen still struggles with her life as a Siren. She sings people to death. Sacrificing them to the ocean, a being that doesn’t understand what it means to love, truly love.

I love Kahlen. She is sweet and kind, innocent in a way you wouldn’t expect from someone that has killed hundreds perhaps thousands of people. I ached for her as she struggles to deal with the monster that she has become. She wants to do better, to quit this life. Kahlen vaguely remembers the family that died beside her as the ocean plucked her from the wreckage of her ship. She longed even then to be married and have children, but for 80 years she’s been stuck as this Siren unable to do anything except what the ocean requires of her.

Then she meets Akinli. Akinli is everything a good human boy should be – handsome, kind, funny, and sweet all rolled into one. He brings Kahlen out of her shell. He pursues her even when she can’t speak (serious The Little Mermaid vibes here, he’s her Prince Eric). I fell for him immediately, as does Kahlen. However to protect Akinli from the ocean’s wrath, she moves her and her sisters away with the intent to stop loving this boy she has no business loving.

The plot really revolves around Akinli and Kahlen’s forbidden romance. Kahlen doesn’t age as a siren and in twenty years who knows where Akinli will be. However she hopes to find him after her service to the ocean. Speaking of the ocean, I love, and I do mean LOVE, how Kiera Cass writes this beautiful piece of nature into a goddess of sorts. Only her Sirens can hear her and speak to her. She demands their love and will not share them. She is written beautifully with an unearthly presence. It’s haunting and ethererial. I ached for the ocean as much as Kahlen does.

Overall I loved The Siren. I listened to this audiobook in one sitting and would happily listen to it again. Kahlen is a fascinating character. Her relationship with the ocean, her love for her sister Sirens, and her heartbreak for Akinli is felt on every page. Only Cass can write a YA romance that complete captured my heart. If you enjoy The Selection series, or YA romance in general, I highly recommend you add this to your shelves asap.

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