Sirena

As a kid I LOVED this book, as an adult it's good, but not nearly as amazing as I remember. It's a bit on the depressing side and could honestly, pass for an adult book rather than a teen one. Sirena tells the story of a mermaid who falls in love with a man, sleeps with him, becomes immortal, and then must face a decision on whether or not to let him leave their private island. The part I liked most about it was all the Greek gods and legends tied in with it. Odysseus even makes an appearance. Also, as far as mermaid books goes, this one still holds up the best. It's written brilliantly, but it is on the short side. I wanted to go to their private island and hang out with Sirena and her mortal lover. They sounded pretty chill. Still show more solid and now I want to read more by Donna Jo Napoli, I love her fairy tale retellings! show less

I'd wanted to read this for a while - mermaids and the Trojan war. Yes, please! It was interesting that this provided the Siren's POV, who were not monsters looking to drive men to their deaths, but looking for love in order to obtain immortality.

Sirena is one of these sirens, and she cannot stand the death that her sisters voices cause. She escapes to a deserted island and witnesses Philoctetes being abandoned by his ship after contracting a fatal snake bite.

I liked this story. It was a harder version of The Little Mermaid, where the two lovers are still in two different worlds and have to return to those worlds. This book did not necessarily have a happy ending but it had a true ending.

A beautiful tale of a mermaid, told simply but with strength (in
first-person present tense, which some may find awkward, but I didn't
mind).

Sirena and her fifty mermaid sisters are victims of a curse - they
must lure human men to sleep with them, or they will die. However,
after seeing first hand the unpleasant fates of the Greek sailors the
siren song lures from their ships - and witnessing the violent revenge
against one of her sisters that the sailors enact, Sirena decides to
accept mortality and cause no man's death.

However, when a sailor with an infected wound is abandoned on her
lonely island by his shipmates; left to die, Sirena's natural urge is
to help him. Love follows - but it is complicated: Does the sailor
only love her because he show more once heard her sing? If he gets a chance,
will he leave her on the island, off once again to fight in the Trojan
War? Is it fair for Sirena to wish him to stay, isolated from all of
humanity, on her tiny island?

A quick read, but poetic and bittersweet. show less

Sirena is my favorite mermaid story besides The Little Mermaid. I loved that their was a mermaid culture. It was a page turner as the reader is with Sirena through it all: to witnessing her sister's murder and falling in love with a human. This a very graphic/ hardcore tale. I enjoyed it. I recommend this book but if you do decide to read it you may feel left hanging in the end.

I have been searching for this book for a long time. It's out of print, so I was beginning to fear I would never get to read it. How lucky am I that my library had a copy? I fell in instant love.

I thought this was such an original story. Starcrossed lovers, mythology, mermaids. Who could ask for more? I am so glad with the ending. At first I was disappointed, but as I thought about it I realized how beautiful the story really was.

If you're like me and you LOVE mermaid stories, you need to read this one. Plain and simple. It's a super fast read that you won't want to put down.

It's hard to limit my thoughts to a short review for this book. I loved the mythology. I had no idea I would be getting Greek mythology and a mermaid tale. Such show more a pleasant surprise! Hera makes her vengeful presence known throughout the story. We also get Hercules, Achilles, Paris, and the Trogan War! That's enough to make you clap your hands in glee over. While the mythology element was a sub plot, it was a huge driving force in the story. One of the most original elements would be the origins of mermaids. Very unique!

If you like a side of romance with your fish tales, then you'll love and appreciate this story. I don't know if I can think of any other story that does a better job of capturing the level of devotion and selflessness of true love. And like true love, there is an element of heart ache that occurs. It's inevitable. show less

A beautiful little novella. It tells the story of the mermaid Sirena. A mermaid must be loved by a mortal in order to obtain immortality, and the siren's song is the weapon by which she obtains that love, albeit spell-induced. Sirena yearns for more, and abandons her school in search of it.

I was not terribly fond of the writing style - spare and plain, even terse. But one gets accustomed to it. It draws richly on Greek mythology, without lapsing into impersonality. I found the story moving, and much more satisfying than Andersen's "Little Mermaid", which I remember as one of the most distressing stories I read as a child.

I remember reading this book when I was in middle school and absolutely falling in love with it. I think I finished it in a single sitting and then immediately started to read it again. I just re-read this book, again in a single sitting, and it's just as magical as I remember. It's not the best written book I've ever read, but there's something that's just magical about the story and the way it's written.