~Marcella Nielsen ~
iReflect 2017
The Siren Chronicles
Background:
While leading the clean up of the worst oil spill in California history, Marine Biologist Elias Courtney stumbles upon the unthinkable. The beautiful young woman, washed up on the desecrated beach, tangled in the black seaweed, is still alive, but barely. What would possess someone to enter these black poisonous waters, the cause of so many innocent creatures’ demise?!! For that matter, how IS she still alive? How long has she been under the water? As Courtney would soon find out -- her entire life. In fact, this was the young mermaid’s first time on land.
Lorelei with companions, Seanne and Millisine, has travelled a long way to walk these scarred shores. Now separated by the horrific oily mess that only humans could have caused, the three sirens must struggle to stay alive as they attempt to navigate this strange new world. They must reunite and begin the “Earthquest” that is their reason for being on land. Their underwater home is sick, dying off at an alarming rate. And whatever is causing the near extinction of the last remaining mermaid colony, clearly originated from exactly where they find themselves.
Edward Titan had waited decades for this moment. All three have arrived, hopeful and innocent, completely unsuspecting. Soon the ocean’s strongest, smartest and most intuitive sirens will find themselves up against years of festering anger and hatred. Titan’s retribution will be swift and brutal. And it will mean the end of an entire civilization. The Sirens’ Song will soon be no more.
First impressions before start:
The title doesn’t indicate too much of what to expect other than the involvement fantastical creatures. Author has included real world problems in his story; the fight for cleaner oceans as humans are polluting it and therefore endangering sea life. Very interesting that he has incorporated mermaids as the saviours. The book cover gives an alluring dark vibe to the book, which is quite accurate if I’m basing my opinion of ‘sirens’ on my limited knowledge of them.
My Rating:
Thoughts:
This book was an erratic, sporadic, frustrating mess. I would constantly be asking myself “what is happening!?” and “what is the purpose of this!?” The first several chapters were poorly detailed and did not give me an idea to what the plot was, a clear setting or relatable characters. I felt as if I was thrown into the story with no lifeboat, no direction or sense. There was no character development. The introduction to the plotline occurred 77% into the book, which left me majority of the time assuming what was going on. There were numerous times within the story that many things were not convincing and so wholly unbelievable. I can’t count the number of times I rolled my eyes throughout this book.
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Characters:
Lorelei – Lorelei is one of the three top soldiers in the colony, chosen for one of the most dangerous Earthquests alongside her two friends, Seanna and Millisine. Out of the three of them, Lorelei is the kind one, the most creative in the arts and the best singer. She is beautiful, intelligent, athletic and strong.
“Lorelei perpetually played down her glimmering blond hair and Caribbean-blue eyes, desperately wanting to be respected as a poet and artist, not leered at as a physical masterpiece.”
Seanna – Whereas Lorelei is all kindness and smiles, Seanna is sharp tongued and short tempered. Her anger towards the world stems from the murder of her parents when she was young. Though the memories of their murder are unclear, she is the most passionate and driven of the three to defend her nation. She is beautiful, intelligent, athletic and strong.
“For those that did not know her, she could be more than a handful. However, her passion for what was good and right and for her people was unparalleled.”
Millisine – Millisine is the youngest of the trio and also the smartest. She’s the timid red head who, though just as stunning as her friends, is the awkward late bloomer. A lot of the time, she is forced to play peacemaker when Seanna and Lorelei clash. Her youthful innocence glues the group together. She is beautiful, intelligent, athletic and strong.
“There was none more endearing or girlishly sincere than the third siren. Her brilliance was a strange counterbalance to her gawky youthfulness.”
You may have noticed the repetitive line I had going up there in the trio’s description and that is because this author repetitively mentioned how exceedingly “beautiful” and “intelligent” and “strong” these mermaids were. It was a lot of talk and absolutely NO delivery. As the top students of their classes and the fiercest of their kind, they were extremely naïve, juvenile and uninformed when they finally went ashore. One of the rules of their kind is to keep their existence a secret from the humans, so what does Seanna do when she sees her supposedly dead parents…she yells for them…in her mermaid voice. This is done in a very public place with people around and her shout shatters all the glass around her. Very subtle. And not to mention when a remote is pointed in Seanna’s direction she attacks not knowing what the remote or television is.
“Seanna had never paid attention to anything in the curriculum that didn’t have to do with war or fighting”…but I thought she was one of the most intelligent students?
Plot:
The trio is separated by a tidal wave of oil and pollution, each facing their own set of challenges and horrors on land. Their top priority is to find one another to start their Earthquest. Now I am wondering the entire time “what is their Earthquest?” Well it seems they have to figure that out on their own when they go above water. But it’s the most dangerous of quests!? Yet they don’t even know what it is!? Are you feeling my frustration? Believe me this is only the tip of a huge iceberg. Over 50% into the story and they finally find one another at a ball they are all conveniently attending.
Now I would like for you to enter this mess of a book with me as I do my best to summarize the main points.
While separated, Seanna is rescued by frat boys then escapes as one of them tries to touch her, only to shortly be arrested for throwing milk at an officer and wakes up in a psychiatric hospital.
As for who Elias is, keep reading.
Lorelei is rescued by a beautiful Hollywood model, Kim, and her young daughter Ashley. She is immediately trusted by the two without question or hesitation and is welcomed into their home with open arms. Lorelei being a complete stranger to these very kind people is trusted to babysit the daughter on numerous occasions but is not welcomed by the husband. The husband is a rock star to the world and a violently abusive man to his family but gets put in his place when Lorelei kicks his butt.
Millisine is rescued by marine biologist slash tortured musician, Elias Courtney, who of course is physically an Adonis God among humans. Out of the trio, Millisine is the most lucky as she is instantly welcomed into this millionaire’s (oh did I mention Elias is filthy rich too?) home, no questions asked, no fuss, no drama. One week later with minimal communication between the two...
"After all, I am in love with him, is what she wanted to say. But she held back that additional piece of information for obvious reasons." - Millisine, 65% into book.
"He knew none of what was inside of her, and yet, somehow, she had burrowed her way into his heart." -Elias, 73% into book.
A. COMPLETE. MESS! It seems like the author just threw everything and anything into his story and hoped for the best. Not to mention that every character was stunningly beautiful and just picture perfect.
Last Note:
Character development is important and so is the plot, there MUST be a balance between the two. Fantasy books rely heavily on world building and the characters within the created world, it has to be convincing. We get to know who these characters are on the inside rather than focusing on the outside. For readers to connect or relate with the characters they have to be more than a beautiful exterior.
All in all I felt this book was a D-grade soap opera.
References:
Sloan, D.J. (2017). The Siren Chronicles. California: Gruh Entertainment Inc.