Book Review: Siren



  “Simply being alive was not enough to be called living."


I want to like Kiera Cass. I really do. I don't know why I keep on giving her so many chances. The Selection series was garbage. The spin-off was more of the same. This one...well, let's just say that it started nauseatingly. I don't think I have ever before actually had the urge to puke from a book. So, I guess that's an achievement.

Then, it got better. And then worse. And then better. There kept on being a plot point or an aspect or a turn that made me think, "Maybe she's worth her salt as a writer after all." (No pun intended...salt...yeah, it's bad). Then that little twist would twist again and make me go, "Nevermind."

I did enjoy the inclusion of a line of Kafka in a buttercream frosting YA novel. (FYI teen girl books that I like but don't want to like are either cotton candy or gumdrops. Buttercream frosting...no one really likes it and it makes you feel sick. It just looks pretty and that's all). The fact that the author missed the point of that Kafka line and instead turned it into a romance catchphrase kind of ruined that.

FYI...a lot of people know how to lindyhop. Just saying.

Man buns are gross. Just saying.

I will never be convinced that Kahlen is in any way a logical name for someone born in the 1920s to have. I also don't know how to pronounce it.

Akinli? REALLY? Just name him Joseph or something.

Basically, there were bits and pieces of the story that I liked. And the climax after their fateful kiss actually made me gasp and say, "NO!" But overall, I couldn't get over the fact that it was badly-written, badly-executed and just missing a fully logical plot.

Better than Selection. But that's not really a compliment.

2 Stars

Comments

Amanda said…
I agree. I have a thing for mermaid books, and this one looked promising, but the execution was lacking. I enjoyed parts of the world she created, but then she ruined those parts for me with the rest of the book.

Also, I must slightly disagree with you on the manbun front. 90% of the time they're gross, but if the man looks like he's growing his hair out to be Jesus in a church film, he can wear a manbun and I won't be forced to throw up. But so few men have the hair thickness/texture to do this that it should never be attempted.
September 29, 2016 at 6:16 PM
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