Review: Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Siren by Tricia Rayburn
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Details: 352 pages, hardcover
Source: Sent from publisher. Thank you EgmontUSA!
Series: Yes (#1 in series)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary (goodreads):

Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything—the dark, heights, the ocean—but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge. That is, until Justine goes cliff-diving one night near the family’s vacation house in Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day. 

Vanessa can’t help feeling that her sister’s death wasn’t an accident. After discovering that Justine was keeping a lot of secrets, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor, hoping that Justine’s boyfriend might know more. But Caleb has been missing since Justine’s death. 

All of Winter Harbor is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes host to a string of fatal, water-related accidents in which all the victims are found, horrifically, grinning from ear to ear. 

I thought I knew what I was getting into prior to reading this book. But I was wrong!

This isn't your typical Siren/Mermaid novel, it's much more than that. Aside from it being a story about a tight knit family (you don't see too much of that in YA these days), it's also a story about two sisters who care very much about each other and like they say show don't tell, that's exactly what Tricia did, she showed us just how much Justine cared about Vanessa. 

The relationship between Justine and Caleb certainly implied more than what Vanessa knew, and it made you feel for Caleb after Justine was gone. The relationship between Simon and Vanessa was adorable and you often wondered if he meant more than what he said. The secrets that Vanessa discovers leaves you just as shocked and confused as she was and left you itching to find the facts right along with her. The journey that Vanessa goes on with not only finding the answers to the secrets left behind by Justine but also facing the fears that she must overcome to find these answers was suspenseful. The journey that we see Simon go through to find Caleb was also suspenseful, and personally was my favorite part of the novel. I will admit, I was not expecting the secrets that Winter Harbor had to reveal.

Through out the book you make assumptions; why Justine did what she did, why all of these tragic events are happening, but there are also other things in the novel that you question. And I think this is what makes a great novel, when you finish a book and you're still putting the pieces together days after you've finished it (I had a great epiphany in the shower a day after I finished this book, and things like that are just awesome. When you randomly think ohmygosh I GET IT NOW)!

It's hard to write a review that would express just how much I enjoyed and loved this novel without adding spoilers, but I can say that this was a refreshing read compared to all the other sea related novels I've read so far. And I'm thrilled to recently find that there's going to be a sequel!

Favorite line:

"I sound obsessed," Simon said, reaching over to tug gently on my ponytail.

"You have no idea." Make bent down and lifted his board from the sand. "You live and breathe thing girl. You talk about her all the time, you hang out with your friends less and less, you're blind to other girls, no matter how hot or into you they are - and some of them are extremely hot and into you - and eventually, you break and actually say you love her."

"I'm obsessed and a sap." Simon nodded. "Backbone, anyone?"

*Thank you again to EgmontUSA for providing me with a copy for review!