When Jo Winter’s parents send her off to live with her rich cousin on the glittering island of Manhattan, it’s to find a husband and forget about her brother Teddy’s death. But all that glitters is not gold,. Caught up in the swirl of her cousin’s bobbed-hair set—and the men that court them—Jo soon realizes that the talk of marriage never stops, and behind the seemingly boundless gains are illicit business endeavors, gangsters, and their molls. Jo would much rather spend time the handsome but quiet Charles, a waiter at the Algonquin Hotel, than drape herself over a bootlegger. But when she befriends a moll to one of the most powerful men in town, Jo begins to uncover secrets—secrets that threaten an empire and could secure Jo’s freedom from her family. Can her newfound power buy her love? Or will it to ruin Jo, and everyone around her?
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- YA Fiction & Indies
- Young Adult Fiction
- Sirens (Faithful #3)
Sirens (Faithful #3)
Author(s)
Publisher
Genre(s)
Age Range
12+
Release Date
November 08, 2012
ISBN
0142424307
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Editor reviews
2 reviews
Fascinating
Overall rating
4.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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What I Loved:
The world building! Wow. From the very first word, the reader is completely drawn into the world of the Roaring 20's--flappers, glittering wealth, mobsters, bootleggers, and girls struggling to figure out how to be modern, independent women in a world that isn't quite ready to let them be more than their mothers ever dared. The setting is absolutely flawless. The slang, the costumes, the carefully seeded in historical details all create a fascinating backdrop for this story.
The dual narrators. This is the first time I've read a book where the dual narrators are both girls. I really enjoyed it because the voices are SO different, and one is telling her story as it happens while the other is summing up events for the police.
The ending. I don't want to give anything away, but Ms. Fox doesn't pull her punches, something I appreciate in an author. I was on the edge of my chair as I read. She truly delivered an ending worthy of this series.
What Left Me Wanting More:
As much as I loved the dual narrators, I felt like the story lagged a bit during the first third of the book while we waited for their narratives to start overlapping. There were times when I had to "work" a bit for the story, which definitely isn't a bad thing! It's just a note that this is a story for readers who love historical fiction and who aren't in the mood for a book that spoon-feeds the reader.
I would've also loved to see a bit more of the gritty underbelly that was such a strong player in both the Roaring 20s and in the lives of our heroines. Bootlegging and mobsters are what set our heroines on a collision course with each other, but we don't spend much time with that side of the 20's.
Final Verdict:
SIRENS is a compelling story with vivid world building, strong heroines, and a nice touch of haunting emotional truth.
The world building! Wow. From the very first word, the reader is completely drawn into the world of the Roaring 20's--flappers, glittering wealth, mobsters, bootleggers, and girls struggling to figure out how to be modern, independent women in a world that isn't quite ready to let them be more than their mothers ever dared. The setting is absolutely flawless. The slang, the costumes, the carefully seeded in historical details all create a fascinating backdrop for this story.
The dual narrators. This is the first time I've read a book where the dual narrators are both girls. I really enjoyed it because the voices are SO different, and one is telling her story as it happens while the other is summing up events for the police.
The ending. I don't want to give anything away, but Ms. Fox doesn't pull her punches, something I appreciate in an author. I was on the edge of my chair as I read. She truly delivered an ending worthy of this series.
What Left Me Wanting More:
As much as I loved the dual narrators, I felt like the story lagged a bit during the first third of the book while we waited for their narratives to start overlapping. There were times when I had to "work" a bit for the story, which definitely isn't a bad thing! It's just a note that this is a story for readers who love historical fiction and who aren't in the mood for a book that spoon-feeds the reader.
I would've also loved to see a bit more of the gritty underbelly that was such a strong player in both the Roaring 20s and in the lives of our heroines. Bootlegging and mobsters are what set our heroines on a collision course with each other, but we don't spend much time with that side of the 20's.
Final Verdict:
SIRENS is a compelling story with vivid world building, strong heroines, and a nice touch of haunting emotional truth.
User reviews
1 review
Overall rating
3.3
Plot
3.0(1)
Characters
3.0(1)
Writing Style
4.0(1)
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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Heaven Knows, Anything Goes
Overall rating
3.3
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I am going to be going back and reading the first two for sure. Overall a good read, and if you like mysteries and 1920's settings, you should try it out.
Good Points
I expected this to be something like the Bright Young Things series by Anna Godberson - of which I am not a fan. I was hoping for something like the Flapper series by Jillian Larkin. What I got was neither of those things - it was book entirely it's own, shiny new take on the 1920's Prohibition, organized crime and partying phenomenon. This was a book about a girl who actually doesn't care about being a flapper, as much as she'd like to be an independent career girl. Also the one flapper we really get to know, her cousin Melody, has a tragic backstory of her own. She is really only going through the motions and has something that matters more to her than partying ever could - even if she is disillusioned by life. I liked that it went back and forth between Jo's point of view and Lou's. They were two completely different women and it was definitely interesting to see the obvious discrepancies in the way they view the world. Being Irish and poor in America in the early 1900's forced Lou to fend for herself or find someone to take care of her - she chose the latter, and went with Danny Connor. Jo, from a very different background, is also learning that same lesson throughout the novel, but she chooses to fend for herself.
Along with the romance and partying in this book, came a murder mystery. The death of Jo's brother Teddy also was linked with a real-life political bombing that Fox used to very good affect. I especially enjoyed the detailed descriptions of NY in the 1920's. Fox has a serious gift with words.
Along with the romance and partying in this book, came a murder mystery. The death of Jo's brother Teddy also was linked with a real-life political bombing that Fox used to very good affect. I especially enjoyed the detailed descriptions of NY in the 1920's. Fox has a serious gift with words.
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