Review: Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Mar 9, 2010 by shanyn

Title: Siren
Author: Tricia Rayburn
Publisher: Egmont
Publication Date: July 13, 2010

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.

Though her parents hope that they’ll be able to find closure back in Boston, 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.

Soon, it’s not just Vanessa who’s afraid. 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.

Vanessa turns to Caleb’s brother, Simon, for help, and begins to find herself drawn to him. As the pair try to understand the sudden rash of creepy drownings, Vanessa uncovers a secret that threatens her new romance—and will change her life forever.

A seductive paranormal romance full of unexpected twists, Siren is certain to make a big summer splash.


After I reached page 40 in this book I remember looking down at the page number and being amazed that I had learned so much about our characters and the story in that number of pages. After that, I would find myself trying to keep on task doing something else but wandering back to Siren to read more.

Our main character, Vanessa, gets involved in a mystery of sorts, which keeps you guessing as the reader for the entire thing. As you may have guessed, the title does play a role, but since it has elements of fantasy you aren’t able to immediately figure out what is happening with Vanessa and her sister.

It’s a hefty book (almost 350 pages), but I whipped through it and really enjoyed myself (besides the time I was reading it alone at night and my phone rang, making me jump). The one thing I did NOT like, and actually really really did not like, were bits in the end – some of it felt rushed and I was not satisfied with how it was tied up in the end. I’m wondering if they are hoping for a sequel?

This is a very strong read, especially for those that enjoy paranormal books.


Book Cover: 10/10
Book Title: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Characters: 8/10
Ending: 5/10

Overall: 42/50

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