Siren Says by Jennifer Herrera

Blurb:

A lush, spellbinding tale about a tenacious young woman who must harness her family’s dangerous magic to put a stop to the sacrifices they’ve been making for more than a century

Twenty-five-year-old Raven Wynn knows that the ancient plant magic running through her veins brings nothing but destruction. It doomed her Welsh ancestors. It killed her mother. It’s the reason she’s now bound by a painful curse—one that will destroy her if she can’t find a way to break its hold.

When her estranged Aunt Delilah bursts into her life promising a cure, Raven seizes the chance. However, her freedom comes at a steep price: Once her magic is fully unleashed, she is more powerful—and more dangerous—than anyone thought possible.

Desperate to tame powers she never wanted, Raven makes a pact with Delilah: In exchange for learning to control her magic, Raven will capture one of the spirits that roam Delilah’s hometown on May’s Eve so that it may grant Delilah’s secret wish. With the help of an enigmatic new friend, Cherry, as well as an infuriatingly handsome stoneworker, Idris, Raven learns that her task is even more perilous than she imagined—one false move and the spirits could trap her soul—forever.

A sumptuous escape into a world of Celtic spirits and botanical magic, Siren Says is a bewitching story of the unbreakable bonds between women, the interplay between goodness and power, and the capacity of love to mend our very souls.

Review:

Raven Wynn is doomed to cause destruction by way of the ancestral, ancient plant magic running through her veins and down her family’s bloodline. Having devastated her ancestors, killed her mother, and done other despicable things, her magic is the very reason behind her newfound, debilitating curse. One she’s determined to break, no matter what the cost, before it breaks her first.

After her Aunt Delilah arrives promising a cure to her curse despite being exiled from her family, Raven decides to take whatever help she can get, regardless of who it comes from. Her freedom comes at a cost, however, one that might unleash the full strength of her magic. Making her more volatile and more powerful than she could’ve previously imagined.

Now desperate to master the newly established powers she never wanted, Raven makes another deal with her aunt: for lessons in controlling and managing her chaotic magic, Raven must capture one of the dead ghosts that haunt Delilah’s hometown so it can grant a wish of her estranged aunt’s—a wish she refuses to define.

Getting the help of her friend, Cherry, and a handsome, charismatic stoneworker named Idris, Raven tackles her latest challenge. Soon, she learns its just as or more perilous a job than her raw powers are. If she fails, the spirit she hunts could possess her and destroy her instead.

Siren Says was my first introduction to Herrera’s work, and it was immersive as it was original. I am an absolute sucker for plants (of all varieties, in all settings, for magical and non-magical purposes…I really like plants but ironically have the biggest black thumb of anyone I know. Or maybe unbothered thumb? As I don’t keep plants, usually) and haven’t found such a unique implementation of plant-based magic, themes, or storytelling in a very long time. While many authors use vegetation as a horror or a summoned entity, Herrera puts a spin on the botanical magic systems readers see so often in modern fiction.

Another thing that drew me into the narrative told by Raven, the main character in Siren Says, was the way the protagonist’s voice was so, so raw and singular to her. She was selfish at times, candid at others, and all around a very likeable although complicated main character. I think if the story would’ve been told from anyone else’s point of view, I simply wouldn’t have been as invested as I was. 

The same compliments goes to the side characters constructed throughout the story. While the focus remained on the problems and magic and hunts Raven faced, the side characters were inextricably a necessary part of the plot. Providing relief from the stress of the protagonist, they painted the picture of a larger world without being overwhelming or overwhelming readers with the hints of details not expounded upon in the story itself.

Siren Says is a story that empowers and humbles in equal measure and will leave readers wondering where and when they can read another of Herrera’s novels. It’s easily the most unique expansion of a dangerous power. I loved the contradiction of the main character’s selfishness with the chaos of a power that is otherwise written as something good. Absolutely well-written!