Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Siren by Tricia Rayburn

"When Justine's lifeless body washes up onshore the day after she goes cliff-diving, the whole town of  Winter Harbor, Maine, thinks it was an accident. But then her seventeen-year-old sister, Vanessa, discovers that Justine was keeping secrets, that she wasn't who she seemed. Desperate to uncover the truth, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor to seek out answers to this mysterious tragedy. Suddenly the small town becomes home to a string of bizarre drownings...in which the victims, all men, are found grinning from ear to ear. With the help of boy-next-door Simon, Vanessa uncovers secrets that connect these drownings to her sister's. But will the answers that bring Simon and Vanessa closer be the very same ones that tear them apart?"

So. Right off the bat the cover is amazing. I love the color, the picture, the lettering, I love it all! And well as I said, I'm a sucker for covers!

After reading the synopsis, you can already figure that Justine has something to do with the killings of the men. Also, you are practically told that Vanessa and Simon fall into some sort of romantic relationship within the story. Now, there's no problem with that, but if you were to read this book without reading that last sentence, the you would be pleasantly surprised by their romance. As with many young adult novels, a romance between characters just sort of happens and springs up between the two characters. With this, their relationship has background and history to bring them together in the first place and gives them a foundation to grow off of. Curse you ending sentence for spoiling it! Curse you!

The story unfolds with all these murders of men within the town; some locals and some tourists. Either way, they are all connected somehow with each other and also with Justine's sudden death. The way the story unfolds is easy-going and interesting. Though at times I did find myself some-what confused as to what event just happened and had to go back a  paragraph or two to make sure I understood. But overall I think the events were well played out.

There were many characters in this novel and all were very different. I think that's something that a good few authors leave out. A lot of the times the characters aren't rounded in themselves...they just add filler to the story but aren't different in their own right. With this book, each character is their own, which adds a different dynamic to the story and the events that play out.

I would give this book a 4 out of 5. I highly recommend it for it's a good read and is different from what's on the shelves; AKA no vampires sparkling in the sun, no werewolves looking like oversized puppies or ratty tatty gossip mongers. Rather instead, it's some good 'ol fashioned folklore! Woo!

Keep an eye out for the next book in the series coming out summer 2012!