With summer — and end of the semester finals — coming up, there’s nothing more refreshing to read than a good mermaid story. Like clockwork, they’ve begun populating the shelves since March, acting like anchors to pull you through the last of the cold weather. One of these was “The Siren,” by Kiera Cass.
This one was a special book: “The Siren” is Cass’s newest novel, which she published following the success of her first trilogy, “The Selection.” While the plot and characters had not changed since it was originally published, it had been somewhat edited and rewritten. One of the impressions I came away with, however, was that this truly was a “first book.” Of course, this is a double-edged sword.
The story is told through the first person narration of Kahlen, a Siren bound to serve the Ocean for 100 years. To repay her debt to the Ocean (she was rescued from drowning), she must lure boats to the depths of the sea with her voice. She has gone through most of these hundred years struggling to live with what she does, feeling alone and relatively depressed. Along the way, however, she meets Akinli, and her entire world is shaken up.
She isn’t allowed to talk to anyone except her fellow Siren sisters, but she and Akinli fall for each other anyway, and they fall hard. Throughout the book, as she grapples with singing and not wanting to do it anymore, Akinli is in the back of her mind as an escape and even a sort of distraction. The catch is this: her voice is lethal to mortals, and so she cannot talk to anyone except her sisters. The logical assumption is that this would complicate things with Akinli, right? Wrong. Using a mix of sign, typing out their words, and facial expressions, they find they are able to communicate in a way that is perhaps more pure than using words.
The Ocean, however, is a major roadblock to them being together. She does not keep wives or mothers or lovers, saying they are too attached to the land. Additionally, any source of water instantly connects a siren to the Ocean — rain, puddles, running water, the list goes on. And so here, we have the stage set for our star-crossed lovers. Kahlen must process her guilt over the singing she must do for the rest of her 100 year service, and try to forget Akinli, to avoid breaking both of their hearts.
This, as one can predict, does not go well for both of them. Kahlen has a complicated relationship with the Ocean, who is simultaneously a captor and maternal figure to her. She does not deal with her feelings the way her more artistic sister does, or her more outgoing sisters, who channel their emotions into clubbing and one night stands.
And that is where I had difficulty with the story. Being in the mind of someone who is constantly depressed is difficult. This was not a clinical depression; rather, it is the childish depression of someone who refuses to process their thoughts and emotions, who refused to find ways to better their emotions and feel sorry for themselves. Kahlen, in this way, is a very typical 16/18-year-old; she is head over heels in love, and so the world is naturally an unfair place.
Kahlen's sisters are wonderful, and perhaps this is also why I had such a difficult time with the protagonist. Her sisters do whatever is needed to be there for her; they pick up and move at the drop of a hat, at her request; they do extensive research to try to cure her of the mysterious illness she comes down with; they try to cure her heartbreak and in the end all sacrifice something so that she can be with her true love.
Akinli himself was the unfortunate collateral damage in Kahlen's internal battle. Ocean herself angered me — possessive, dramatic and strict are some of the words that come to mind when I think about how to describe her.
I have read Kiera Cass's "Selection" trilogy. I fell in love with it. The characters and story were a captivating roller coaster. Her writing was fleshed out, nuanced and skilled. In "The Siren," however, I could tell it was very much a debut novel. The character development was scant, and the progression of the plot was flat. I do appreciate, however, that Cass kept the integrity of this. As an avid reader of her more recent novels, it was fascinating to see the progression of her writing style.
"The Siren" frustrated me in some aspects. There were wonderful parts of it too, however; the raw emotion in the romance, for one, and Kahlen's guilt, as well. For all that the protagonist frustrated me, her emotions were relatable. And getting an emotional reaction, however negative or positive, is all an author can really hope for.
