Gr 7 Up-Kahlen still has trouble adjusting to the life of a siren. After becoming a siren 80 years ago, she is still unable to subdue the disgust and shame she feels while taking innocent lives in order to feed the Ocean. The Ocean is a motherly being who feeds off lives that drown in her waters. Sirens are the few young women whose lives she saves from death in order to keep her fed. Ocean cares intensely for Kahlen. However, when the protagonist falls in love with Akinli, a human boy, her responsibility to care for her sisters (also sirens) and the Ocean becomes a complicated task. Her sisters, along with the Ocean, watch her soul and body deteriorate the longer she is away from Akinli, who appreciates the true Kahlen, aside from her beauty and silence. Overall, the heroine is a meek character, but her muddled past, thoughts, and actions make her slightly interesting. Teens will appreciate her passion for her relationshipswhether romantic or sisterly. Secondary characters aren't as intriguing or fully developed. Despite these shortcomings, the novel is fairly well written and offers a twist on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" that romance fans will enjoy. VERDICT A satisfactory purchase for libraries with a strong and faithful Cass fan base. Briana Moore , School Library Journal

As her family is drowning around her, Kahlen is offered a choice by the Ocean: she may drown with them, or she may transform into a siren. Desperate to live, Kahlen agrees to join three other gorgeous girls in a life of silence, solitude, and murder for a century-long sentence. When the text jumps forward eighty years, it is obvious that Kahlen has not adapted well and continues to suffer in her new, mythical life. She constantly struggles with her guilt for the role she plays in taking the lives of thousands of people to feed the Ocean. When Kahlen meets a boy named Akinli, she regains her will to live by focusing on the happiness she feels when with him. Unfortunately, when she begins breaking siren laws to be with him, both Akinli's and Kahlen's lives suffer the consequences.This is a decently constructed, romance-filled fantasy that will appeal to teenage readers who are fans of the genre. This is recommended for middle and high schools.Chelley Vukmanic.