Book Review: Siren by Tricia Rayburn

::Summary::

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 Winter Harbor, Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day.

Vanessa's parents want to work through the tragedy by returning to their everyday lives back in Boston, but Vanessa can't help feeling that her sister's death was more than an accident.  After discovering that Justine never applied to colleges, and that she was secretly in a relationship with longtime family friend Caleb Carmichael, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor to seek some answers.

But when Vanessa learns that Caleb has been missing since Justine's death, she and Caleb's older brother, Simon, join forces to try to find him, and in the process, their childhood friendship blossoms into something more. 
Soon it's not just Vanessa who is afraid.  All of Winter Harbor is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes home to a string of fatal, water-related accidents . . . in which all the victims are found grinning from ear to ear. 

As Vanessa and Simon probe further into the connections between Justine's death and the sudden rash of creepy drownings, Vanessa uncovers a secret that threatens her new romance, and that will change her life forever.

(Summary by Goodreads)

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Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 344 in US hard cover edition
Publishing Company: Egmont
Publication Date: May 10, 2011

::Review::

Let me start off by saying that yes I picked up this book purely based on its cover. Can you blame me? I mean, the eyes and title are shiny. But honestly I think the cover may have been the best thing about this book. That may sound harsh, and I really didnt hate the book, its just that there was absolutely no wow factor. But the cover gets five stars, so theres that.

Characters: Considering the only character I really really liked was Justine and she died within the first couple chapters (not a spoiler, it says it on the back cover), I wasnt thrilled with the characters. It wasnt that I particularly disliked any of them, I just didnt feel any connection with any of them, not even the main character. The love interest was okay, though Rayburn could have made their romance so much more intense. I mean, for one thing, can anyone tell me whether or not they had sex in that scene in Simons room? It was very brushed over and unclear, and if they did infact do it,  does anyone else think its a little skanky so soon in their romantic relationship? But other than that I felt the characters were likeable but not very well developed or interesting. Also I would have loved to know more about Justine, now theres a character with actual depth in the book. In fact I would have prefered it if the book focused on her and Calebs relationship instead of Simon and Vanessa who were equally dull and one dimensional.

Plot: The plot was also okay, I was interested in what was happening and the mystery was pretty well done. I liked the actual siren aspect a lot. I read it last month so I really dont remember if it was predictable or not, but I know the plot was pretty good. There were certain things that confused me about the siren mythology and especially the ending I found to be unclear.

Ending: The main reason I found this to be unclear was that to be honest, I was kind of rushing to finish it. I dont even remember clearly the action at the end because by this point I just wanted to be done and on to the next book. I know that I was confused by what was going on because, again, I thought it was unclear. And I also know that it was very unrealistic, I cant say why without spoiling it, but take my word that for me to say an aspect of a paranormal romance book was unrealistic, which does seem quite ironic and paradoxical, is really something. I have a high tolerance generally for lack of realism in a book that is built on a foundation of things that don't actually exist in real life.

So I was very disapointed in this book, and even more so that it comes with a sequel. Really? Is that really necessary? Even if I had liked it, it doesnt need a sequel. Though now that I'm involved I'll most likely read it at some point, sigh. If you still want to read this, I suggest picking it up from the library.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 stars