Siren's Lament", a story based around one writer's perception of sirens. Though most lore in the story does not match up with lore we associate with the wide onlook of sirens, it does contain useful information. Charles Burney expounded c. 1789, in A General History of Music: "The name, according to Bochart, who derives it from the Phoenician, implies a songstress. Hence it is probable, that in ancient times there may have been excellent singers, but of corrupt morals, on the coast of Sicily, who by seducing voyagers, gave rise to this fable." [111]

Our third perspective is Felicity. We have her both previous perspective as a child and now her as an adult and aid to Stella on the set. In that case, it’s good that I caught you before you left town, as you certainly will not want to be without it. This book was so disappointing. I'm not sure if it was rushed due to the hype of little mermaid or for some other reasons, but it needed a few more rounds in editing. There were so many plot holes or things just told rather than shown. I felt little to no connection to any of the characters and the relationship between the fmc and male love interest was so poorly written. I was a bit hesitant the first time I read this (which was about two years ago, maybe three. So I’m mainly writing from the perspective of my latest reread), because romance books are not really my thing. I had never read The Selection.I liked the idea of the system that the Sirens served, with the Ocean. It was really easy to understand, but it was a real central force in the book. I think I’d love to be a siren for the experience it gets. But the way it was painted in the plot was just unflattering, mostly because it goes against everything the main character truly wanted. Pakis, Valentine A. (2010). "Contextual Duplicity and Textual Variation: The Siren and Onocentaur in the Physiologus Tradition". Mediaevistik. 23: 115–185. doi: 10.3726/83014_115. JSTOR 42587769. John Lemprière in his Classical Dictionary (1827) wrote, "Some suppose that the sirens were a number of lascivious women in Sicily, who prostituted themselves to strangers, and made them forget their pursuits while drowned in unlawful pleasures. The etymology of Bochart, who deduces the name from a Phoenician term denoting a songstress, favors the explanation given of the fable by Damm. [112] This distinguished critic makes the sirens to have been excellent singers, and divesting the fables respecting them of all their terrific features, he supposes that by the charms of music and song they detained travellers, and made them altogether forgetful of their native land." [113] Arts and influence [ edit ] Also, couldn’t you just sing a song and be like tell me your secrets and they would have to and then you could kill them? Wouldn’t that work? It never rubs me the right way when we have main characters that are just chill with slavery, but it seems extra wrong when those characters are people of color.

The characters even have cheesy soapy names. None of them are particularly likable, but some are better than others. Taylor is perhaps the most normal, but all of the characters whining about their first-world problems got on my nerves. Other characters are simply vile. Some redeem themselves, while others meet a very well-deserved ending. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas-literally any fantasy romance. I will say this is similar. Carlson, Patricia Ann (ed.) (1986). Literature and Lore of the Sea. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi, 270.Add Stella Rivers to the mix. She’s Cole’s ex-wife, and once had a dazzling film career herself. After some very public mishaps and a problem with alcohol, she NEEDS this film to work so she can regain ground. My answer: Saoirse’s siren powers are so immense it makes her character almost untouchable and unrelatable. Besides, as thrilling as it would be to have her power over men, I would hate having to fight murderous inner urges. I also have zero confidence in my ability to get away with serial murder, even with this immense power.

Dami Olukoya does a brilliant job of creating a natural, authentic voice that conveys the content and emotions within this story. Besides this, the different character voices made the listening experience even more engaging and entertaining. Everything comes to a head in the last 20%, and there were plenty of surprises in store. I had no idea how everything would come together and wrap up, and I had an absolute blast.You must never do anything that might expose our secret. This means that, in general, you cannot form close bonds with humans. You can speak to us, and you can always commune with the Ocean, but you are deadly to humans. You are, essentially, a weapon. A very beautiful weapon. I won't lie to you, it can be a lonely existence, but once you are done, you get to live. All you have to give, for now, is obedience and time..." This is all super frustrating because, really, the bones of a great, fun, juicy story are in there; there’s just a lot of bloat and padding covering them up. I'd even forgive the unsettling weirdness of a certain choice made for the story's conclusion if it felt a bit more earned. But it just took too long to get to too little pay-off. Really, I have only minor grumbles to share, like the novel’s predictable plot and too-vague resolution of my favorite narrator’s storyline. For the most part, I have nothing but raves. Rotroff, Susan I. (1982). Hellenistic Painted Potter: Athenian and Imported Moldmade Bowls, The Athenian Agora 22. American School of Classical Studies at Athens. p.67, #190; Plates 35, 80. ISBN 978-0876612224. Hugh of St. Victor (d.1240), De bestiis et aliis rebus XCVII, quoted in Latin by Mustard (1908), p.23, and in translation by Holford-Strevens (2006), p.32: "sirens.., as the Physiologus describes them have a woman's form above down to the navel, but their lower part down to the feet has the shape of a fish". The work continues "excerpts from Servius and Isidore" to say: "three Sirens, part maids, part fish, of whom one sang,..etc.". But despite attribution to Hugh, this work had so heavily interpolated that it has been actually a 16th century compilation, and dubbed a "problematic" bestiary. Cf. Clark (2006), pp.10–11: Chapter 1: The Problematic De bestiis et aliis rebus.