*please be aware that this review may contain spoilers…*
If you loved The Cruel Prince and your heart longs for the sea, then this one is for you!
The romance in this book is very similar to the relationship we see in Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince and I’m definitely here for it! Except in Sing Me to Sleep, Prince Hayes is intrigued with Saoirse from the start.
I was immediately hooked by Saoirse’s character as a Siren and how she battles with her need (and enjoyment) to kill men whilst living up to the expectations of her family.
The plot moves relatively quickly which was good, as it avoided the slow burn that is often found in the first instalments of book series to build the worlds the stories are set in. One minute you’re being introduced to our heroine Saoirse, and the next Prince Hayes and Saoirse are working together to solve a murder.
Gabi Burton does something different with the enemies-to-lovers arch that is quite prevalent in YA/adult fantasy now, as Prince Hayes doesn’t hate Saoirse at the start of their story and is unaware of the lines and hatred that divide them from Saoirse’s perspective. We then go on to see Saoirse battling with her long-standing views of the royal family and her building desire for the Prince she wants to hate so badly, which is always enjoyable to read in my opinion.
I liked that we were only given snippets of romance and the fact that (hopefully) more will come between the two of them. A lot of the books I’m reading at the moment have their heroine fall in love in the first 100 pages and are sometimes too cringy for me to get through, so this teasing romance was quite refreshing!
That being said, I do hope to see more between the two of them as I was left wanting more for them by the end of the book!
I also must admit I was slightly underwhelmed by the plot twist that Saoirse’s sister was human –I kept thinking she’d be something really exciting and a creature that everyone thought was extinct during the build-up, and the revelation almost felt anticlimactic.
I’m really looking forward to the next installment and seeing what becomes of Saoirse and Prince Hayes.