The book starts out with the murder of a young black girl, Rhoda Taylor, which is relatively ignored by the media until it turns out she's a siren. Sirens are young black girls who are persecuted and considered dangerous. The media begins to turn on the young murdered girl, Rhoda Taylor, and the world starts to question whether it can actually be murder if it's a siren being killed. The story follows two sisters, Tavia and Effie. Tavia is a siren and lives in fear of being found out. Her father has taught her and pressured her to hide herself and to live in fear of her abilities. Her sister Effie appears relatively normal at first glance, but her life begins to spiral out of control as the book goes on. She also likes to dress up as a mermaid for a renaissance faire show.
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This book is about the relationship and the bond between the two sisters (they're not biological sisters) and how they navigate the trials and tribulations of race, high-school and the magic in the world around them. I thought the book had an incredibly nuanced take on its approach to siren persecution and the connection with race. It touched on police brutality, media cover ups, protests and the gassing of protestors, and the persecution of minorities. This book felt incredibly relevant to the moment.
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The magical realism element was good, but I did think it could have been better. I felt the world building and back story behind what a siren, a eloko, a gargoyle and a sprite all were was lacking. However, I think it was a clever technique to use the magical realism and different creatures to create hierarchies and show how these divisions created persecutions within communities.
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Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was incredibly powerful and relevant and so many young black people would be able to identify with the themes, the fears and the discussions in this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for the eArc. The book was published yesterday, so do check it out!