崔西亞˙雷本

Siren
By Tricia Rayburn
  I decided to start with a not so popular series...perhaps you'll see something extremely popular next time! This is the only siren novel I finish the entire series and re-read it about thousands of time. The story is just... Oh My God so great!
  Creepy death... I hate anything about "murder", but Siren makes me fall into the beautiful trap along with Vanessa and Simon. A beautiful young lady wandered around in the place where her sister died, a secret family, and the young lady's neighbor--handsome brothers. One of them happened to be her sister's former boyfriend. Sound exciting? Doesn't it? During her investigation, Vanessa thought she knew he sister quite well...but things changed, she knew she never understood her sister. What she's truly thinking. (We can never fully understand by others, can we? Just like what was said in The Golden Compass "the only person who knows me, is me and my demon." Sometime I think my mother didn't know me too...you know...generation gap...). We can see the vulnerable side of Vanessa. She was afraid of almost EVERYTHING! Afraid of dark, lighten... Until she confess her feeling with Simon. (Swoon~) Simon always plays a brother to Vanessa...but secretly in love with her. And they save each other at last... The reason I love this book is because the dark side of it. Most of the siren novels I found put a large part inside the siren society, but this book focus on Vanessa and her normal life, how she struggled to adapt the life without her sister and her own dark mystery. I know some people might say "Vanessa spent 17 years and didn't realize you have sliver eyes?" Please...there are reasons for it! But I can't tell you exactly why...maybe they're just affected by the light! We can see a brief life inside siren, how they haunt, and what's the big secret hidden inside them. Paige, a sweet girl who became friend with Vanessa also help her with her sister's death... Because the suspect was her sister...and who she was? Find out yourselves! After reading the novel, I always feel something d~a~r~k~ when I went to the beach. They story is full of darkness, but we can always feel a glimpse of hope in it. I saw some reviews said it was horrible, and the star range wildly. But for myself, I didn't fall in love with it until years after. The first time I read this book was 7th grade? (A bit forget about the right time.) I didn't feel anything about it, just "oh it's a nice book, and I can finish the entire series" yet when I grow older and re-read it again, I was like "what am I doing before? The book is wonderful!" So perhaps you won't like it at first, but when you finish the trilogy and read it again... I know you'll feel as impress as I was. (Though...for those who don't re-read books...then you might feel...not as great as other books.) But I assure you, this is the best siren novel I read so far... I can't bear to finish the other series. So enjoy your trip to Winter Harbor...and be careful not to hurt yourselves at the cliff!

希臘神話裡的海妖塞壬在歐美是許多小說的題材，簡直可以美人魚比較，因為前者除了有美麗的外表外，還有誘人的歌喉，但是後者美中不足的就是那是魚尾，所以有時甚至會兩者合併。回到小說，非常喜歡作者書中的海妖，除了忠實原有的神話外，也為劇情增添許多吸引力。

書中海妖的運作模式是先勾引，然後等到獵物說出那最句魔力的三個字時，狩獵也就完成，這樣的方法是為了讓海妖們能維持生命機能，不然只能不斷的喝鹽水或是去大海游泳。

對於這新世代的神話故事，書中充滿了驚悚以及懸疑，開頭由凡妮莎的姊姊謎樣的死亡作為主軸，一步一步的進入真相中，其實最後的轉變也有些預料，但是作者埋下的伏筆和揭露的事實，勝過這陳舊的劇情。

有個小缺點就是書腰已經先透露誰是海妖，這一點有先可惜，因為小說是到後半部的前段才揭露，也不至於影響閱讀，或許是對劇情無傷大雅，但還是希望能在不知情的情況下知道，雖然小說中也不難猜就是。

愛情，一直一來是最強大的力量，在許多童話、神話、電影都能看見，但是作者卻利用這樣元素，創造出一種恐怖的愛情，這種情愫是虛幻且飄邈，但是卻能讓人獲得須臾的快樂，直到死亡都能展露笑靨，愛情的真諦在書中被一再玩弄，同時卻也一再通過考驗，這樣矛盾的情結是否代表人性的多情，亦或只是書中侃侃而談的劇情呢，值得令人好好的省思。