Short Story Review: The Siren’s Curse
Good Evening Readers and Writers,
Tonight’s evening edition of this short story review is brought to you by my lunch break being too short. No seriously, how does anyone ever get anything done at lunch other than eating?
I finished this short story, The Siren’s Curse, over my lunch break and am excited to share my brief experience with you now.
There’s not a lot of backstory here, just the simple fact that I found this for free on Amazon and downloaded it.
I know it’s not really the season to read this, but eh, who cares? Let’s get into the review!
Blurb
A shipwreck, a siren’s curse, and a hopelessness as vast as the ocean.
“You think you know the story. You’ve heard it before, from sailors who regale the tales in ale-made stupors. Do not believe them, for if they live to tell the tale they fail to tell you one important thing—the truth.
Whether you believe me or not is none of my concern. I ask you only to listen…”
A shipwreck, a siren’s curse, and a hopelessness as vast as the ocean.
“You think you know the story. You’ve heard it before, from sailors who regale the tales in ale-made stupors. Do not believe them, for if they live to tell the tale they fail to tell you one important thing—the truth.
Whether you believe me or not is none of my concern. I ask you only to listen…”
Discover the devastating truth of the siren’s curse in a haunting, chilling, and lyrical tale of woe.
The Review
I gave this short story three and a half undersea stars.
The story is simple. A brother and sister are stranded on an island. They hope to be rescued, but haven’t seen anything for days, maybe even weeks. With supplies quickly dwindling down to nothing, the brother and sister duo risk a swim out to their partially-sunken ship when something strange occurs.
Overall, I really did enjoy this story. It’s not my typical read, and that was what enticed me to read it.
The brother and sister in this story were believable as being related, and you could definitely feel the desperation of their situation.
I will say that the blurb feels a tad bit overstated. Of course you want to get people to read your work with a stunning blurb, but in this case I was slightly disappointed.
This short story did briefly toy with the concept of a siren, but I don’t feel that it explored/focused on it enough.
I also don’t feel that it had enough adventure for the brother character to tell this tale to others and make it sound epic (the dialogue in the blurb, hint hint) when in reality the story is pretty short and straight to the point. Maybe if there was another element of mystery in there I can see him doing that.
I believe the story was well-written, but could have been a tad longer to explore this concept just a little more fully.
Overall, this is a fun short story if you’re looking for a temporary escape from reality. Happy reading!
That’s A Wrap!
Well that’s it for this short story review. I hope you enjoyed it!
Have you read this story? Are there other short stories you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!
Have a great day!
***Can’t get enough of Jaunts & Haunts? Subscribe to my Chills and Thrills Newsletter on my home page so you don’t miss a thing! Newsletter emails go out every Sunday! Also, feel free to check me out at the social media links below!***
Interesting. If you like China Mieville, I would recommend The Heart of Owl Abbas by Kathleen Jennings. It’s a beautiful fantasy story.
Thanks for the recommendation, I will have to check it out.