So I’ve seen Mary Mecham’s books for a while, as they pop up in various Amazon searches or on Facebook. And I confess that I didn’t think much of them. The covers were appealing, and the stories sounded interesting, but I felt, ‘not for me’. When a post came through on Facebook, I decided I had to give her books a try. What was different? She shared about her unique story lines, and that hooked me.
In Hunting Sirens, the main character, Treva, is deaf. She is the niece of the King and Queen and is a blacksmith. What drew me in (what Mary Mecham mentioned in her Facebook post) is that there isn’t a mention of sound in the book. The author wanted authenticity in her work and had the book screened by numerous individuals from the Deaf Community. This made me curious, and once I picked up the book, I couldn’t put it down.
Treva, in her role as blacksmith, makes weapons for the kingdom, which is at war with Sirens. Unfortunately, humans can’t fight Sirens because of the whole Siren’s voice thing. Treva, being deaf, doesn’t have that problem, and so she steps up and becomes the Siren Hunter. When trapped by a threat greater than Sirens, Treva ends up trapped on an island with a Siren named Bayne.
Here, the story takes a turn as the two develop a friendship and fall in love. Mary Mecham’s books are clean on the romance level, so readers will get nothing more than kisses in her books. The romance is sweet and filled with promises.
I confess that I found the middle part of the book a bit boring. Treva’s internal processing significantly slowed down the pacing. I understand the author’s methodology, as she effectively portrays Treva’s struggle in accepting Bayne as a friend and then more. However, I did find it repetitive.
Bayne and Treva fall in love and make it off the island with unexpected help. They make it back to Treva’s home where the love between the two only grows. But then Treva learns of Bayne’s lies and betrayal. I won’t tell you how the story ends, but it’s good, if not a bit rushed. Treva was given a lot of time to accept Bayne as a friend. I find her forgiveness of his deception a bit too quick or deus ex machina. In my opinion, Bayne’s behaviour was a bit toxic. While the author gives clear reasons for Bayne’s deception, I’m not sure I’d be so quick to trust him again. The logic doesn’t fully work, but this is my opinion. You might read the book and 100% disagree.
So do these points make the book unsatisfying? Absolutely not! It is a work of fiction. Everything fell together nicely in the end, and I plan on reading more by Mary Mecham. I also loved reading a story from the perspective of a deaf character. Mary Mecham did her research and effectively represented the community.
I loved the world-building in this book and Treva’s character arc. She begins as solitary individual who shuns relationships even with her friends and family. I got the impression that she was a loner. And then she takes on the Sirens, which she does well, alone. But then Bayne enters her life and for the first time, she connects with someone and starts to soften. She begins to see her friends and family differently. She also re-evaluates her treatment of them. When she returns home, she takes a different approach, and wants to work with others.
The central themes brought out in the book are the importance of supportive relationships/teamwork and forgiveness. Treva never would have defeated the greater beast, if others hadn’t joined her. Just as the Sirens needed to work with the humans to rid the ocean of the beast. This spoke to the power of working with others, and doing more together.
I absolutely loved the spin on ‘The Little Mermaid’. There was a lot of creativity poured into this work of fiction. Throughout the book, I found myself wondering how things would work out or what would happen next. It was expertly crafted in sharing just enough information with the reader to keep me hooked. Well done, Mary Mecham!
You can find Hunting Sirens on Amazon.
K. M. Wray 