Megan O’Russell 

Jacob loves Emilia Gray, but things aren’t always that simple in the world of Magickind…

The war has begun.

The Dragons are gaining power, and the Gray Clan stands alone. Desperate to find a way to stop the Pendragon, Emilia is forced to seek answers from someone who hasn’t been seen in seventeen years . . . Her mother. Embarking on a magical journey filled with witches, wizards, centaurs and a dangerous and powerful Siren, Jacob and Emilia must take a leap of faith to a land neither could have ever imagined . . . and hope they can then find their way home.

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MY REVIEW:
Okay, I may be in danger of having things thrown at me here, but I gotta say I felt a little let down by THE SIREN'S REALM by Megan O'Russell. Not that it was written badly, or that there was a bad flow to the story, that is NOT THE CASE. I like the characters well enough, even if from book 1, THE TETHERING, I immediately related them to characters from a certain Wizarding world and a few other popular books.
There were definitely things I liked a lot, but they match up with things I don't like. And in this case I think a list of both would do nicely :)
Here's what I liked:
1-The world building (even if, again, it seemed a little too much of an homage to a wizard's world)
2-The pacing. It was one thing after another and twist after intriguing twist. It kept me glued to my eReader to see what was going to happen next.
3-Emilia and Jacob. They were a cute couple, though I think I like him better. They are both very loyal and strong and brave, yet they are also they're age, teenagers.
4-Aunt Iz. When you read the book, you'll understand.
5-The Dragons. Who doesn't love a good bad guy cult?!?!?!

Here's what I didn't so much like:
1-The many similarities to other popular book universes. I am perfectly happy to read books that were inspired by books and series, but what frustrated me was that Megan O'Russel clearly has a great talent for writing. She could have taken this so much further and made this world more her own unique creation.
2-THE SIREN'S REALM, and even the first book THE TETHERING did one of the two things that are my biggest per peeves when it comes to books, comics or tv: It was taken there too fast and too quickly. I realize there needs to be a constant flow and pace to a story to make it flow and keep the reader, but I also firmly believe that taking it just a little slower, allowing things to develop more naturally and organically is something that BOTH books in this series would have benefited from greatly.
3-The predictability. I saw Emilia's daddy bad guy situation coming way off! Same with Jacob being captured, tortured, escaping and interrupting Emilia's forced tethering that bound the two of them together.
4-I've also noticed a trend in YA books to go darker and push the limits more. It's not a bad thing, as long as it suits the book and feels like an organic part of the story. To me, the amount of torture, craziness, darkness and one bad thing after another felt forced. IMHO if Megan and her editors had pulled back just a little this would have been a much better read for me.
5-Rosalie, Emilia's mother. I get everything she had been through, why she did the things she did, but there was just something about, I can't put my finger on what, but I just didn't like her that much.

Like I said, there were very redeeming things about this book, and I would most likely read more from Megan O'Russel because she has a wonderful talent for writing and telling a good story. I love her covers too, especially the one for THE SIREN'S REALM, which is why I gave this a 3 star rating and not the 2.5 I was originally intending. I would recommend this book to fans of Harry Potter and fantasy, magic worlds. And if there's another book I would read it as well. Sadly, THE TETHERING and THE SIREN'S REALM just didn't live up to the expectation that I had built up for it in my mind.