Sing Me to Sleep

By: Gabi Burton

Narrated by: Dami Olukoya

Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

In this dark and seductive YA fantasy debut, a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal.

Saoirse Sorkova survives on lies. As a soldier-in-training at the most prestigious barracks in the kingdom, she lies about being a siren to avoid execution. At night, working as an assassin for a dangerous group of mercenaries, Saoirse lies about her true identity. And to her family, Saoirse tells the biggest lie of all: that she can control her siren powers and doesn’t struggle constantly against an impulse to kill.

As the top trainee in her class, Saoirse would be headed for a bright future if it weren't for the need to keep her secrets out of the spotlight. But when a mysterious blackmailer threatens her sister, Saoirse takes a dangerous job that will help her investigate: she becomes personal bodyguard to the crown prince.

Saoirse should hate Prince Hayes. After all, his father is the one who enforces the kingdom’s brutal creature segregation laws. But when Hayes turns out to be kind, thoughtful, and charming, Saoirse finds herself increasingly drawn to him—especially when they’re forced to work together to stop a deadly killer who’s plaguing the city. There’s only one problem: Saoirse is that deadly killer.

Featuring an all Black and Brown cast, a forbidden romance, and a compulsively dark plot full of twists, this thrilling YA fantasy is perfect for fans of A Song Below Water and To Kill a Kingdom.

©2023 Gabi Burton (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Masterpiece!

i normally don't read fantasy, but this was absolutely amazing. Burton masterfully creates this world and develops 3-dimensional characters. Whether or not you agree with the actions of the characters, you understand their perspective. I absolutely loved every moment of this book from the opening scene to the very last word, I was hooked. I am not ready for the story to end and am looking forward to book 2.

Great drama

A great drama that has plenty of different characters and magic, as well as royalty. This is a great story, a main character that is struggling with her own insecurities and battling her own demons. I love that found family- sort of. Betrayal is shocking, but necessary for the outcome. I cannot wait for the next book!

Best fantasy book of the year

Absolutely loved this new take on sirens and Iam so excited for the next week . I want more from the prince !

I wish I could give this 10 stars

Absolutely incredible! That ending 🤯 I cannot wait for book two! This book is perfect for fans of Holly Black’s Cruel Prince trilogy. You will not be disappointed. Also, amazing narration by Dami Olukoya!

Great debut!

This was a great debut story! This book had me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next. It was interesting to see a morally grey female lead while the love interest is the opposite. Can’t wait to pick up the sequel!

An All Black/Brown Cast!

The kingdom has been walled off and divided among the three races who are supposed to inhabit it. The ruling class is made up of the beautiful and elemental fae; the middle class is made of the witches, who provide the potions and make beads the fae enjoy; and the serving class is made up of humans, who are “barely” good enough to provide cheap labor.
So how did a siren come to live in this restrictive, segregated kingdom?
Saoirse doesn’t know, and it’s not her primary concern. She is more concerned with keeping her and her sister’s identity secret, for if anyone realizes Saorise is a siren, she’ll be put to death. For sirens are known to have an insatiable desire to kill.
That’s certainly the case for Saoirse, but she tries to temper these urges by working as an assassin in between her shifts as a guard. Things get complicated when she’s added to the prince’s guard, and he starts to investigate the disappearance of his best friend—Saorise’s latest victim. Caught between a rising rebellion helped by her assassinations and a growing love for the prince, Saorise has to fight her very nature to protect that which she loves most.

This book was built on the “Liars Revealed” trope, which causes me nothing but stress over how it will resolve, so I had to take this book more slowly than others. I did like Saorise; she was a morally grey character, justifying her marks in all sorts of different ways. Hayes started out as childish, but Saorise really knocks some sense into him and helps him grow up. I really liked this world and the history and magic that was built into it. I also like the mystery around Raze and Rain—though a certain character had me screaming at the book. In a good way.

Amazing narrator and amazing story

I'm super picky about what audiobooks I listen to because I can't listen to a monotone narrator or a narrator that does too strange of accents (sometimes it's funny, but there's a time and a place), but Dami Olukoya ROCKED this!! Their narration is truly what convinced me to get this audiobook and I will be looking to see if they've narrated anything else!
As for the story of the book, I so thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't wait for what's next!!

It was eh

I have a hard time with unlikable main characters and unfortunately there weren't any other characters with much personality to make up for it. It was hard to stay very interested. No one had much personality until the end and the "enemies to lovers" was not enemies nor did it seem believable.