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The Siren by Kiera Cass

A comparison. (Yes, there are 2 different versions) 📖>📖

As the saying goes: “Nothing beats the original.”

It’s not that the new version changed too much, it’s that it removed too much. Entire powerful and important scenes from the original were reduced to mere mentions in the new. 

Nearly every aspect of the story was more fleshed out in the original. We got to see what Akinli does for a living, a better look at his family and the small town of Port Clyde, and more insight into the individual lives and families of the other Sirens. Even the ocean itself felt more Gody, more like the omnipotent being that she is.

Kahlan and Akinli’s brief run-in with each other on the beach wasn’t just great foreshadowing, it made sense within the context of their own personal stories prior to their actual meeting. Again, the context of the meeting was mentioned in the new version, but never explored. In the original, Kahlan and Akinli spent much more time together doing a variety of different things, which led to their love for each other being much more convincing ❤️.

Interestingly, there was a moment in the new version that felt like the approach of a film adaptation, where it took 2 scenes from the original and combined them into 1. When Akinli hears Kahlan’s voice for the first time, and when he almost gets taken by the ocean were originally completely separate scenes, and each was more impactful because of it. (Not to say that is method is always best, but in this case, they needed their individual moments to shine.)

I didn’t really care for the new ending with the mysterious illness, maybe it’s from having read the original, but it felt very out of place. While the original may have been a little cheesier as it was more in line with a traditional happily-ever-after ending, it felt more grounding and had more finality to it.

I put off reading this book because, having read the original, I didn’t really feel the need to. I decided to finally read it for the soul purpose of comparing the two. And with that, I have now read every Kiera Cass book. And I can’t help but wonder, is Kiera Cass getting worse as time goes on? The original version of The Siren and the first 3 entries in The Selection Series were great and I wouldn’t change a thing 👍. But her latter books, the ending to The Selection and her new series (see my review of The Betrothed & review of The Betrayed) have been a dramatic decline 👎.