Siren’s Lament

Review time! This is new territory for me, but I thought it was worth it! In a small seaside town, Lyra operates a flower shop with her grandmother, and has an unrequited crush on the older brother of her best friend, the kind-hearted Shon. One evening, as she’s on a cliff overlooking the sea, feeling particularly heartbroken, she hears a strange and alluring song drift from the waves. Suddenly the ground gives way, and she plunges into the murky water, only to glimpse a finned shape close in on her and seems to plant a kiss. She awakens later to see a young man lying on the beach next to her. When he wakes up, however, he is shocked to find out that both he and she are still human! Turns out, he is a Siren, a mermaid with a curse that seeks out those with broken hearts, and with a kiss, swaps the curse and erases the memories of those they kiss. And yet that is not what happened! Soon Lyra, and her Siren friend she names Ian (as he can’t remember his name and she names him after her pet fish), have to uncover the mystery surrounding Sirens and the Curse, which has a lot more to do with Lyra than she ever suspected. With gorgeous artwork, loveable characters, fun humor (mostly courtesy of the ever impish Ian), an intriguing mythology, a touching soundtrack (that shows up in select episodes) and a sweet romance, Siren’s Lament is a wonderful comic that I highly recommend. The mystery is peeled back slowly over the issues, and you truly care about what happens to the characters, especially when you learn about the tragedies of their pasts. The comic also explores aspects of love and how loss affects people, and how the scars we carry shape who we are. The comic is all free on WebToon (except for the last few issues, which should be free in the coming weeks), but I couldn’t wait and wanted to support the creator, so I paid for each new issue, as I fell in love with this wonderful and heartwarming comic. So give it a read, and you just might find yourself under the Siren’s spell!