Actual rating: 1.5 Rounded up to 2 because THIS BOOK MEANS THE SERIES IS OVER. 
 I have this beautiful nail polish with an interesting texture. It looks really cool, but wearing it is a different story. I have contact lenses, you see, and while an awesome sandy texture may LOOK good, if you've ever had sand in your eyes, you know it's fucking painful. Such is my experience every time I remove my contacts, it's like sand rubbing against my eyeballs, and yet I keep on using that damn polish anyway, and will probably finish the bottle at the expense of scarring my corneas. 
 Such has been my experience with the Watersong series; it looks attractive, but the experience has been all sorts of terrible, and for some damn reason I am compelled to finish this series despite knowing better. I can't guarantee that it won't damage my eyes, either...it IS over 500 pages. Good god. And that's not to mention the painful experience of actually reading it. 
 I can hear some of the complaints now. "Khanh...you fucking idiot, if you hate the series so much, why are you reading it? WHY ARE YOU SUCH A HATER?!" Simple. I am always drawn to siren/mermaid type stories, especially with the lure of combined mythology. This is also an YA series, so it's easier to finish, unlike some of a much grander scale on my To-Be-Read pile *cough*GameofThrones/Outlander/Fever*cough*. Considering how long this book was, though, I can't say the experience of reading it has been particularly easy, much less so given the poor quality of writing, the completely senseless plot, and the utter mess that comprises the book and series overall. And that's not to mention what a mockery the book made of siren mythology and Greek/Romance mythology in general. 
 Within this series, some books have been better than others, but that's not saying much. It's like eating maggoty bread, some pieces of bread may have a few less maggots in it, but that's not to say eating it is a more enjoyable experience. 
 Enough with the overextended metaphors, I should probably give a few reasons to justify my disdain and hatred for this series. To keep it short (ha!), I will limit it to a top 10. 
 In no particular order of perceived pain: 
 1. The Roman goddess Diana: also known as Demeter!: Lest we forget who Diana is:"Diana is a Roman goddess of hunting and the moon and werewolves or something. She's this strong feminist, and certain Wiccans worship her."ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS? 
 Btw: Horace = the Egyptian god Horus 
 For those who missed the joke: Diana and Demeter are two completely unrelated goddesses... 
 2. The sirens: "You little bitch," Penn said, smiling wider. "Bring it." 
 I referred to them in my last review as The Real Housewives of Orange County. This has not changed. Cattiness, bitchiness, hair-pulling, all still there. I am still amazed at the fact that they've managed to live all these millennium and only managed to kill each other a few times. I would have guessed the murderous turnover ratio within the sirens, at the rate in which they were going in these books, to be at least 100% (death ratio) every 3 weeks or so. I was so sick of the name-calling, the pure hatred between them. It's just common sense...if you're going to be spending a long, long time with someone, be it a friend, a life partner...you find someone you can fucking TRUST. Thea, Penn, & co. just seem to pick and choose who to become the next siren without reason at all. They end up hating each others' guts...I just can't understand it. 
 3. Liv: "Penn told you that we wanted you to keep an eye on Harper. But instead of doing that, you attacked her, then went on a spree and killed three people, including a psych teacher." 
 Ah, Liv, a.k.a. the worst little siren that ever lived. The sirens aren't exactly the most inconspicuous characters...which is pretty stupid. I mean, if you're trying to survive, it's best to blend in. The original sirens don't exactly do the best job of that, but man, Liv is just something else. She makes the other sirens look like quiet, well-behaved chameleons. She just kills/seduces whomever she feels like it. There's even less subtlety with this one. 
 4. Gemma & Harper: Dull as dishwater. I'll give the sirens some credit...they have personality. Gemma and Harper, the two biological sisters, and the two main characters in the book, have no personality, none. I can tell you that Gemma likes swimming, and Alex, she loves her family, and she hates being a siren. But all that you can learn from the first book, because there is nothing, absolutely nothing that you can glean from her character and her mind and her thoughts besides for her single-minded purpose of finding the key to breaking her curse of being a siren, and meanwhile, HOW TO DENY HER CARNAL SIREN URGES *clutches pearls*. Oh, my goodness goshness. 
 I stand corrected, Harper does have a personality: that of a middle-aged suburbian housewife in Kansas. But I really shouldn't say that; it's a discourtesy to housewives everywhere to be compared to someone so dull. 
 5. Alex: I should rename my doormat to "Alex." Yes, Gemma manipulated you and your mind, she almost made you go permanently Lady-Gaga with her siren song. But oh well, time to forgive at the drop of a hat! Oh, and you should probably apologize to her, anyway, because---um. Because... 
 Whatever, just apologize. 
 6. Nathalie: I fucking hate it when brain damage = CHILDLIKE BEHAVIOR. It's fucking dumb, it's fucking ignorant, and it is fucking offensive. 
 7. Daniel: OH NOES I HAVE TO HAVE SEX WITH SOMEONE ELSE FOR THE SAKE OF MY BELOVED GIRLFRIEND. It's all for your own good, baby, really! I'm not even gonna tell you that a manipulate bitch of a siren has her claws into me and is using me because then you'll just make me stop listening to her and put myself at risk. And I really love you, so I have to do this. FOR US! I'm thinking of you as she's straddling me, really. 
 8. Professor Kipling Pine: looking past the absolutely Gary Stu name, he's also a young stud. A full professor at an university by his early 30s who looks like a young Indiana Jones. "A history teacher who used to be an archaeologist," who happens to know archaic languages, can identify Aramaic from Phoenician, etc. Man, where was he when I went to college? Most of my professors were in their 40s, at least, and none of them were into steampunk. So sad. 
 9. Red Bull: a crucial plot device 
 10. Plot & writing: nonsensical, full of holes. The book was also completely plot-driven, leaving no room for character holes, and I ended up being absolutely bored with the entire book, despite all that was taking place. There was no dull moment, but there was plenty of dullness. I read it, but it did not grip me at all. The writing is purely YA, there's nothing beautiful about it, it's easy to read, and that is the best I can say for the writing. 
 11. 
 Deus ex machi 
 ---oh, wait, I promised to limit it to a list of 10. 
 Thank the gods, it's over.