There are moments of fate that we simply cannot explain. It happened at New York Comic Con 2025, when I got to moderate a panel for bestselling author Tomi Adeyemi in honor of her spotlight appearance at the convention. It’s a very scary thing to moderate for someone you’ve never met before. But five minutes before we were set to start, something clicked and Tomi trusted me with a secret. Her next book was coming and the cover was ready. Little did I know that fate was working its magic in other mysterious ways...
Cosmopolitan can exclusively reveal Tomi Adeyemi’s new book, The Siren, which is set to be released on September 29, 2026. This is not only Tomi’s first contemporary novel, but it is also her first standalone novel after finishing up the Legacy of Orïsha series.
“I literally lived with this for two years. It was not just my home. The act of writing this book was so gentle. It was the coziest place in the universe,” Tomi exclusively told Cosmopolitan in a Zoom call in January 2026. “It’s a space and a time that only I know and the process of creating it was just so blissful and magical and raw.”
According to Henry Holt Books for Young Readers:
The new novel from the acclaimed, three-time instant #1 New York Times-bestselling author that blends shocking contemporary storytelling with a sinister dark academic flare to create a blockbuster about rage, longing, and a woman’s darkness, that will leave readers breathless.
When Emery steps foot onto Dartmouth’s campus, she knows what she has to do: keep her scholarship, take her meds, and pray no one ever finds out about the past she left behind.
But that all changes when Emery meets an intoxicating girl named Roux, her disarming step brother named Eli, and the mystical band of girls Roux calls ‘The Sirens.’ Each Siren is as beautiful as the last, their campus life shrouded in extravagance and secret parties. Before the girls became Sirens, they were outcasts, yet under Roux, their wildest dreams came true. When Roux offers Emery the chance to join The Sirens, Emery will do whatever it takes to make it in.
Even if it costs Emery her life.
The cover, which has been one of the biggest secrets I’ve had to keep for a while is “so personal. This is so raw. I think that’s why I was like, No, I want to face this.” We truly dare you to look away, especially when staring at the cover featuring Emory and the stunning sprayed edges that come with it.
In Cosmopolitan’s chat with Tomi, she revealed more of what’s to come with The Siren, the interesting link that came to her as she was writing the book, and biggest difference between fantasy and jumping into her first contemporary novel. Check out an exclusive interview below!
On the special connection between her new cat and beginning work on The Siren:
He’s a magical kitty and my body is shivering because I’ve never held them side by side like this. I was at a really amazing bookstore in Portland and I got this one tarot deck of cats. I felt called to pick one card and put it on the laptop I used to write The Siren. The card I picked is the card that represents one who has divine wisdom but is tasked with sharing it with the people. I got to the point last November, where I was like, Oh, it’s done. Then I just get the zing and it’s like, Get a cat. I didn’t end up getting him for about a month later, but one day, he’s just walking over this laptop again and again, and I go, Oh, my god.
Editor’s note: It’s at this point when Tomi shows me the cover of her laptop which features a cat from the tarot card deck that looks exactly like her cat in real life.
He knows. He’s a magical kitty. My body is shivering because I’ve never held them side by side like this. I was like, Maybe I’ll create something else on that laptop....Nope. It’s like a one-time laptop. It’s sacred. It’s to have this text and to actually have something to hold because of that journey.
On the different kinds of magic between Legacy of Orïsha and The Siren.
There was a lot of magic in Children of Blood and Bone. There was a lot of ancestral magic. The Siren? It’s Soul Magic. It’s not from those that came before me. It’s literally from within me. It’s so funny, you can probably hear the ocean in the background, which me and my cat always love to listen to. Light blue has always been my favorite color. I started this journey with the darkest hurricane over the sea. The process of writing this story was turning that stormy sea of my soul into the the calmest, sunniest time, and it feels so good. That beach I exist on? No one can enter. I’m excited for what The Siren does for everyone else, but it doesn’t make me more nervous because of the place of peace I exist from because of the journey of the story.
On writing The Siren while working on The Children of Blood and Bone film:
I gave the Children of Blood and Bone franchise 13 years of my life. I gave that my blood. I gave that my sweat. I gave that my tears. I gave that my trauma. That was my personal child to adult journey. When it came to the script and the film, I gave all of myself. This time last year, I was about to go to Cape Town to be on set and that was also incredibly grueling. When I came back from that, I was like, Okay, I officially hand this to Gina Prince-Bythewood, to the film team, to all of those people, because I’m done. I never grieved Children. I didn’t grieve the first book, the second book, the third book or the film, because I didn’t enjoy the process. It was a brutal process, to be quite frank. And so when I got back last year from set, I was like, You did it. You did the thing that you dreamed of. I can actually tie the bow on my journey of this and put it in their hands and hope for the best. Even my closest friends are like, You look so happy lately. And I’m like, Well, I’m not working.
On going from fantasy to contemporary for The Siren:
I think that’s why The Siren is extra special, because it’s not all of these ideas. It’s not all of these different people. It’s not a girl struggling to make sense of a world that she doesn’t feel safe in. It’s me coming to terms with who I am, and it’s also me not needing fantasy to deal with who I am and how it feels. Every story for the last 25 years has been a fantasy. I realized, Oh, you don’t need the fantasy to access the true divine magic in this world. You don’t need the fantasy to cope with how you’re treated. You can look at them and you can face them. It doesn’t blind you and it doesn’t make you weak. Even the cover...I was like, No, I want to face this. This is so personal. This is so raw.
On having the freedom to work on The Siren:
“Freedom” is the key word. It’s to arrive at yourself and then get to be yourself. It’s my life’s greatest journey and so many people are focused on what’s to come for me. It’s not impossible to explain. I just usually don’t bother unless you’re close to me. I’m not gonna be like, Well, actually, the greatest joy is to be myself. But if you are close to me, it’s not about what’s coming. It’s about where I have come, who I have come to, and she is glorious. She is a joy. She is sacred. She is so divine, and she’s happy, and she knows who she is and how to live in this world. That is my trophy.
On Emery’s journey with the Sirens and wanting their acceptance:
The Sirens are the others who love being the others. They’re loving their life. When you find your people—because I do think that’s the organic journey—you stop trying to fit in. How Emory relates to them is she’s also choosing who she wants to become. There’s an acceptance. You accept the things that I thought I had to take to my grave. You don’t bat an eye at that. You can’t give up. It not Ursula tricking a naive little girl. It’s a queen being like, “Are you ready to go under the waves? Under the current, the scary place, the place few would go because they’ll drown because it’s so dark? Are you ready to be trapped there? Are you ready to stripped of all that was never really you? And come out as the most majestic version of yourself?” That is the journey of the book.
The Siren, by Tomi Adeyemi will be released on September 29, 2026 from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice:
AMAZON AUDIBLE BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION BOOKSHOP KOBO LIBRO.FM TARGET WALMART HUDSON BOOKSELLERS GOOGLE PLAY EBOOKS.COM
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
