Review Detail

I was sure I was going to love this one, I really was. Mermaids! A release date on Boy's birthday! Pretty cover! Macmillian as a publisher! Super nice author! So much potential!

I was really, really let down.

Emma and Galen were okay on their own. Most of the time. But as a couple? They had a horrible relationship. He would request that she do something reasonable. Example: She had a stalker they could sense in the water. He asks her to stay out of the water when he's not there. Does she listen? Not only does she not listen, she gets angry at him. She yells at him. This isn't the only instance where this happens. I'm happy that a female character wants to be independent but...really?



And Galen? Galen also has issues. He's ridiculously over protective. There's this part where he's texting and calling Emma repeatedly and she's deliberately ignoring it because she's on a date and she's mad at Galen. So, he then follows her on her date. Which is going to take place an hour away. And he threatens harm repeatedly to Emma's date for being a nice guy and telling her she doesn't have to go with Galen. By time Galen gets Emma home, they're a couple again. That's not okay. You don't stalk people. It especially bothered me because the reason he was bothering her wasn't time sensitive. Her grandma wasn't dying and he wasn't trying to bring her to the hospital.



There's also a lack of logic in this book. For example, it's established pretty early on that Emma can talk to fish. It's something she's aware of basically from the time she finds out she's a Syrena. Talking requires oxygen. But there's a couple instances where Emma mentions being afraid to not hold her breath underwater and they're always mentioning how she's learning endurance for holding her breath. I'm not sure how you can talk and hold your breath at the same time.

There was also this alternation is perspective. First person for Emma, but third person for Galen. It was kind of confusing and kind of annoying going back and forth. I don't mind switching characters, but I like my books in first OR third, not both.

Despite all this, it wasn't a totally horrible book for me. I did really like two of the side characters, Rachel and Toraf, and I would love to read more about them. I also liked the idea of this story. What the summary doesn't mention is that there are two kingdoms and because Emma is of Poseidon, she's supposed to marry the king of the other kingdom and the king happens to be Galen's older brother, Grom. And he has to marry Emma because the girl before her who was of Poseidon - and also Grom's love - died years before in a mine accident. I found that pretty interesting. Is Emma really going to have to marry Grom? If not, who will he have to marry? The ending was also a really big cliffhanger that made me want book 2 desperately. I kind of wish I had decided not to finish this book because now I really want to make it through the next one despite how much it'll annoy me.

So...yeah. Of Poseidon was not the right book for me...but I might be picking up book 2 anyway.