Of Poseidon (The Syrena Legacy #1)

Of Poseidon was a very interesting novel. It had a captivating plot filled with humor, romance and intrigue.
I liked the characters; Emma, Galen, Rachel, Toraf and Rayna.
It was a fun read and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy!

Background: Emma is an ordinary girl, a bit of a clutz. Galen in a Syrena (ie merman...but they hate that word) on land to find a girl who might be able to help his clan and another reunite. While at the beach, Emma and Galen run into one another, but all is forgotten as Emma has an accident and goes home to try to block out everything about that day. Then, out of nowhere, Galen is attending Emma's school, and she has everything about her very existance turn upside down.

Review: WOW! Loved this book. Of Poseidon is action, romance, betrayal, and mystery all wrapped into one. Emma is a great lead, she is interesting, stubborn, and has a good head on her shoulders and Galen is masculine and hesitant and amazing as a male character.
The book is told from both their persepctives so it is very entertaining to see how they play off of one another and both sides of the story, each very unique and keep the reader in tune. Normally when authors swap between characters it makes the book seem choppy, but not here! Banks does a great job of using both sides of the story to lead the reader to the awesome cliffhanger ending....CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE!....

Of Poseidon is a new novel by Anna Banks about the merfolk, but don't let dreamy Galen hear you say that. Syrena are just like mermaids. But, there are two kingdoms currently at odds with each other brought on by each of their rulers: Triton and Poseidon. In order to bring the two kingdoms together they must mate (marry) the king of Triton (Grom, Galen's brother) with the daughter with the gift of Poseidon (which there is only one left out in the world). Galen goes in search of this special girl, and stumbles upon Emma, who he then falls in love with her.

Okay, maybe that was one of the worst descriptions ever. BUT I didn't want to give anything important away. And there are a lot of important things that could have been given away in order to explain the plot better.

But let me just say something: This book was awesome! I loved it from the very beginning all the way until the last paragraph or so. Because the last paragraph just SCREAMS cliff-hanger, and it got kind of uncomfortable for a moment. You have no idea what I'm talking about now, but you will. When you read it. Because you WILL read it.

Seriously.

Read it.

I'm not kidding.

But, I must warn you of some things.

1.There is a smidge of insta-love. To be honest, I didn't really think it was that instant. Except for maybe Galen's attraction to Emma...but if you read the book, you'll realize he was following her around for business...not because he was love sick. Whatever. Some people are dumb.
2.There is a brief love triangle. WAY in the book, there is a BRIEF love triangle, but the main character literally says "I don't like so-and-so, I'm just trying to get over so-and-so, and this will be good for me." SUPER BRIEF. And she acknowledged it.
3.The book is hilarious at some points. Seriously. My mom looked at me strange a couple of times when I laughed out loud.
4.There is a cliff-hanger, but it wasn't like someone fell off a bridge and we don't know if they'll live. Just some...confession. I'm not going to say anything else or I'll ruin the ending.
5.The main character says "ohmysweetgoodness" a lot. Just like that. But, it was kind of cute/funny.

To Sum it All Up: The book starts off a promising series with a new twist on merfolk. The characters are funny, and memorable. The plot moves fast with twists all throughout the book. I really liked the relationship Emma and Galen are starting to develop.

This book is told in the perspectives of two people: Galen, a Syrena (merman), and Emma, who is not exactly sure what she is.

Emma and her friend Chloe are vacationing in Florida when she literally bumps into a guy with violet eyes, the only other person she has ever seen with them, other than herself. As soon as Galen (the Syrena prince) sees her eyes, he knows that she is special. And when he sees her singlehandedly fend off a bull shark, he knows that she's not what she seems. Perhaps not even human. After all, Syrena can appear human as well. But all this is new for Emma, who think she is completely human. She also doesn't understand why Galen suddenly turns up at her school and pays so much attention to her. As they fight a growing attraction for each other, they need to try and find out the truth behind Emma's heritage. And while Galen can't have her for himself, her Gift could save the kingdom.

I thought this book was very light-hearted and funny. Now, this may not seem the case as you first start reading it, especially when it starts with the bloody death of a girl, but after that, there are regular doses of funniness and romance.

The characters are also funny and quirky, and very readable. Emma is funny, chatty, clumsy, but in an endearing way. Galen is very naive, and I think it is funny the way he gets so surprised by things we consider normal, and how much he obviously loves Emma even though she can't see it. And the supportive characters get enough attention and depth that they're not so much in the background.

The mystery of Emma's Syrena heritage is the driving force throughout the book (don't call them mermaids, especially the guys), but its also a lot about the romance between Emma and Galen. It's not obsessive romance everyone, in fact, Emma is trying her best not to be attracted to Galen. And the romance is fun. They bicker, and needle each other, and go on dates to the freaking TITANIC for god's sake.

Banks definitely doesn't pass up this opportunity to give jabs about overfishing and environmental negligence, but she never comes across as preachy,

And that da-da-da-DAH ending (that's suspense music, in case you didn't pick it up), and have just found out that there is going to be a sequel called Of Triton, published by the end of May! I can't wait to read it!

I definitely recommend Of Poseidon to people who want something that is a bit lighthearted, but not lacking in depth. Be prepared, this book will have you begging for more. :)

Review to be posted on the YA Sisterhood Blog
http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/

At first I was skeptical about a “mermaid book” because the idea of a fin kind of creeps me out—don’t laugh; but I figured I would give this one a try. I am so glad I did! From the first chapter, I was hooked—I even laughed out loud a few times (loud enough to get my husband’s attention along with a murmur that sounded something like “book nerd”—he doesn’t know what he’s missing). I read it in one sitting (which is a feat with an 8 month old baby) and was tempted to turn right back to the beginning to re-read it.

So after chatting with my sister Britt, who read the book first and also loved it, we have decided to do another of the famed “Top Ten” lists for Of Poseidon.
10. Cosmic Clumsiness--Emma is so clumsy that you will truly laugh out loud quite often during the book. In fact, her clumsiness is how she meets Galen, falling forward and "asssaulting his pecks." I couldn't stop laughing!

9. Toraf--He's a Syrena whose snarkiness will also make you laugh out loud. His persistent chase of Rayna and his acceptance of her constant attacks is borderline insanity, but you can really see how much he cares for her. I found Toraf to be one of my favorite characters.

8. Mythology--We get a different view of Poseidon and Triton in this novel. It's a part of mermaid mythology I had never heard before--very interesting.

7. The Ocean setting--I won't tell you much because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I loved the history that we got to see about the oceans and what happens above and below them.

6. The Little Mermaid-like scenes--Do you remember the scene in The Little Mermaid where Ariel spins around and the fish fly around her hair until it's standing straight up? I loved that scene as a little girl, and there are plenty of scenes in this book that brought me right back to my childhood.

5. Rayna--she's so smug and self-absorbed, but it works for her. She's the love you/hate you type of girl, but she adds a great dimension to how Syrena life appears. I loved reading her insults and comebacks, and eventually, her breakthroughs.

4. The pull--I won't say much other than it is a Syrena legend, and that it really adds to the romance!

3. The oooohhhh ending…..that caused me to go straight to Twitter and ask Anna Banks how many more books there would be (as of now, a sequel is in the works). I won't say anything else!

2. Emma and her snarkines--I find her insistence that she call Gale, “Your Highness” very amusing. She's not afraid of who he is, and she's not intimidated. She's tough, but not too tough--so she's very believable. She struggles with the truth, and she struggles with her abilities. I really felt like I connected to her.

1. Galen--What can I say? He's charming, mysterious, tan, chiseled, and handsome--just what every girl wants in her YA guys. He comes on tough and insensitive, but eventually we see a side to him that will make you melt!

Go buy this book!!! You won't regret it!

Oh, how many ways can I tell you how much I love Of Poseidon?! Anna’s personality literally screams through this book and I was hooked after just two pages! Emma is such an awesome character, so snarky, stubborn and absolutely hilarious. I honestly laughed so many times while reading and I was basically smiling the whole time. There’s this one scene at Galen’s house involving Emma and Galen’s sister, Rayna and a certain window that I simply LOVED! I could not stop laughing and devoured every minute of it.

I love how it was detailed just ENOUGH. Seriously, I can’t stress enough how I hate when authors give too much frivolous detail. Yes, I know the flower is pretty, but no need to tell me exactly how many specks of pollen are on it. I get it! Anna gives just the right amount of detail about the Syrena, Emma’s history, and the build-up to Book 2. The flow was spot-on and I never found myself bored or skimming the sentences looking for the good parts, because all of it was good. As the story progresses, you can predict a bit about Emma’s past, but I loved coming to each aspect and having the characters slowly learn the truth.

I will say though, that there is little to no action in this book. There is a very important and crazy scene that happens in the beginning – and by the way, I love it when an author grabs your attention from the get-go like that, but that’s about it. Thankfully, the romance and humor kept things alive for me and seeing Galen and Emma’s relationship blossom was the highlight of the story. I love that it’s told from both perspectives since Galen is a Syrena and how he learns the ways of humans is so cute. He definitely has a lot of passion and smoldering sexiness that although could edge on the border of crazy stalker, in this story, was just sweet and swoon-worthy.

Let me also add that even though I said you need to read this now, I’d advise waiting until the second book comes out because there is a MAJOR cliffhanger at the end. Why?! No!!! I was seriously left wondering what’s going to happen next and I needed the second book like yesterday! I’d consider this a very light and fun read that will easily leave you wanting more. I’m dying for Book 2!

-I loved this book so much! I can't wait to read something else by Anna Banks.

IS THIS ABOUT MERMAIDS OR NOT?

Yes and no. Of Poseidon by Anna Banks technically features these mermaid-like creatures. But, if you don’t want to get your head bitten off by Galen, or the average Syrena—I don’t care if they don’t actually do that; it’s an insult—you’d better not go there, using the “M” word and all that. It’s not kosher. Besides, Syrena are actually triple way cooler than your average mermaid.

Can your average mermaid Blend into the water? Can they go at superspeeds and travel great distances? Do they also have fins? Maybe. But you just can’t beat out the Syrena. I hate to say this, but they’re flyer than Ariel and her band of school fish.

THERE’S A BOY NAMED TORAF?! SERIOUSLY?

For serious. But Toraf is actually made of awesome. He’s just ONE of the characters that charms our pants off. He’s funny and good-natured. He’s the comedy fix every good, solid paranormal book needs. We wouldn’t want the angstiness to get to brimming, now would we? Handsome, an excellent joke cracker, and the bane of the existence of Galen’s sister, Rayna, Toraf could’ve made a fabulous choice for the second point in the typical love triangle. Thankfully, there isn’t one and we don’t have to worry about this huggable boy’s heart. Well, we kind of do, because he’s in love with Rayna and she’s not having it. Reading as these two struggle with a relationship—Rayna being a stubborn idiot, Toraf being very persistent—brings out that lighthearted, fun tone to Of Poseidon by Anna Banks.

Unsurprisingly, Galen and Emma have less weird names but are just as amazing as their secondary character friends. Emma has, as I mentioned, the best sense of humor ever. She’s stubborn, sarcastic, laughable in a nice way where we laugh not at her but at the situation and how she goes about describing her misery, humiliation, and/or annoyance. Galen is the all-serious, arrogant, bit of a know-it-all big time Prince who is curiously fascinated and probing toward the lovely Emma. She’s this five hundred paged mystery novel. She’s beautiful. He’s having a hard time dealing with these unexpected, unwanted twin feelings of alarm and wonder.

Prince Galen does give off a bit of an Edward Cullen vibe, but he’s basically his own character. He’s impatient and determined, but what makes him so likable is his cheekiness. Blending into our society proves much more difficult, and, frankly, entertaining, than turning a lovely water color in the ocean so as to appear invisible. When he has the balls to try out things like “let’s chill” and “hey, boo,” things become unbelievably hysterical in the midst of all the serious drama revolving around the war brewing between the sea peoples and Emma’s enigmatic origins.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks quickly becomes quite addictive.

WHO'S A MYSTERY NOVEL?

Emma is a big smack in the face to Syrena culture and tradition. She’s a giant stigma, an abomination. At least, she would be down under in the water. But discovering the hows and whys are what keeps propelling the story and shifts the weight off of the characters, however fantastic they are, so that it’s not all about them and our interest falls in two places. What is Emma? And where did she come from? How has her birthright been hidden from her all this time? Magnetic violet eyes and romantic tension aside, these questions grate on Galen’s peace of mind as he tries to work out an answer that won’t jeopardize his maybe chance to explore what’s crackling between he and Emma. Firstly because whoever gave birth to her is in serious doo-doo, then because the House of Poseidon and the House of Triton are due for a joiner marriage and guess who just might make the cut with her parentage?

We all see the dilemma here, right? And this is a colossal problem because Emma and Galen may or may not have something destined, something that only comes around everyone once in a while.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE...

My biggest fear for Of Poseidon by Anna Banks lies in the romance. I was worried that this would be unbelievable instalove in the making. “Both teens sense a connection” is enough to worry anyone who gets seriously turned off by unbelievable and forced connection and chemistry. However, that’s so not the case here.

Emma and Galen have a tentative friendship, with underlying romantic zings, at best and are ever bickering at their worst. Galen is all princely and he expects to be obeyed. Emma is stubborn and independent and just not capable of taking anybody’s crap. So she doesn’t. Often. And hard. Which is why it’s easy to respect her and her no-nonsense attitude. Even if it got to be a little frustrating at times because her attitude, and with misunderstandings fresh in her mind, gets in the way of the slow and tension-filled romance.

These misunderstandings cause all sorts of drama. Jealousy, a bit of deception, a hint—no a ton—of anger in all the right places so that eventually fate has its way and gently tugs the two together until they’re a superglued masterpiece.

ANOTHER MOTHER FRYIN' CLIFFHANGER

Initially, my reaction was to beat my fists on the walls, or, the closest thing to me at the time: the skinny boy with the too-loud music at the desk in front of me. Because just as things are finally making sense, the obvious happens. The drop hits. A CLIFFHANGER. And it’s not even like Morse Code where there are sublime messages inside the words or hints at the future in the moment.

The mystery is solved, yes. The romance is safe for now, yes. The characters are still lovable, indeed. BUT I NEED MORE.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks is fun and engaging and full of that humor that sometimes misses the mark in so many other paranormals. These characters, and Anna, never forget to laugh at themselves despite the enormity of the situation they’re in. It’s what I liked about the story best of all.