OF POSEIDON by Anna Banks

Emma and her friend
Chloe are spending vacation in Florida. When Emma (literally) runs into a
hot guy named Galen on the beach, little does she know he’s a prince of
the Syrena. Galen and Emma both feel something strange – is it
attraction? – and Galen suspects that Emma might well be the girl he’s
heard of – a human who can communicate with fish.

What follows is a deadly scene with a shark in which Galen witnesses
Emma’s gifts. He must know more about her, and follows her back to New
Jersey, and high school, to find out for sure if she’s the key to saving
his kingdom. Soon, Emma can’t deny her feelings for him, but can’t
explain them, either – and both she and Galen must learn more about
where she comes from and what her powers are before they can trust one
another and their feelings.

This book was not what I was expecting, but ohmysweetgoodness
I really enjoyed it. This might actually be the first mermaid story
I’ve read. I picked it up because I thought it might fit into the
mythology books I was pulling together, and it has slight references,
but was more about the world of the Syrena (mermaids/men). It pretty
much pulled me in from the beginning with one of those “girl meets
someone who she’s drawn to but doesn’t know why” kind of starts. But it
doesn’t end up continuing in quite that way because by chapter two,
we’re switched to the boy’s perspective and get a whole new view on who
he is. We also get a romance that builds on it’s own and it’s
insta-attraction, but not insta-love. I appreciated the alternating
perspectives with each chapter, although it did take me a little while
to get used to Emma’s chapters being in first person and Galen’s
chapters being in third person. Because it switched points-of-view so
often, I did feel like each time I started a new chapter it took me a
few sentences to readjust my mindset; however, I did like the way in
which it was written.

The
humorous moments in this book are plenty, and really add to the reader
being engaged with the story. Emma is innocent and has no idea what’s
going on with the world of Syrena in the beginning (and I do love a
feisty and snarky main character) who doesn’t take crap from anyone, and
Galen is flustered and confused and trying to figure it all out – both
the human world and the situation that’s going on. Galen is just such a
good, sweet guy too – the surprise date is one of the sweetest I’ve
read. There is also a little sense of political intrigue with the
backstory of the division between the Triton Syrena and the Poseidon
Syrena and how Emma fits into it all. But it’s the characters that
really make this book as fun and engaging as it is. They are written in a
way that makes me want to go hang out and laugh with them, but also in a
way that makes me totally feel for them as they try to work things out
with each other.

I
did have a couple of things that pulled me out of the story a little
bit, and I’m not sure if it’s because I was reading an advanced reader’s
edition (knowing changes can still be made in copyedits) or just some
terminology that this author uses, but there were a few wordings of
things that threw me off. When I come across something that takes me out
of the story for a minute to try to figure out what it means, it
interrupts the flow for me. My big complaint, though, is the ending. It
happened really fast and made the story feel incomplete to me. I
understand the use of cliffhangers at times, but the way this one was
done it just felt to me like the story stopped at a chapter ending
instead of a story ending. There is too much more to know and find out
and be said, so I’m sure there must be a sequel, but it will feel like a
really long wait for it because of how this one seems to end too
quickly and right in the middle of something.

Overall,
it was a keep-wanting-to-turn-pages to see what happens next kind of
book with engaging and endearing characters (Galen’s sister and best
friend are so entertaining), a touch of humor, a bit of
fantasy/supernatural world, and a sweet romance. These poor characters
are put through a lot in this story, but I enjoyed going through it with
them. I will definitely be reading the next book to find out what
happens next (thank goodness she’s writing a second book)!