Review: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
Of Poseidon #1
Release Date: May 22nd, 2012 from Feiwel & Friends
Details: 336 pages, hardcover
My version: ARC
Genre: Young Adult > Paranormal > Mermaids
Source: Publisher (Thank you Feiwel & Friends!)
Summary (Goodreads):

Galen, a Syrena prince, searches land for a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. It’s while Emma is on vacation at the beach that she meets Galen. Although their connection is immediate and powerful, Galen's not fully convinced that Emma's the one he's been looking for. That is, until a deadly encounter with a shark proves  that Emma and her Gift may be the only thing that can save his kingdom. He needs her help--no matter what the risk.

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Of Poseidon is a book that I knew I had to read as soon as I saw the cover (shallow much? Yep!), but I think I was expecting a bit of Greek Mythology as well.

I loved the mythology behind the Syrena's and how solid it was. How they viewed humans, their history and all of that. I enjoyed putting the pieces together with Galen about how Emma is how she is and why she is what she is. The whole mystery behind Emma's DNA and who the mystery stalker was kept me flipping pages. The romance between Galen and Emma seemed a little... weird. Emma was always trying to rebel against Galen even he painfully obviously meant well. How hard is it for females in YA to understand he just wants you to be safe! There's a stalker in the water they can't identify, STAY OUT OF THE WATER. NO ONE KNOWS WHO/WHAT YOU ARE! I mean COME ON Emma! Aside from that, I kind of really liked their relationship, it was cute in a you-know-you-like-him-quit-lying sort of way. The thing with Chloe though, just sucked. While the pacing of this read wasn't too fast (in my experience), it was entertaining and funny. 

Emma sort of bugged me. One minute she had a million questions and seemed to really really like Galen, the next she seemed like she literally could not stand being two feet from him. The girl made my head spin. I get that maybe it was a defense mechanism since she wasn't completely sure how Galen felt about her, but no need to be a beezy to him all the time! Her emotions were constantly all over the place and she could do some really hurtful crap. I think Emma needs some anger management classes lol.

I loved Galen. I know everyone's getting on him about this stalking thing, but honestly I didn't see what was the big deal since he JUST found out that Paca "had the gift" I understand his desperate need to get to Emma. But at the same time, isn't this partly Emma's fault too? For not hearing him out the first time and just turning her back on him? Galen does his job, it's a crappy job to do, but it's something has to do and I couldn't imagine being torn in that way. To fall in love with someone and have to give them up to your brother because that's just how shit works? That sucks yo. But I loved how he handled things, for the most part stayed in control and how much he really liked Emma and how he was always gentle with her.

Honestly, I hated Rayna in the beginning. Then I liked her, then I hated her again. She needs to learn to filter her mouth. Talk about a princess, geez. I was cheering for Emma when she threw Rayna into the wall. Serves her right! I loved Toraf! He was definitely the comic relief in the whole thing and I loved his loyalty to Galen. 

Can I just talk about the cliffhanger for a minute? OMG RU*(#&*#&$#$^&#T!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, did NOT see that coming. I'm totally itching for book #2 now, this is insane. THIS IS INSANE!!!!

Overall, I did enjoy the read. It was a refreshing twist on mermaids with enjoyable characters (well, most of them lol) and a shocking surprise twist. And a really really hot kissing scene! The only thing that bothered me wasn't the alternate view points, but the face that Emma was told in first person and Galen was told in third. This confused me for a good chunk of the book.

Rachel spits the wine back in her glass. "Oh, sweetie, uh... that sort of thing's been frowned upon for years now."

---

"Or how about, 'Maybe if you'd stop trying to kiss my sister, she'd stop basing your head with a rock.' How does my kissing her have anything to with with her basking my head with a rock? If you ask me, that's just a result of poor parenting-"

"Toraf."

"Oh, and my favorite: 'If you play with a lionfish, you're going to get pricked.' I wasn't playing with it! I was just helping it swim faster by grabbing its fins-"

"TOR-AF."

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