Thursday, 14 June 2012

REVIEW: Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks

Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon, #1) 
Author: Anna Banks
Series: Of Poseidon
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Amazon: Of Poseidon

Synopsis. (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.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks is another of my most anticipated reads for 2012 and I am thankful it didn’t fail to disappoint, it kept me riveted from the first to the very last page.

Galen is a Syrena Prince and on land to find someone he has heard about who has possibly broken the syrena law by fraternizing with humans and who he believes also holds the Gift of Poseidon, the ability to communicate with the marine life and someone who could be the key to ending the feud between the  House of Triton and House of Poseidon.

Emma whilst holidaying with her best friend accidentally (literally) runs into the gorgeous Galen but he and his sister Rayna who is with him aren’t exactly friendly but they are extremely intrigued by her; it is whilst on this beach that she loses her friend to a shark attack and Galen sees firsthand Emma utilize her abilities but there is doubt about who and what she is because of her physical differences and the fact she is clueless about what they are.

Galen believes Emma is the last living proof of the Poseidon line which dwindles her choice of a mate to one, Galen’s brother Grom but it doesn’t stop him holding deep feelings for her, but nothing he can act on. I loved the chemistry, attraction and banter between Galen and Emma – at times he came across stalker-ish but I think it was more out of naivety than to cause grief; she always seemed to set him straight about it anyway. They tiptoed around their feelings which led to a bit of miscommunication but I really adored them together and am keen to see how it progresses, if it does in the sequel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the fantasy and mythology Ms Banks offered us, I am not a big fan of ‘mermaid’ books but I was instantly intrigued by Of Poseidon. The world building was fascinating; I was mesmerized by the detail provided of the underwater world and its dwellers.

I found the switch between Emma's first person POV and Galen's third person POV to be quite confusing at times; I tend to prefer one or the other, other than this I really enjoyed Ms Banks detailed writing.

Of Poseidon is filled with life changing discoveries for Emma but she adapts well. She is a character who is feisty and despite what she went through in the beginning of the book she came through with strength and courage. Galen is also a character who I felt grew; he had huge responsibilities and was noble in his quest to solve the underwater world problems. I also enjoyed the secondary characters although I found Emma’s mother to be quite strange; Rayna and Toraf were great as was Rachel.

Overall, Of Poseidon was a captivating read with a unique premise. I am definitely eager to get hold of the next book in this series.

4 comments:

  1. Great review! I plan on reading this soon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fab review, Sharon! I keep seeing great things about this one. I wasn't aware it's a dual POV - that's always tricky for an author to get right. I'm super glad that you liked Emma and Galen!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I so so want to read this book it looks amazing I have it on my amazon wishlist it looks really good. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I enjoyed this book too, I would have liked it to be even darker but a cool twist on merpeople!

    ReplyDelete

Thank-you so much for stopping by today!

I love to receive your comments, please leave your blog link & I'll be sure to stop by.

I also respond to your comment here on my blog :)