Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Release Date: 22nd May, 2012

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Pages: 324pgs

The Story

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen - literally, ouch! - both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

The Review

A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!

Anna Banks's debut novel OF POSEIDON is a rich and enthralling tale revolving around two main characters, Emma and Galen, whom share a powerful combination of secrets and lies. Only . . . they just don't know it yet. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Jersey Shore, this refreshing young adult romance novel is wrought with all the right elements in all the right places - including tragedy, mystery, adventure, mythology and of course the best one of all being the romance. This book definitely has it all through my eyes!

Emma's life changes at her local beach, when her best friend Chloe was attacked by a shark and died on the scene. Unable to save her friend from a horrible tragedy, Emma develops a new power - literally scaring off the sharks in the murky waters - and with it comes a new discovery that connects her to something of the unknown . . . something we would only believe in fairytales themselves. Syrena, another word for mermaids. As Emma grieves for her lost friend and tries to move on with her life as much as possible, a strange but an attractive young boy continues to watch over her . . . perhaps a little too closely than she would like him to. But the question is why is he stalking her? What could he possibly want with her? Galen on the other hand, the boy who is intrigued by what he witnessed beneath the waters and of Emma's "power", is the prince of Syrena and is sent on an urgent quest to prevent a marriage and find a mate to be bonded with for life. Only the last thing he expects is to have a connection with a forbidden human, Emma, and as he struggles with this undeniable connection, it's up to Galen to save his people and ultimately his future.

I was really excited to have the opportunity to read this title early and I'm so ever thankful that the publisher accepted my request on netGalley. So what did I think of it? Honestly I wasn't sure at first when I read the opening lines of the book. I admit, I was a little confused by it. But once I got my bearings straight and understood what was going on in the scene and where exactly I was, my opinion soon changed of it and as I imagined - what with me already having a fair love of mermaid books in the past - the end result was me loving every moment of it! Sure, the book may contain a couple of cliches here and there, and a romance like most others . . . but the main thing was enjoying it and that's exactly what happened right here!

For me the strongest element presented in the book was the main characters. Emma, the stubborn girl who'd always stood her ground, was an absolute pleasure to read about. She was smart, strong and tough-skinned, which I admired deeply and never did these traits falter. Not even once. And she also had the surprise of being easy to relate to as well and that's quite hard to find in young adult literature, so again I appreciated this in her character. Galen, the boy with enough intrigue to remind you of most heroes, was definitely a boy you could love and hate (but mostly love). Galen may have been naive for the majority of the book and cared too proudly of his duty to his people, but once you put him together with the fiery-tempered girl Emma, everything they are about to discover about themselves will set off a great set of intense drama, spark-flying romance and a quick-humoured dialog which everyone will love. Like I said before, the relationship between these two main characters was the strongest part of the book.

Another thing that connected this wonderful mythological-based story, was how it was told in two perspectives between Emma (in first-person) and Galen (in third-person) and I love any author whom adds this depth to their books. When you write about one character alone, you would think it would be hard to do so. But to be able to write about two characters and actually pull it off . . . to me that's quite a talent to possess and in this case I thought Anna Banks did an amazing job in engaging her reader with two very different people from two very different worlds, and still manage to pull them together successfully. And to be honest with you, I don't think I would've loved it any other way if we had only been shown one side of the story.

Despite my dislike of the cruel cliffhanger that I was delivered with (it was totally unfair and uncalled for if I do say so myself), but overall I thought Anna Bank's debut novel OF POSEIDON was a well-balanced book with just the right amount of romance, lies and mysteries, and was a whole ball of fun. Honestly there's not a single bad thing I could say about this book except that I am now left empty-handed with no sequel and when can I possibly get one in the near future, Ms. Banks, because I'm dying here? If you love mermaids or love the simple joy of reading about strong very strong heroines falling for their gorgeous-but-sometimes-frustrating-heroes, then I would recommend this book in a heartbeat. Both original, fast-paced, engaging and romantic, this book will have begging for more secrets to be unlocked!

The Rating

4/5 stars