Of Poseidon
By: Anna Banks
Goodreads Rating: 4.03
Pages: 327
Format: Hardcover
First Edition Published: 2012
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon
Goodreads Synopsis
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
“Morning tide makes a great companion when you don’t want to be around people. It soothes and comforts and doesn’t ask for anything. But the sun does. The higher it gets, the more I am reminded that nothing stops time. There is no escaping it.”
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks is an entertaining sea tale that follows two characters from two completely different worlds, and the search to find the one who has the gift of Poseidon.
Our story opens up on a sunny beach in Florida where our two main characters run into eachother–quite literally. Emma is with her friend Chloe during their summer vacation when they meet Galen for the first time. Galen is the prince of the Syrena (aka mermaids) as well as the ambassador to humans. Basically, what that means is Galen goes on land every so often to trade and get information about humans and then reflects what he learns to the Syrena population. This time, Galen is sent to land to find the girl who he’s heard can talk to fish (aka the gift of Poseidon).
Banks tells the story in first person point of view from the perspective of both Galen and Emma. I have to admit how much I love when a narrative is told in dual perspective. It especially works in the case of this tale in particular. If we would have gotten only Emma’s point of view, it honestly would have felt like something was missing.
I think the best part of Of Poseidon was reading about the characters and their relationship to one another. I also loved seeing how Emma grew throughout the story from a nervous teenager to someone who is more sure of herself and who she is as a person. The fact that she and Galen’s sister Rena started off hating each other and eventually grew to have each other’s back was also a definite plus.
One detail I was not expecting, was to laugh out loud as much as I did. There were times when I would read a sentence and burst out laughing and my significant other would look at me like I was crazy. I often find that it’s easy to make a person cry when writing a story but what it comes down to is if an author can make the reader laugh–now that’s something to be said for.
In terms of pacing, the story moved right along at an advanced pace. I found myself at times not being able to put the book down because I wanted to know what happens next. Almost every chapter left me wanting more, and I think the easy to read writing style Banks has really helped with that.
The best part about this book was the ending. It ended on such a cliffhanger that I immediately wanted to start the sequel, Of Triton. I won’t spoil the ending because this is indeed a spoiler free review but I will say that it will definitely leave you wanting more.
Overall, Of Poseidon was an amazing story. It is a quick read and although it is technically a fantasy because mermaids and such, it reads more like a contemporary than anything. If I had the option to change one thing about the story as I whole I don’t think I would. I loved it just as it is.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review!
Until next time,
Rating
(5)
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