Of Poseidon by Anna BanksThe Syrena Legacy #1
Publisher: Feiwei & Friends
Release Date: May 22, 2012
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.
Taken from Goodreads
Start: 1/28/2014 | End: 1/30/2014 | Pages: 324 | Rating: 3.5 Stars
My Thoughts:
I don't know what happened to me, but I ended up finishing this book in two days. This book wasn't even as good as some of my reads from last year, but then again I usually read adult fiction. So although Of Poseidon is 324 pages, it's easy to understand, and therefore a fast read.
Before reading books, I usually skim reviews made by other readers on Goodreads, just to get a taste of what I'm about to read (without spoiling myself of course). My review below will kind of reflect on what I've read from these reviews, using my own opinions of the book.
The truth is that I'm a sucker for mermaid love stories, especially when it is the guy that is a mermaid--excuse me, Syrena--while the girl is human. There's another book almost like this one, called Ingo. The story starts right off with Galen bumping into Emma, literally. He's there because he got a message from one of his human companions that there's a girl with the Gift of Poseidon walking around Florida. So when he finally meets her, he and his sister have their doubts. How could this girl possibly be a Syrena?
One of the first scenes of the story almost stopped me from reading, just because such a thing should not have happened. I have no idea WHY the author decided to do this, but she ends up killing Emma's best friend Chloe. And this isn't even the worst part, because a couple of chapters later, we see Emma getting over her best friend's death.
I WOULD HAVE BEEN DEPRESSED FOR AT LEAST A YEAR.
But oh noooo, a hot boy goes to your school now, and he keeps talking to you, pretending that you didn't just watch your best friend die. I really don't understand. Chloe could have stayed throughout the book, in the background or something.
Anyways, that was the only thing that really put me off edge.
The rest of the story is just Galen investigating Emma, and showing her her new Syrena abilities. Throughout the book, he realizes that he really likes her, but isn't sure what to do since it will impact the Syrena society. Anna Banks creates a society where the male Syrena basically takes control. They find their own mate by sifting, or checking out females, and then ask their fathers, or older brothers, for a marriage rite. Galen's sister, Rayna, is married to her best friend without her consent, and after she told him multiple times she did not want a mate.
Many reviewers have complained about this, but here's my view on this whole situation. Emma is completely different from any Syrena female Galen has met, and he really likes her. He likes the fact that she's independent and headstrong. There's this one point where he "scours his memory for a sweet-natured Syrena who would take care of him, who would do whatever he asked, who would never argue with him." Well that's because you didn't like any of them, which is why you don't remember anyone. I feel that Galen and Emma will be the ones to change the rules of how Syrena society is run. At least I hope so, in the next books hopefully.
I did somewhat enjoy Of Poseidon, although I wish it could've been slightly better. The author definitely could have done a better job with characterization. But other than that, I will most likely read the following books in the series.
