Monday, May 14, 2012

Review: Of Poseidon

OF POSEIDON (Of Poseidon #1)
Anna Banks
Paranormal Young Adult
324 pages
Feiwel & Friends
Available May 22nd
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
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 . . .

MY THOUGHTS
Filled with humor and dreamy sigh-inducing romance, Of Poseidon gives us two strong protagonists between whom tension crackles like we’ve wrapped our hands around a live wire, the incendiary potential of them together causing our entire bodies to hum as we wait for that potential to erupt into emotional and physical action. Emma’s first person point of view alternates with the third person present-tense of Galen, a combination that’s a touch off-putting at first until we really settle into the back and forth rhythm, and while every now and then the present tense in Galen’s case causes us to stumble, the story progresses at a quick pace and keeps us in stitches as Emma repeatedly finds herself in situations that have us blushing on her behalf.

Emma captivates us from the opening pages, her inner monologue as she debates the best course of action to salvage her dignity after smacking into a shirtless Galen on the street giving us sore cheeks as a result of a broad grin held entirely too long. She’s charmingly clumsy and self-deprecating, and when she’s introduced to the world of the Syrena (don’t call them mermaids/mermen!) she handles it with a respectable maturity. That maturity does slip now and again in her dealings with Galen though, as she often ignores his instructions to stay on land simply to be contrary and punishes him with the silent treatment when he hurts her, but for the most part we’re able to cut her some slack knowing our own behavior isn't always exemplary when our hearts suffer what feels like a fatal blow from someone we’re attracted to.

Galen for his part is as endearing as Emma, his unfamiliarity with human interaction causing him to make many a mistake where Emma is concerned, and we can’t help but want to pull him aside and give him a rundown of what not to do when dealing with a young woman. He can be both refreshingly honest–blurting sometimes inappropriate things out when he gets uncomfortable–and also alarmingly misleading (though not in a malicious way) as he struggles between what he wants most for himself and what he wants most for the Syrena. While there is plenty of heat between Galen and Emma throughout the story, there’s thankfully no instant love, instead we have a relationship deliciously full of opposites: hurt and happiness, secrets and openness, and normal and paranormal.

Overall, Of Poseidon is a thoroughly entertaining debut by Ms. Banks, her sense of humor a true highlight in this tale as we laugh so loudly and unexpectedly we startle those around us with the force of our outbursts. We’re given a solid introduction to the world of the Syrena but are left with enough mysteries to have us itching for more, and while we easily catch on to certain things long before the characters, our early knowledge does not detract from our enjoyment. The conclusion is a bit abrupt, but it’s not a significant enough drawback to hinder our amusement with the story as a whole, and we set the book aside with a smile on our faces while our fingers fly over our keyboards as we attempt to glean any information we can from the internet about the next book and its possible release date.

Rating: 4/5

37 comments:

  1. I've been noticing this book popping up more and more lately. Judging from your review, it's one I need to keep my eye on. Thanks for the awesome (as always) review, Jenny!

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  2. *claps hands and jumps up and down* Of Poseidon!! How I freaking loved this book!! This book hit me by surprise with how much I ended up loving it. I loved the humor and I loved the spark between Emma and Galen.. Ok, I loved everything to be honest here... Glad you enjoyed it too!!!

    Did I say that I am a huuuge fan of this book? :)

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  3. Hmm, I wonder if the switching between first and third person narration would annoy me... but other than that, this sounds like a great mermaid (or Syrena!) read. I haven't actually ever read one yet!

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  4. I've been looking for a fun read and I have a feeling I'm going to like this one especially if the guy is as clueless as you say :)
    Nice review

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  5. AMAZING review!! this book sound like fun ... I think we could use Humor in our life ... glad you like it :)

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  6. YAY JENNY! I loved this book and Galen and all of his awkwardly sweet inhumanness too! :') He was just so endearing that I wished I could have jumped in the book and tackle-hugged him -- sometimes because of his sweetness, and sometimes because of his obliviousness! And I feel like you just predicted my future post-reading this book because I definitely ran to check the release date for the next book after that horrible cliffhanger!!

    Gorgeous review as always, Jenny! The POV switches weren't my thing at the beginning, but I actually really liked them later on too! :) <3

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  7. I love books that make me smile! Seriously--they almost always score high in my world because I love to smile. Plus wicked smart humor is fun to read!

    Great Review Jenny!

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  8. Okay you totally had me from you're opening line! Filled with humor and dreamy sigh-inducing romance seriously I'm thinking of adding a shelf on my goodreads with all the awesome books you've recommended! And it's a debut with no insta-love? bonus! Fab review as always Jenny! :)

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  9. Yup....after I read sigh-inducing romance, I was already hooked. Ive never given this one a glance, but I may now...:) BTW talking about sigh inducing romance....I just finished Everneath over the weekend...OMW- loved it!!!

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  10. Amanda - I really enjoyed this one, Emma was cracking me up:)

    Danny - YEAH!!! I loved it too, I can't wait to see what happens next. And I adore Galen:)

    Aylee - This is one of the strongest mermaid (sorry Galen) stories I've read, I thought it was great:):) The switch in POV and the 3rd person present tense just took me a couple chapters to adjust to, and then I didn't even notice:)

    Krazzyme - Galen is adorably clueless. He and Emma together are hilarious:)

    Lilly - A big yay for humor, that was my favorite part of this book:) Besides Galen ;-)

    Mimi - ME TOO! I wanted to just take him by the hand and be like "listen, I'm going to give you some pointers, write them down" ;-)

    Felicia - Exactly. I was heaving trying to catch my breath the first chapter because I was laughing so hard:)

    Jasprit - YES, DO IT!!! And no insta love. Or love triangle. Win:)

    Tina - YAY!!!! I loved Everneath so much!!! Have you read Sweet Evil yet? That one had the same effect on me:)

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  11. Like Tina, I wouldn't have thought twice about this book but with your humor and sigh-inducing romance comment I'm going to give this one a shot. I'm still looking for a good undersea romance book. :)

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  12. The POV's sound interesting (I guess one good thing about having both a 1st & 3rd person POV is that you never get the characters confused, lol). Love that there's some humor in the story, that always makes a book better.

    Great review, Jenny! :)

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  13. Ahh, I love sigh-inducing romances. :) I can't wait to dive into this book. Your review has gotten me super excited to start it! :)

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  14. Rummanah - YAY! I've read a bunch of the mermaid/merman novels lately and this is definitely the best of them:)

    Lea - True. I could always tell who I was with, but 3rd person present tense always throws me for a loop initially, I don't know why.

    Christy - Oh good! I hope you love it:)

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  15. JENNY!!! I missed you! I don't even know if I'm back for real. Hopefully...*crosses fingers*

    Anyhow, I haven't had a ton of success with mermaid books.(I know I'm not supposed to call them that). I have read one I liked, but still. You make this one sound so good. I want to read it just to Emma and Galen so I can watch their relationship and those blush worthy moments. You make it sound so good. Me thinks I'll give it a go. I could use a good sigh inducing book. :)

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  16. Yep, sounds like we pretty much felt the same about this one. I had forgotten how the POV felt awkward to me at first. But I guess I got use to it. Glad you enjoyed it too!

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  17. Wow, this sounds really cute. I love mermaid/mermen books. The first/third tense sounds a bit strange though. Emma and Galen sound adorable.

    Sorry I haven't commented in a few days. I was in Oregon for a quick vacation.

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  18. Lots of meerpeeps around these days, dunno really, are meerpeeps hot?

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  19. Jen - I MISSED YOU!!!! I sent you an email professing my love:) I haven't had much luck with mermaid books either, but I loved this one:)

    Candace - We definitely did:)

    Alison - Emma and Galen are adorable, I wanted to hug them both:)

    Linda - Apparently they are. This is the first really successful merfolk story, though I did enjoy The Vicious Deep as well.

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  20. Aaaah! I loath tense shifts! My little brain just doesn't appreciate being scrambled up like that. *sighs* I guess I'm just going to have to look into getting a bigger one. I was thinking it was about time for an upgrade.

    Plus, who could resist the self-deprecating type? Emma sounds fun. And seriously, how can the Syrena fault us for not knowing the politically correct term? I mean, I must have missed the rally where they were burning the shell-bras in protest!

    Like my Cupcake up there (Jen) I haven't had too much success with fish tales (yes, I will be sure to skip out on deep water swimming until they get over that derogatory comment). But I think I could like this one because of the humor, oh, and of course, the sigh inducing romance. :)

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  21. First, I have to say I loved your Charade Tour answer, and how you would never have dogs in your bed and now who is sleeping in your bed...too funny!
    I am excited that I will be reading this next week. I am looking for my first good mermaid book and I have high hopes for this one. I love the idea of crackling tension between the main characters but I am not thrilled with a first person to third person narative, I will have to see if it works for me or not. Fingers crossed that this is the mermaid book I am lookijg for!

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  22. Mmmm. Nothing wrong with bumping into a shirtless bit of adorableness! I'm excited that this book has a great sense of humor--it's on my Bout of Books list and I think I'm reading it NEXT!!! Woot!

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  23. I just finished this one, Jenny, and it's interesting how stuff can be interpreted so differently. I didn't like this one as much as you so I'm hoping I'll like my next mermaid story a lot more.

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  24. I just read this book over the weekend and love it! The ending had me gasping.

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  25. I've got this one on my soon-to-be-reviewed list, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it as much as you did! I have to admit, the mythology does sound intriguing. :)

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  26. I love the ocean, yet I'm just not into all the mermaid/siren books that have been coming out. However, this one sounds like it has a lot more to offer. Seems like the characters would work in a lot of settings.

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  27. LOVE MERMAIDS!

    Oh and I just finished this one not too long ago. Oh I agree did like that it wasn't insta-love but that also ment that I wasn't always too sure of Galen's swoon-worthiness. I mean I KNEW it was there, but he convinced me in the end. I can't wait to see what happens next. I need the next one now. NOW! ;D

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  28. This is a new to me book; I will have to add it to my TBR list. I think it seems like the perfect summer read! Great review, Jenny!

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  29. I've read nothing but good things! I'm looking forward to this. I've never read anything featuring mermaids. Great review!

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  30. I seriously loved Emma and I seriously fell for the romance even when it got to be too sweet at times. It's just so... wonderful. It's lighthearted with touches of seriousness and, like I said, the two romances are fab. AND THAT CLIFFHANGER. What a way to end things!

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  31. Okay, what you said! That's what I wanted to say! I didn't even mention the humor and yet it had so many laughable moments. I loved this book! Anything that has humor, embarrassment, and romance it is my kind of book. That was me growing up with an emphasis on embarrassed.
    I have a review to write tomorrow, could you write it for me??? I loved the book so I'll just ramble. And you're so coherent! Great review Jenny!

    Heather

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  32. I'm dying to read this book !! The characters sound amazing .. I read an interview of the 2 main male characters on the Bewitched Bookworms' blog and it was sooo awesome !! Thanks for the great review Jenny !!

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  33. Okay, call me crazy--but I wasn't a fan of this book at all! I agree about the beginning of the book: I was completely hooked from the first chapter. But then the narration started to grate on me (with the "ohmysweetgoodness" phrases), and the romance didn't sell me at all. *shrug* I think it's a personal preference. Thanks for the review! :)

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  34. Aw, I love your review! You definitely make me even more excited when it comes to picking this one up. I always thought it sounded great, so it's nice to see it proved to be in your case! I definitely hope I'll be agreeing with you after I've finished it myself. :)

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  35. Lets see what happens when it releases :)
    M.S

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  36. I just skimmed your review because I'm reading this one now. I like it but I'm not blown away so far. It seems to be the plot of almost every YA book these days.
    I do think a lot of people will really enjoy it though.

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  37. Thanks for your review :) I'm totally considering this one but I keep hearing opposing things.

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