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| Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks |
Summary 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 . . .
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."
Rating:
Cute... but I’m brewing with tons of questions.
Of Poseidon takes us into the world of mermaids... no, wait Syrena – the term “mermaid” insults Galen and company, but come to think of it they actually mean the same. I’m from the Philippines and I’ll give you a small trivia or translation that Syrena actually means mermaid/siren in the Filipino language, only it’s spelled “sirena” and we call the males “sireno”.
Wikipedia says: In Philippine Mythology, Sirena is mythological aquatic creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish. Also, they’re guardians of water, so to speak. Doesn’t sound so different to a mermaid’s definition to me so why the feeling of insult? Just saying.
Now readers are introduced to Emma and Galen, and you’ll be reading through shifting points of view from them.
Emma is a “human” or so she thought she was until Galen, a royal Syrena, indentifies her as one of their kind. Only the evidence contradicts with Emma’s way of living and the fact that she doesn’t have fins, among other things.
I’m not particularly a fan of any of the characters in this book. Emma was too stubborn but then again, she’s a teen so like there’s anything new to that. Galen is what every merman’s image is: muscular, hot…the works, in other words, typical. They both are. Characters shaped into what we have read, seen, or heard of already. Typical.
Also I think the whole half-Breed thing is a cliché, been there, done that. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy reading this. It’s hilarious!
I like it that I didn’t get stuck with an overly brooding, why-so-serious male character. Galen has a naughty *giggle*, hot-tempered, witty and cute personality and it just drives Emma crazy, as she does too with Galen. The romance is light and sweet but not so cheesy that you just happen to squirm in your seat while reading.
I guess my problems are with how the narrative came about.
Let me just put it out there (for the nth time) that I am a very, VERY impatient reader. LOL. So, when I didn’t get explanations regarding Galen’s theories about Emma’s lineage not until he explained it to her (which is probably near half of the book while his statement was near the beginning), I was annoyed. His certainty was just unnerving that if I were in the book I’d probably knock him on the head and ask him when he’s actually going to let me in on the details. I think a little history on the beginning would help but I guess that’s not the author’s style since the details were done in the middle part of the book… *shrug* o well.
Another thing that confused me was the fact that Emma can’t breathe under water (she can hold her breath longer than an ordinary human) and yet she can talk normally underwater. So how is it possible that she’s holding her breath and talk at the same time? I’m trying it right now but I just sound stupid. Ha! Ha!
I also don’t get how the “bonding” (wedding) of Syrena goes. How could a girl get married without being present on the wedding??? Ooops! You might be wondering who got married… well, just read who it was but don’t worry I didn’t spoil you that much. *evil snicker*
I’m not sure how to settle my opinion about this book, there are a few slips on the details but reading this was still fun. I admit that at first I was cringing while reading it but it kind of grew on me as I read through. And that ending… oh for crying out loud! I’ll leave it at that.
*Thank you, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for the copy of Of Poseidon.
