Book Review: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

By: Anna Banks

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Released on: May 22nd, 2012

Source: ARC from publisher to review

5 stars: I Loved It!

Purchase from: MacMillan | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Galen, a Syrena prince, searches land for a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. It’s while Emma is on vacation at the beach that she meets Galen. Although their connection is immediate and powerful, Galen's not fully convinced that Emma's the one he's been looking for. That is, until a deadly encounter with a shark proves  that Emma and her Gift may be the only thing that can save his kingdom. He needs her help--no matter what the risk -quoted from Goodreads

Mermaids, sizzling romance, plenty of well written Greek mythology and the perfect amount of suspense makes this one debut I couldn't get enough of. Anna Banks's debut is seriously AWESOME! With the recent release of mermaid books, this is one that will definitely stand out and shine. What Anna does not only with her mythology, but her over all story was fabulous! I loved that it's both mythical and believable. Okay, it's believable if you like to think that hot mer-people that live out in ocean, which I will freely admit I'd like to think they do (don't judge me). At least in mind they do. 

Oh for the love of Poseidon and Triton! The characters in this book are awesome, and I loved getting to know this cast of snarky, well developed characters. I don't have enough space in this post to list all the things I loved about Emma, Galen, and the rest of the characters. Anna did such a great job with each of them. They went from being characters in a book, to being characters I felt like I was hanging out with, and I loved that. They made me laugh out loud, sigh and cheer them on. Anna also does an amazing job with telling this story from two different points of view, from Emma and Galen. It was incredibly easy for me to know who was talking during each chapter, because of the distinct voices Emma and Galen both have. Let me just say, hello Galen! 

Emma is one of those fiery, average, teenage girls who ends up finding out she has an extraordinary gift. It's her gift that Galen, the drop dead gorgeous Prince of Syrena was sent to land to find. Not realizing she's anything special, it takes everything Galen has to get her to see what she can do. Let me just say, he's got his worked cut out for him, because Emma doesn't fall for his hot boy looks as easily as everyone else. With the help of his sister and good friend Toraf, Galen introduces Emma to an entire world she knew nothing about. These two definitely have the hots for each other, and I couldn't help but snicker over the things they say to each other and some of the things they do. Toraf and Galen's sister Rayna can dish the snark just as well. The relationship these four have was believable, and extremely easy for me to get into. 

This book's lore rocked! The world, the explanation for how Galen and his people could be above land, the Greek mythology that makes up Anna's story and her creative spin on it was so well done. I got sucked right into this enticing world, and I really enjoyed how Anna made both the under sea world and the human world so creditable. Aside from the smoldering paranormal romance between the characters, I fell in love with Anna's mythical world. I seriously couldn't get enough of it, and the fact Anna backs up her reasoning for some of the things that happen made the story that much more creditable for me. I loved the seeing of that vs just the telling. It's not just the awesome romance and character chemistry that I really enjoyed, I liked the mystery and the quest to find answers over how Emma could have the gift of Poseidon when she's also so human. The shocking plot twist at the very end of the book makes me wish I had the sequel like now! I didn't see that one coming. 

If you're looking for that perfect summer read to spend the afternoon with, than I highly recommend picking up this debut! This is one hot, sizzling, summer read!