I will just come right out and say that Of Poseidon by Anna Banks did not work for me. I unfortunately had a rough time bringing myself to care about the book, which sucks because I want to get into this whole mermaid trend. Of Poseidon is about Emma and opens up with Emma and her best friend Chloe walking the beach in Florida. Emma runs smack into this guy with startling blue eyes then she goes swimming in the ocean. While swimming, Chloe is attacked by a shark and dies while Emma tries to stop the shark. I know.  She then goes back home to the Jersey Shore where lo and behold the guy with blue eyes shows up and is in her school and ALL OF HER CLASSES.
Of Poseidon
It turns out that the guy is a Syrena, his name is Galen and Emma has sent  his senses tingling, because she’s a Syrena too. Pretty much the rest of Of Poseidon is Emma reacting to her discovery that she’s a mermaid and learning to use her mermaid gifts. Oh yeah and Emma and Galen fighting each other and fighting their attraction to each other. Also Galen has an annoying sister Rayna who is kind of a fireball and engaged without her consent to this other mermaid, Toraf, who okay, is kind of funny, but makes my skin crawl with the non-consent thing.
I think my biggest issue with Of Poseidon is that it is very confusing. It alternates between Emma’s first person perspective and a third person perspective that follows Galen. I felt unable to get my bearings and feel grounded in the story, because just when I would get comfortable with one perspective, it would switch. For me, the technique did not work at all for the story. I think that maybe I would have better been able to connect if the author would have just picked one narration style and stuck with it instead of this alternation.
Galen, the love interest, just didn’t do it for me. You guys he was such a creepy stalker and he would get violent if other guys became interested in Emma. And okay, I get that he lives in the ocean and their society and social norms are different from ours, but as a human woman reading this I felt the relationship was incredibly unhealthy and unsexy. Sorry, give me a good old fashioned romance based on mutual respect and trust over this any day. I just did not like how Galen was very insistent on being in control.
Emma as a character is a bit of a snooze. Honestly the only defining characteristic I can think of is her blonde hair and purple eyes. And FYI every time her purple eyes were mentioned, I giggled as wrong as that sounds. I really wish that I could have connected more with Emma while reading about her, but I just felt sort of lukewarm about her.
I think that I would have enjoyed Of Poseidon more if it had stayed in one perspective, if I found the characters interesting and if the mythology played a larger role.
Disclosure: Received for review via Netgalley.
Other reviews of Of Poseidon by Anna Banks:
The Book Swarm – “A fabulous summer read”
Paranormal Indulgence – “this book is, seriously, HILARIOUS.”
Literary Exploration – “Fun, quirky story”
Miss Remmer’s Review – “whisked me away to a reality I could imagine filled with characters I adored”
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Finally, more people that see it! Harmony and I did not get this book or it’s appeal at all. Glad we’re not alone.
Nope you are not alone at all. To be honest, I thought I was the only one for awhile there. I guess that’s the good thing about negative reviews, it shows that we often aren’t alone in our tastes of books, for good or bad.
I will not be reading this one. It really does sound like a retread of other badly written YA paranormals.
Awww. I usually like YA paranormals… but yeah.
I mean, some people really liked the snark, so that’s something.
Sorry you didn’t like this one! I have heard great things about it but then also seen reviews like yours. I want to like it too because hello, mermaids! But seeing as how I have 897832 books on my to-read list, this one will probably have to wait awhile. Thanks for the review! 🙂
I think you should still give it a shot, Lauren. Different things work for different people, ya know?
I’m kind of surprised that you didn’t like this one because it seems like you and I are often on the same page about the books we read. I ended up really liking it, and actually posted my review today as well, but I can understand why the book didn’t work for you. Thanks for the honest review!
Yeah, that is weird. I don’t know I guess certain things just don’t work for me when I read.
Anyways, I am glad you really liked this book, Sarah!
This one is getting so many mixed reviews I can’t decide if I really want to read it to see what my own opinion is or just skip it entirely. I really want to get on the mermaid bandwagon, because I know it’s a huge trend right now, but for some reason I just can’t.
I think it’s always worth forming your own opinion. There are a lot of people who really loved it and so you might love it to ya know? And I’d hate for someone to miss out on a book that is a potential favorite for them by not reading it because I disliked it.
Dude! I agree with you all the way through. I read this a couple of weeks ago and I’m still thinking about how ridiculous and not good it was. Especially the creeptasticness of Galen. I’ve seen people say they wish they could marry him and I’m like…O_O.
Yes. I don’t get that or the whole appeal, I mean sure he’s good looking, I guess. But that fades and I don’t see personality traits that endear him to me.
I totally agree with your conclusions.
<3
Oh man! I’m sorry this one didn’t work for you. I totally get your perspective though. When I look back on it I have similar thoughts. But while reading I was totally sucked in. Have you tried “Lies Beneath?”
I haven’t tried Lies Beneath. It’s just not on my priorities to read right now and I am totally okay with that. 🙂
I’m really not sure about this mermaid trend. I have yet to read a novel with mermaid mythology and I’m still trying to decide which one would be worth my time.
I have heard that Monstrous Beauty is fabulous and engrossing from people I trust (read: Jen at Makeshift Bookmark) so I think that is the one you should check out.
I read this one a few weeks back, and I’d have to say…my opinions were pretty similar to yours. I think I might have enjoyed it slightly more than you, given that I’m still willing to read the sequel (though I definitely won’t be buying it), but I still had quite a few issues with it.
See, that’s great. I am glad you liked it more than I did. I am also glad to know that I am not the only one who feels this way.