Of Poseidon (edition 2012)

Anna Banks’ debut YA paranormal novel Of Poseidon has a lovely cover, an interesting story, and a couple of annoying issues. Read on…

First, the cover and book summary really had me looking forward to this book’s release so when May 22nd rolled around I bought it, downloaded it to my Nook and started reading. I was immediately struck by the author’s style which is probably my least favorite – everything is told in the immediate present tense. Here are the opening sentences from Emma’s point of view: “I smack into him as if shoved from behind. He doesn’t budge, not an inch. Just holds my shoulders and waits.” The next chapter focuses on Galen and is written in the third person present tense as such: “Galen frowns. The hair color had thrown him off too – before he had touched her. The simple contact of grasping her arm when she fell dispensed any doubts. The Syrena are always attracted to their own kind…” Something about the present tense really bothers me and I find myself not as involved in stories told in this manner. The story itself, however, was interesting enough that I continued reading and found moments of humor, romance, and angst that kept me entertained.

The shark incident described in the book summary actually occurs early in the book is pretty tragic. I was not expecting things to play out the way they did and was left rather stunned by what occurred. The main purpose of the scene, though, was for Galen to see Emma’s special gift in action, as the gift is pivotal to his underwater kingdom’s survival. What was interesting, though, was that Emma didn’t even realize what she was doing! Galen has to do some serious convincing later in the book to get Emma to realize she is special and somewhat more than human. I thought it was funny, too, that what Galen saw as a gift that would lead to food for his people was seen by Emma as something she would never use in that manner because it would be a betrayal to talk with a fish and then eat it. I’m going to have to agree with her on this point – if I was actually able to converse with my food, I wouldn’t be able to eat it either!

Emma and Galen are pretty well-developed characters that I generally enjoyed getting to know. They are drawn to each other from their first encounter, but experience ups and downs in their relationship. Emma has some spunkiness that makes her stand up to Galen whenever she feels he is being overbearing. He, in turn, has moments of vulnerability that help off-set some of his less endearing traits. His inconsistent attitude towards Emma is one of the issues I had with the story, though. While you can see he is falling hard for Emma, there are several points where he doesn’t seem to respect her is an adult (she is 18 to his 20), ordering her around and even stalking her on a date. Emma’s reactions to the orders and stalking are not that great either – she tends to ignore his orders as soon as he is out of the area and do what she wants. It’s even worse with the stalking, as she actually apologizes to her perfectly decent date and leaves with Galen despite his attitude! I get that he is trying to protect her (or thinks he is) by giving orders, but instead of confronting him and asking “why?” Emma just goes behind his back to do what she wants. In the grand scheme of the book, the scenes are relatively minor which is why I didn’t deduct more stars from my rating; they did annoy me a bit, though.

Two secondary characters were entertaining, but also had their drawbacks – Galen’s sister Rayna and his friend Toraf. Toraf has asked Rayna to be his mate, but she continually rejects hims. He is a nice enough guy, and I actually thought it was sweet when Galen recalled how physically sick Toraf became after the first rejection, but I was not too pleased that he went ahead with the mating ceremony without her! Yes, she is basically married to him without her knowledge and, even though they are perfect for each other, I wasn’t too thrilled to have her forced into the relationship. Rayna herself is a strong character, but she is also a brat so it was a little difficult to get to like her. She did grow on me as I read further, but she does not make a good first impression.

I found Galen’s underwater world interesting and I liked how the history of his kingdom (created by Triton) and the neighboring kingdom (created by Poseidon) were linked and developed. It was efficiently done by Banks and provided just enough information for me to feel connected to it, but not so much that it felt like information overload (which I have experienced with a book or two in the past). Efficient is a good word for this book; pacing, characterization, and storyline are all developed enough to keep the reader’s interest and draw them in, without having moments of lag or excess. Even the romance is evenly paced, building from the initial attraction of the characters.

Overall, Of Poseidon is a solid debut novel from Anna Banks with bits of humor, romance, a steady pace, and well-developed characters. There are definitely some annoyances in regard to character actions and responses to situations, but the storyline itself is entertaining and moves along efficiently. The biggest drawback in my mind was the author’s writing style, with everything in either first-person present tense (Emma) or third-person present tense (Galen). This style made it difficult for me to connect deeply with the book, but may not be an issue for other readers. Even with the annoyances I enjoyed the story and will probably check out the next book in the series when it is released. ( )

Originally Posted @ Novel Reveries
Considering that it was another YA book that had the romantic paranormal clichés to grapple with, I actually loved it! The ending is unexpected and I hate that it ended that way! Told in the perspective of both Emma and Galen, the book consumed my interest from the start and made the book impossible to put down. I've never read any other books involving mermai-- uh, I mean Syrena and so this was a different experience for me when it came down to subject matter, as well as the problems the characters have to face. The subtle sense of humor mixed with the tingles of romance created a pleasant reading atmosphere as I drove through the pages. I thought Emma's character was especially delightful and was well rounded in description through her expressions, actions and situation handling and I cannot wait to read more about her (and Galen, Rayna & Toraf) in the next book. ( )

I've heard this is very sexist and I am not interested for that reason.

I've heard this is very sexist and I am not interested for that reason.

Originally posted here.

I really, really would like to find a mermaid book that I like a lot, but that search will be continuing. Of Poseidon is a book that most readers are probably going to love or be entirely annoyed by. Banks has a definite style, one that will either amuse and enchant you, or that will make you roll your eyes vigorously over and over again. For me, it was the latter.

Problem one is the host of YA tropes in the characters and their relationship to one another. Emma, a card-carrying member of the Bella Swan school of heroines, is exceedingly clumsy: "I'm betting Cinderella didn't feel this foolish, but then again, Cinderella wasn't as clumsy as an intoxicated walrus" (2). Note, too, Banks' sense of humor. This pretty much captures it perfectly. Emma meets Galen, Syrena prince, by tripping and smashing her face into his chest. We are treated to these inner thoughts:

"Tripping is bad enough. Tripping into someone is much worse. But if that someone has a body that could make sculpted statues jealous—and thinks you've broken your nose on one of his pecs—well, that's when tripping runs a distant second to humane euthanasia." (5)

This girl seriously needs to sort out her priorities. Also, she spends way too long thinking about the awkwardness of the situation. While she's thinking, she remains plastered against him, because obviously that's less weird. Everyone trips sometimes. He would laugh and move on if it were the real world. It's not though, so no one's phased by how long she presses her face against his chest on first acquaintance. Here's one more quote to explain my distaste for Emma: "If stupid were a disease, I'd have died of it by now" (119). This attitude is so unhealthy. I encourage girls not to think of themselves this way, even as a joke.

Galen, of course, is drawn to her from first meeting, purportedly because his mermaid (sorry, Syrena) senses are tingling. Meant to be together, blah, blah, blah. They met while she was on vacation (during which time her best friend got eaten by a shark). She goes back to Jersey and he shows up in her school with an identical schedule. When she tries to avoid him after the first class let out, he grabbed her wrist and, when she tries to pull away, he grips harder (41). This is a primo sign of a controlling guy. I was not surprised to learn that he had 'serial-killer eyes' (290). Among his other charming qualities, he also bosses her around constantly and takes advantage of her memory loss to convince her to accompany him somewhere.

I would also like to point out that Emma completely forgets about Chloe's death and that she's supposed to be sad within a day of Galen's showing up at her school. Meanwhile, her mother hears that Emma tripped and hit her head, freaks out and accuses Emma of sleeping with Galen, her boyfriend. The two are not dating and she refuses to believe anything else. He was a transfer; it was his first damn day at that school. WHAT WHAT WHAT?

The other big problem I have is the inconsistency of what the Syrena know about humans. Galen is an ambassador to the humans, which basically means a spy. He is bewildered by: phone books, people having more than one name (first and last), lip gloss, and countries. At the same time, he is capable of using a phone (likely a fancy modern one) and driving a car (note: one with a manual transmission). He was also capable of passing all of the high school classes she was taking. Plausibility fail.

Of Poseidon had some seriously major flaws, as I've pointed out, but it was still a quick and enjoyable read. I suspect many people will enjoy it more than I did. ( )