Title: Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1)
Author: Anna Banks
Release Date:  May 22, 2012 (hardcover)
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 336
Source: ARC received from publisher

Overall: 3 Stars

Summary:

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.

My Thoughts: 
Despite the faults I might have found with Of Poseidon, I still enjoyed reading the novel. There's an addictive quality to Anna Banks's words that makes it difficult to set the book down for even a moment! The cover for Of Poseidon, while absolutely beautiful, is rather misleading though as it suggests a darker theme for the storyline, but the book is actually surprisingly light.

Humans have always fascinated Galen, but after he literally bumps into Emma at a beach, he's taken aback when he notices the violet eyes which mark her as one of the Syrena, a mermaid. It's only after he witness a deadly encounter in the water that he becomes more determined than ever to find out more about Emma, because if his suspicions are right, she could be the key to uniting two kingdoms: the houses of Triton and Poseidon. Because of Emma's ability to speak to and command fish, Galen believes she's somehow a descendant of Poseidon.

I was very much intrigued by the mythology behind the Syrena, so I was certainly just as attentive as Emma when it came to explanations of their underwater world. I couldn't really take any of the characters too seriously though; they acted so childishly at times when the situation really did call for them to be more mature. Galen and Emma were cute together, but I didn't feel anything particularly passionate that would make me swoon. Maybe that will change in the next book though... 

I usually don't find it too difficult to read dual narration, but it took some adjusting to get used to it this time around as Emma's point of view was written in first person, whereas Galen's was in third person. There's also enough description to visualize what's happening in the book, which is absolutely great, but when it came to the emotional aspects, I felt the writing only began to brush the surface.

Of Poseidon had lots of potential, but in the end, I couldn't shake the feeling of being disappointed in a way because I had been expecting something different. I'm still not really convinced about the appeal of the mermaid genre, but maybe it's just because I haven't found the right book yet. Anna Banks's debut novel Of Poseidon is perfect if you're looking for a summer read that is lighter on the paranormal side. There's also a twist at the end of the book that's left me really curious to see what will happen next in book two, Of Triton!  

Thanks so much to Raincoast Books for providing this review copy!