Spotlight: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

 

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.

Review
Words cannot describe the emotions I'm feeling right now. I finished this yesterday, but the shock and the amazement of the sheer greatness of this book still hasn't worn off of me yet. I went into this book without many expectations, because this wasn't on my TBR list in the first place, and I have this pact not to read any reviews until after I've finished a book so my opinion won't be swayed. I had no idea what to expect with this book, and let me tell you, as I was literally tearing through this book, I loved it. Like, to the extent where I spent most of my social studies class just reading this. (It's the teacher's fault that she reads at half a foot per hour, and she insisted on reading a ten-page packet to us instead of just giving it to us and telling us to read it silently. She didn't even explain afterwards! It was just boring blah blah.)

This starts very quickly and really cleverly. Emma meets Galen right off the bat, by bumping into him in her typical Emma-fashion, since she's really clumsy. What I like about Emma is how strong-willed she is, even though she's a horrible klutz. Emma also has her insecurities and her doubts, and she blushes, like any normal teenager, but she has a ton of spirit and will over all of that that virtually masks it. Throughout this book, you learn a lot about Emma, especially after all she's been through, and she is one tough chick. It's hard not to love her and want to have that inimitable (vocab word!) personality she does.

After Chloe, Emma's best friend, the unshakable ball of confidence, the person Emma used to shadow, is kille when a shark attacks her, you're really unnerved but also drawn in and eager for more. When it all unfolds, you're in Galen's point of view, which actually has its advantages. Since Galen knows more about the Syrena, he can sense Emma's Syrena presence and sees that she's definitely not like the other humans. And Galen's immediately drawn to Emma, which immediately engaged me, because after having the first chapter in Emma's POV, it seems obvious that they both really liked each other.

Emma tried to save Chloe from the shark, but in the end it wasn't enough. After this whole fiasco, Galen follows Emma up from Florida, where Chloe and Emma were visiting when Chloe died, to Emma's hometown, New Jersey. So, from there, Galen and Emma's bonds strengthen, and you see them falling in love. The ironic thing is, because you can see what both of them are thinking, that they think the other person has no interest whatsoever for each other when they're both basically smitten. And Galen is one very fine person to be smitten over. He was this gentle, caring guy who showed a mask of indifference, only because he had to, but Galen was really a very strong character and perfect for Emma. He wasn't that typical broody-yet-deep badboy. He's a Syrena prince. Those are the only words I can find that can do Galen justice.

The plot was just fantastic. The pacing was great, and everything played some important role. Anna was completely in control of what was going on, and I loved every minute of reading this book. There wasn't any action, per se, but it was just how everything was written that was great. There was drama, and I honestly loved learning about what happened. I loved the concept of this, because it was like a normal mermaid book, but with a new name and a great plot that backed it up. Simple, yet so completely perfect. One minute, I'm laughing, and the next I'm biting my nails, and then I'm screaming "WHYY?"

At the end, that cliffhanger that basically ensures me reading the next book. I didn't see it coming at all, but there were definitely clues. I tried to click the Next button on my Kindle because his is what went down:

*Reads end. Calmly puts Kindle aside, walks to parents and grandparents.*
(To Dad, shaking his shoulders): WHYYYY?? WHY??? *fake-sobbing* WHYY??

Dad: *Grunts*
(Walks over to Mom, laying head on her shoulders): *Still fake-sobbing.* WHY?? WHY??
Mom: What? Eileen, stop being so dramatic.

(Walks over to Grandma, and shakes her shoulders): (In Chinese) WHY?? WHY?? (Chinese word: 为设么?)

Yeah. So, why are you still reading this? Go and pre-order this book! You know you want to. :)

Favorite Scene
I've decided to do a little "Favorite Scene" just for my YA Bound spotlight reviews, since I'll be reposting most of my reviews that I write here to my own blog, so you guys have something new to look forward to, since sometimes I add a little song-related thing into the reviews on my own blog, so why not do the same here? Well, this one scene I can't forget is one between Toraf and Emma that just had me cracking up for minutes after I'd read it. (Warning: it will be slightly spoilery)

Rayna, Galen's twin sister, is supposed to mate with Toraf (it's a Syrena tradition), but Rayna never shows interest, even though Toraf makes it obvious he loves Rayna. So Emma tells Toraf to play "hard to get" during a Syrena lesson between them while Galen and Rayna are away. And what does Toraf do? Just as Galen and Rayna resurface from a swim, Toraf tells Emma that they're going to put on a show. And then Toraf KISSES Emma. And then Galen rams into Toraf and starts hitting him, and Rayna's just really hurt. And when Toraf brushes Rayna off, Rayna's EXTREMELY hurt. I just started cracking up when that happened.

Tell me what you think of that scene!

***Sorry for the long review, but I was in the mood to rant. ;))***