Of Triton
(Of Poseidon 2)
Author: Anna Banks
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends, 2013
Genre: YA Mermaids
Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD
In this sequel to OF POSEIDON, Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half- Breeds should be put to death.
As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known?
As if learning she’s half-Syrena wasn’t bad enough, now Emma discovers she’s a half-Syrena princess and her mother is Nalia, the long-lost Poseidon princess. Things get mighty awkward when Triton king himself comes to land and her mom practically jumps him. A clash between her two lives, a choice between water or land, leaves Emma wondering if she’ll ever find a balance between her human and Syrena sides.
Of Triton is the action-filled sequel to one of my favorite mermaid series of all time!
I thoroughly enjoyed returning to the Syrena world. The Syrena are so violent! It’s one of the things that I love about them. They’re all such badasses. Once again, I loved the fish talk—silent like a “sealed-up clam,” freaking out like “a fish out of water”—and the cussing. Oh ho! SO much creativeness in cussing. But though the pace was good and I was interested in all the action, the book is almost completely missing the element of romance that was so strong and so good in the first book. Because of this I focused more on the story and less on the characters, and when that happens I tend to be more critical toward the writing itself…as you’ll see by this review.
I did think that having Emma’s POV in first person while Galen’s in third person, worked really well though the transitions sometimes took me time to get used to. Also, I don’t remember how was the prose on the first book (I didn’t comment on it in the review Of Poseidon), but some of the language in this book tried to be poetic but came out sounding downright confusing. It was just in the beginning chapters though.
Also, the beginning chapters dragged a bit for me. Nalia freaks out and she ends up kidnapping Emma. It sort of…confused me. Why couldn’t she hear what they had to say before freaking out like that? It’s why I thought the chase was silly. Then Emma sort of agreed with it and I just wanted it all to end so we could get to the main problem and conflict.
Once that whole unnecessary thing ends, we get to the meat of the story. Things are happening in the Syrena world that don’t bode well for our lovely characters. The Royals are basically in hot water thanks to Jagen who seems to want to overthrow the political system. And things are happening to our lovely characters that are quite mysterious, like Rayna’s loss of voice and Galen’s tail growth. All in all, there is tension and action everywhere! Which made for an excellent read. Just…if it only had a bit more romance *pouts*
PS: I liked the reference to The Little Mermaid, Disney version!
Favorite Quotes:
~Fishy cuss~
Mom’s head jerks around to the back window. She curses under her breath. “Who is that woman? How did she find us?”“She’s ex-Mafia.” I inhale, like I just admitted I’m ex-Mafia or something. It doesn’t help that Mom glares at me as if I just confessed it, too.
“Seriously, ex-Mafia? Like, the Mafia?”
I nod.
“Poseidon’s beard,” she mutters.
~Bonding Time~
It’s weird to be arguing about my hair when we still haven’t discussed my wound, how I got it, and how I came to be snoring in Galen’s bed. We both seem to appreciate the bizarreness at the same time. Mom raises a brow. “Don’t think you get special treatment just because you can make a whale do the tango. I’m still your mother.We both laugh so hard I think I feel a tiny rip in my newly dressed wound. Without warning, Mom throws her arms around me, careful to avoid touching it. “I’m so proud of you, Emma. And I know your father would be, too. Your grandfather can’t stop talking about it. You were amazing.”
Ah, the bonding power of tangled hair and dancing whales.
