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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
The first book was amazing, and I gave five stars to. This one lacked some of the romance and sarcastic and comedic lines that I adored so much in the first book so I'm giving it four stars. Still a great book though! I've ordered the third and I'm excited to read it and see where Emma and Galen's relationship goes :)
I really love the this underwater world Banks has created and give her major props for coming up with something that everyone knows about like mermaids and making it her own. It's refreshing and I'm in love with the series. I finished Of Poseidon in two days and Of Triton in one
I really love the this underwater world Banks has created and give her major props for coming up with something that everyone knows about like mermaids and making it her own. It's refreshing and I'm in love with the series. I finished Of Poseidon in two days and Of Triton in one
Firstly, thanks to Hardie Grant Egmont for this review copy <3
“It is thought that the gifts only occur when there is a need.”
Of Triton has been a hard one to rate and review as I’m so undecided on how I feel about it. I really enjoyed Of Poseidon back when I read it last year so was extremely excited for the sequel. I thought Of Triton didn’t really meet my expectations – however, when I first read Of Poseidon, I was literally one day back into reading after not having seriously read for probably 6 months and it’s possible my expectations were a lot lower back then which was why I loved it so much. Either way, book 2 was a much needed continuation and I quite enjoyed it.
After the cliffhanger Banks left us with at the end of Of Poseidon, Emma and her mum are on the road. Emma’s having a freak out over the way her mum is acting and it’s a pretty legit reaction when your mum practically drugs you and you wake up driving on some highway far from home. As the book progressed I could tell that Emma was meant to be growing up and maturing, and she was trying definitely, but I felt that despite everything, she was still whiny and selfish. Especially with regards to when her mum was trying to protect her; I thought Emma could have gone about things differently – rather than being rational with her mum, she’d just go and act upon things because she wanted to be with Galen. At other times I admired Emma’s stubbornness and determination to prove her point and protect her loved ones.
“I also hate that I’m allowing myself to have a pity party when clearly bigger things than myself are happening.”
Like with Emma, I’m a bit divided on how I feel about Galen. I think he was a bit more mature as I felt his duty as a royal come through but I don’t know I just felt that his thoughts were constantly on Emma and he acted before thinking at times. I guess in defence a lot of the book is centred around Emma and the fate of the Syrena.
I absolutely loved Rayna and Toraf in Of Triton. I really enjoyed their banter in Of Poseidon but here they were even funnier and it was just great being able to see more of them and their stance on matters. I really hated Emma’s mum though. She’s a complete nut half the time and the stuff she said was not believable nor were her actions relatable. She was also unreasonable in her reactions to people – actually she was a complete hypocrite… She expected something of someone when she technically betrayed them. Yeah just what the heck with that character I’m not sure if Banks made it intentional but Emma’s mum was just horrible.
“Um. It’s a helicopter.”
“What does it do? Triton’s trident, it doesn’t fly does it? Emma? Emma wait!”
The romance was sweet and enjoyable. There was a more serious, intense and desperate edge to it compared to book. I admired Galen and Emma’s devotion to each other – call it pigheadedness or whatever you want but those two just HAD to find each other and be together no matter what. You know, just betray a parent here, defy a law there, no biggy. Either way, I do love these two together and I love how at ease they are when they’re in each other’s presence.
“He brushes his lips against mine. Once. Twice. So soft it barely feels like anything. But it also feels like everything”
Plot-wise… A LOT of stuff happened. And I know it was meant to be epic but I felt that it fell short of the huge bang Banks was going for. The events leading up to the highlights didn’t set my heart racing or anything, I was just like “oh ok, so this is happening” and when that moment came where I was supposed to have heaps of pent up emotions and be excited about everything unfolding I was just like “meh”. I don’t know what happened but everything just felt flat. It’s not like the stuff that happened was bad, it made sense but I just thought Banks could have gone about it in a more impressive manner. The Syrena politics were definitely interesting though and I liked how a whole system was devised and explained – I could tell a lot of thought went into how to keep things archaic/traditional but also in democratic way that could justify following these laws that governed a civilisation for millennia.
“It feels like the world suddenly got bigger.”
Banks’ writing style is something I’ve always been uncertain about. In both Of Poseidon and Of Triton, she writes Emma’s voice in first person while Galen’s is in third person. It’s extremely disorienting and I don’t understand why she did it like this – it’s given me doubts as to her ability to write from a male perspective. Other than that, I think her actual writing is pretty good and I liked the way humour is laced into the prose.
Overall, I really needed Of Triton for closure after the cliffhanger Banks left us with at the end of Of Poseidon. This sequel ties up a lot of loose ends and satisfies readers. Whilst for me not as enjoyable and suspenseful as Of Poseidon, I still enjoyed this and finished it in one day!
“No, this is where I belong now.”
“It is thought that the gifts only occur when there is a need.”
Of Triton has been a hard one to rate and review as I’m so undecided on how I feel about it. I really enjoyed Of Poseidon back when I read it last year so was extremely excited for the sequel. I thought Of Triton didn’t really meet my expectations – however, when I first read Of Poseidon, I was literally one day back into reading after not having seriously read for probably 6 months and it’s possible my expectations were a lot lower back then which was why I loved it so much. Either way, book 2 was a much needed continuation and I quite enjoyed it.
After the cliffhanger Banks left us with at the end of Of Poseidon, Emma and her mum are on the road. Emma’s having a freak out over the way her mum is acting and it’s a pretty legit reaction when your mum practically drugs you and you wake up driving on some highway far from home. As the book progressed I could tell that Emma was meant to be growing up and maturing, and she was trying definitely, but I felt that despite everything, she was still whiny and selfish. Especially with regards to when her mum was trying to protect her; I thought Emma could have gone about things differently – rather than being rational with her mum, she’d just go and act upon things because she wanted to be with Galen. At other times I admired Emma’s stubbornness and determination to prove her point and protect her loved ones.
“I also hate that I’m allowing myself to have a pity party when clearly bigger things than myself are happening.”
Like with Emma, I’m a bit divided on how I feel about Galen. I think he was a bit more mature as I felt his duty as a royal come through but I don’t know I just felt that his thoughts were constantly on Emma and he acted before thinking at times. I guess in defence a lot of the book is centred around Emma and the fate of the Syrena.
I absolutely loved Rayna and Toraf in Of Triton. I really enjoyed their banter in Of Poseidon but here they were even funnier and it was just great being able to see more of them and their stance on matters. I really hated Emma’s mum though. She’s a complete nut half the time and the stuff she said was not believable nor were her actions relatable. She was also unreasonable in her reactions to people – actually she was a complete hypocrite… She expected something of someone when she technically betrayed them. Yeah just what the heck with that character I’m not sure if Banks made it intentional but Emma’s mum was just horrible.
“Um. It’s a helicopter.”
“What does it do? Triton’s trident, it doesn’t fly does it? Emma? Emma wait!”
The romance was sweet and enjoyable. There was a more serious, intense and desperate edge to it compared to book. I admired Galen and Emma’s devotion to each other – call it pigheadedness or whatever you want but those two just HAD to find each other and be together no matter what. You know, just betray a parent here, defy a law there, no biggy. Either way, I do love these two together and I love how at ease they are when they’re in each other’s presence.
“He brushes his lips against mine. Once. Twice. So soft it barely feels like anything. But it also feels like everything”
Plot-wise… A LOT of stuff happened. And I know it was meant to be epic but I felt that it fell short of the huge bang Banks was going for. The events leading up to the highlights didn’t set my heart racing or anything, I was just like “oh ok, so this is happening” and when that moment came where I was supposed to have heaps of pent up emotions and be excited about everything unfolding I was just like “meh”. I don’t know what happened but everything just felt flat. It’s not like the stuff that happened was bad, it made sense but I just thought Banks could have gone about it in a more impressive manner. The Syrena politics were definitely interesting though and I liked how a whole system was devised and explained – I could tell a lot of thought went into how to keep things archaic/traditional but also in democratic way that could justify following these laws that governed a civilisation for millennia.
“It feels like the world suddenly got bigger.”
Banks’ writing style is something I’ve always been uncertain about. In both Of Poseidon and Of Triton, she writes Emma’s voice in first person while Galen’s is in third person. It’s extremely disorienting and I don’t understand why she did it like this – it’s given me doubts as to her ability to write from a male perspective. Other than that, I think her actual writing is pretty good and I liked the way humour is laced into the prose.
Overall, I really needed Of Triton for closure after the cliffhanger Banks left us with at the end of Of Poseidon. This sequel ties up a lot of loose ends and satisfies readers. Whilst for me not as enjoyable and suspenseful as Of Poseidon, I still enjoyed this and finished it in one day!
“No, this is where I belong now.”
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!
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!
Ok. This is a cute teen romance and is about as good as the last book. It's good for a mermaid book! I will be finishing the series.
*3.75 stars*
I really enjoyed this book, even though not as much as the first one.
At first I didn't like it, maybe because it's been months since I read Of Poseidon and I couldn't remember all the details, but then I was dragged in the story and I finished it in record times (since I am studying I don't have so much time to read, in fact I read Of Triton on the train to university).
So, if you're looking for a fast and enjoyable read, Of Triton is your book. You won't regret picking it up!
I really enjoyed this book, even though not as much as the first one.
At first I didn't like it, maybe because it's been months since I read Of Poseidon and I couldn't remember all the details, but then I was dragged in the story and I finished it in record times (since I am studying I don't have so much time to read, in fact I read Of Triton on the train to university).
So, if you're looking for a fast and enjoyable read, Of Triton is your book. You won't regret picking it up!
So while I do think the reason why Emma's mom chose for staying on land and then the reason why she doesn't want to prove that she is alive could have been thought out a little more.
But I was a fan of the first and like this second install meant of the three-part set. Emma works on her mother to get her to see Grom again swearing that he is indeed alive. The Syrena laws seem to be needing an update.
And as the book suggests we learn those with the Triton gifts. Galen and Rayna have the gift splitting between the two and soon it is understood that the gifts must come out when something in the environment triggers them.
Alright, so I overall liked this book and will be spending some time with book three to just find out what happens to all these chacaters.
But I was a fan of the first and like this second install meant of the three-part set. Emma works on her mother to get her to see Grom again swearing that he is indeed alive. The Syrena laws seem to be needing an update.
And as the book suggests we learn those with the Triton gifts. Galen and Rayna have the gift splitting between the two and soon it is understood that the gifts must come out when something in the environment triggers them.
Alright, so I overall liked this book and will be spending some time with book three to just find out what happens to all these chacaters.
Once again I predicted a few things in this book, but I didn’t expect the ending!
I'm giving this book one star more than Of Poseidon, the first book of this series, because I think it was more interesting and more complex. The characters revealed more motives and there was more conflict. That being said, this is a book that I think struggles to grow its characters. While revealing more about the characters, it still misses the ability to mature them, all their wants still feel young and childish - even the hundred-year-old elders.
The humor still falls flat and the situational irony still misses major points. So much of the book's storytelling feels unnecessary - from people rushing to save people who are at no risk of being hurt to people stepping up when it is revealed they never needed to because other characters could handle a situation themselves. There is a lot of sexism as before, especially with men protecting the most powerful beings of the group just because they are women and they need to... it just felt stale.
Aside from the immaturity, I found Rebecca Gibel's reading of the book (I did read the audiobook) was better than the first but still lackluster. Her voice is just slightly too high for speed reading or easy listening.
I will finish this series and then I will be done with it. I really really hope Anna Banks matures in her writing.
The humor still falls flat and the situational irony still misses major points. So much of the book's storytelling feels unnecessary - from people rushing to save people who are at no risk of being hurt to people stepping up when it is revealed they never needed to because other characters could handle a situation themselves. There is a lot of sexism as before, especially with men protecting the most powerful beings of the group just because they are women and they need to... it just felt stale.
Aside from the immaturity, I found Rebecca Gibel's reading of the book (I did read the audiobook) was better than the first but still lackluster. Her voice is just slightly too high for speed reading or easy listening.
I will finish this series and then I will be done with it. I really really hope Anna Banks matures in her writing.