Review: Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

Don't Turn Around (PERSEF0NE #1)
By Michelle Gagnon
Published: August 28, 2012
Published: HarperCollins 

Hardcover, 320 pages

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her computer-hacking skills to stay safely anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in an empty warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.

Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa's talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation called AMRF threatens his life in no uncertain terms.

But what Noa and Peter don't realize is that Noa holds the key to a terrible secret, and there are those who'd stop at nothing to silence her for good. --Goodreads

5 Stars

Review:

Don't Turn Around is a beautiful book. Seriously, I think I've been waiting my whole life for this. It's got everything a truly terrific young adult book needs to have:

1. A strong female character (Noa) who doesn't get progressively weaker as they male character (Peter) appears.
2. The beginnings of a romance between the two main characters (it's only the first book. I'm sure it'll progress)
3. A storyline improbable enough to be classified as young adult, but grounded enough in reality and the insane world of hackers to make for an incredibly entertaining read.
4. An author with some insane writing skills.

The book alternates between the viewpoints of Noa, a girl living on her lonesome after running away from the foster care system, and Peter, a rich boy who lost his brother to some mysterious disease that is taking out the country's teenagers. The book starts out with Noa waking up in a warehouse crawling with evil henchmen with an IV in her arm and Peter's house being broken into by a group of masked thugs. The story continues on the action packed course it starts off with and doesn't slow down. 

The book ends up including just about everything and action book could. Tragedy? Some. Insanely wild and awesome fights/running away? Lots of it. Sheer fantastical hacking scenes? Enough to make you want to become a professional hacker. The beginnings of a revolution just to spice things up a bit? You got it. A few predictable plot lines? Come on. This is young adult fiction we're talking about. You already know the answer.

Overall, Don't Turn Around was a gripping novel with strong characters the reader roots for, a storyline that keeps the pages turning and, of course, hackers!

Purchase this book at: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Review and Giveaway: Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini

Touching the Surface

By Kimberly Sabatini
Released: October 30, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse 

Hardcover, 352 pages

Experience the afterlife in this lyrical, paranormal debut novel that will send your heart soaring.

When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she knows she must have messed up, big-time. She doesn’t remember how she landed in the afterlife again, but she knows this is her last chance to get things right.

Elliot just wants to move on, but first she will be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people she’s killed.

As she pieces together the secrets and mistakes of her past, Elliot must find a way to earn the forgiveness of the person she’s hurt most, and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if it means losing them both forever. --Goodreads

4 Stars

Review

These days there are so many books about the afterlife that there ought to be a new genre called ‘What’s supposed to happen when we die’ or WSHWWD for short. Seriously, I’m not kidding. And the sad thing about all these paranormal books is that a lot of them are hopelessly cliched. It feels like the same story told over again with different narrators and different characters. I admit that when I first picked up Touching the Surface, I didn't exactly have high hopes. I've read my share of books dealing with the afterlife, and I’m somewhat paranoid of debut authors. A debut author plus afterlife book was not a pretty equation in my mind.

Then I read it. And I would be lying if I said that Touching the Surface wasn't a breath of fresh air in an otherwise clogged and polluted concept. Kimberly Sabatini's story about a soul who finds herself in purgatory for the third time is refreshing, beautiful and above all, thought provoking. Elliot Turner has lived three lives and is now at the point where she must find out more about herself in order to move on. That includes figuring out the mysterious ties between her and two brothers, Oliver and Trevor, as well as mending her broken relationship with her best friend Julia.

The book’s written in a lyrical manner with perfectly weaved words and just the right doses of humor. If you’re the type to really relate to a novel, Touching the Surface will make you laugh, cry, get angry, throw something at a wall, and be completely irrational and susceptible to the emotions that this book conveys. Sabatini uses the story as a vehicle to make readers explore some profound questions about our sense of heaven and hell. She also points out that sometimes, the surface of the truth just isn’t enough. Elliot spent her last two times in the Obmil (otherwise known as limbo) refusing to find out more about herself. Yet to save herself this third time, she must do more than simply ‘touch the surface’. Self-discovery is the most important aspect of this novel, and I doubt you’d walk away from reading it without figuring out just a little bit more about yourself. The book also teaches forgiveness and the lesson that life isn’t always fair, but you have to move on anyway and make those memories part of you.

At times, the book moved at a weird pace, and the introduction was rambling and awkward. As for the rest of the novel...let me make this analogy. It kind of felt like I was leisurely strolling down a road in the countryside when all of a sudden, I end up plummeting fifty feet off a cliff. The novel leaned heavily on intense plot twists to take it forward, and while I wasn’t complaining in the beginning, it sometimes frustrated me towards the end. And the fact there were so many plot twists meant that many things were left unanswered.

I also have a few minor complaints about characters. The only character I really loved was Trevor, aka "Mr. I hate the world." His T-shirt slogans were awesome. Still, things are definitely going to turn for the better! There were times when I wanted to punch Elliot in the face because she truly is a douchebag in the strongest sense of the word. I couldn’t really relate to her. There was just something really...off about her. Julia was completely flat, and Sabatini left us dangling with the unanswered questions of her past, which was so aggravating! And Oliver was just too perfect. Seriously. They don’t make guys like that in real life. (I totally wish though).

In conclusion, I found Touching the Surface to be a novel worth reading. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and the cover is phenomenal. Best of all, it was original. Other books about the afterlife would never take the kind of approach that Touching the Surface did. So I give a big round of applause for Kimberly Sabatini and her debut, and I will sit back and watch anxiously for her other works. And I’ll also leave you with these wise words from the novel:

        “A life experience is designed to help a soul grow, to learn. It’s a role play without you knowing you’re playing a role.”

This review was written by Rena, a guest reviewer. Isn't her review amazing?

Purchase Touching the Surface here: Amazon/ B&N/ TBD

Kimberly Sabatini has graciously offered a reader a copy of Touching the Surface!

• Ends February 11
• International
• Hardcover or eCopy (Winner's Choice)
• Not really sure on what else to say...

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Review: Epic by Conor Kostick

Epic (Epic #1) by Conor Kostick

Pulished: April 5, 2007

Publisher: Viking Juvenille

Hardcover, 384 pages

Generations ago, violence was banned on New Earth. Society is governed and conflicts are resolved in the arena of a fantasy computer game, Epic. 

Everyone plays. 

If you win, you have the chance to go to university, get more supplies for your community, and fulfill your dreams; if you lose, your life both in and out of the game is worth nothing.

When Erik, seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, dares to subvert the rules of Epic, he and his friends find themselves up against with the ultimate masters of the game: the Committee. If Erik and his friends win, they may have the key to destroying Epic's tyranny over New Earth. But if they lose . . . --GoodReads

Three and a Half Stars

Review

To begin with, this book is kinda old, slightly cheesy, and somewhat cliché, so you ask, “Why review/read it?” Well. It wasn’t exactly a literary masterpeice. Plot wise… it could be better. BUT! I simply cannot help but like it. Why? Well, the story begins with Erik, a boy in a poor out of the way farming town that struggles to get by. His character died fighting some dragon and has to make a new one to start his game over again. Good old Erik then decides to use all his attribute points on beauty, and picks the swashbuckler class which lacks in strength but makes up in je ne sais quoi, which probably means (use snooty voice here) “to be completely awesome.” 

In a world where the lives of the people depend on their status in Epic, this first rate idiot decides to waste all his attribute points on beauty..... Though actually, I would do the same. Not that I’m calling myself a first rate idiot or anything like that. Christened Cindella, she gets through the game by pure charisma. You gotta admit, thats pretty cool. Imagine walking through the mall, and that guy that mans the Aunty Annes pretzel stand gives you a free pretzel because you’ve (insert your best trait here). So yeah, I gotta respect that. It's one of the reasons I like this book.

Now as for the second thing, do you know that feeling you get when someone challenges you to something that they’re really good at (such as a video game or a sport, etc.)? They’re boasting and gloating about how good they are, and then you come in and WHAM! Royal straight flush. 193 kills. 8 touchdowns and counting. Y’know, that awesome feeling. This book has a large healthy dose of it, spread nicely throughout, which made me flip pages like there was large amounts of gold and the answers to the next math test hidden in the back cover.

Third, I love video games and anything that can pass for a video game. Hell, I’d still be playing the violin if I had a level gauge and a new fancier instrument every time I finished a song. Like, “Congratulations, your bowing skills leveled up! New bow available!” Or maybe if my teacher was a goomba and I could stomp on her for coins. Yes. YES. That would be amazing.

Yeah. So basically, this is a average book. To be frank, its childish, the characters are meh, the plot feels meh. It just happened to be in line with my personal preferences. Or maybe it’s because the story itself has a bit of je ne sais quoi(google it). Maybe because I got so used to reading crappy books *coughcontemporaryromancesuckscoughcoughcough* that this contrasted in a good way. Its a book that you should read if you got time, but not something you should put on the top or near the top of your reading list. 

Order Epic at: Amazon/ B&N/ TBD

WinterHaven Sleigh Tour Review and Giveaway: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Today, YA Novelties is excited to join the WinterHaven Sleigh Tour hosted by WinterHaven Books. This week, we are posting our choice of a Winter Book Review. To see who else is on the sleigh, go to WinterHaven Sleigh Tour  for a list of participating blogs.

As part of the festivities, WinterHaven Books is hosting an international giveaway that will include a copy of Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Signed by Levithan and Cohn) and a copy of Let it Snow to four lucky winners. Good luck and happy holidays!

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
By Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Published: October 26, 2010
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Paperback, 272 pages

“I’ve left some clues for you.

If you want them, turn the page.

If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

--Goodreads

4.5 Stars

Review

It turns out there are actually a limited amount of good Christmas books, which makes absolutely no sense to me because who wants to read a bad book over Christmas? Thankfully, Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares is a thoroughly enjoyable and amusing read and goes really well with a cup of hot chocolate with exactly two large marshmallows.

The book alternates the point of view every chapter; Levithan writes Dash’s chapters and Cohn writes Lily’s. Dash is slightly pessimistic and cynical, and is most often described by other characters as “snarly”. This is mostly a result of his parents’ terrible divorce. At the beginning of the story, he is at home alone, having told his mother he was going on vacation with his dad and his dad that he would be with his mother. He is also highly intelligent, and Levithan writes a little too intellectually and philosophically for the reader to actually believe it’s being written by a fifteen year-old. It’s the worst in the first few chapters; he dumbs down to the level of a normal super-smart teenager as the story goes on.

Lily, by contrast, is incredibly optimistic about everything (she goes caroling during Christmas time) and she comes from a large, incredibly loving family. Her brother Langston and his boyfriend Benny write some dares in a red notebook which they leave in the Strand in hopes that it will help Lily get a boyfriend. The notebook is picked up by Dash and he writes his own dares and leaves it for her. Most of the book follows each of them finding the book and carrying out the dares before writing their own. Neither of them meet each other until later on in the book.

The book would not be nearly as good without Lily’s many relatives and Dash’s friend Boomer, who are all very strange but lovable people. All in all, this is a great read for Christmas break and for anytime when you just want to relax with a happy book.

Purchase this book here: Amazon/ B&N/ TBD

Giveaway Time: As part of the festivities, WinterHaven Books is hosting an international give-away that will include a copy of Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Signed by Levithan and Cohn) and a copy of Let it Snow to four lucky winners. Good luck and happy holidays!

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Review: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3)

By Rick Riordan

Published: October 2, 2012

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

Hardcover, 608 pages

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she’s about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo’s fantastical creation doesn’t appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that’s only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close— the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth’s biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he’s now attached to Roman ways? Does he need he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare. . . . --Goodreads

1.5 Stars

Review

Let’s just get it out there: Rick Riordan cannot write. It’s true. I’m not denying that he can come up with a great, exciting and ridiculously addicting plot; he just is unable to turn this plot into a good piece of writing. His choppy, cheesy style worked when he wrote in the first person because the reader was able to attribute it to the main character’s personality. When converted into the third person, his novels begin to fall apart.

The book is told from the “perspectives” of all the Greek demigods, switching characters every chapter. However, there is just about no variation whatsoever in writing style or thoughts between characters. In fact, I went through half the book before realizing the point of view was changing.

While Mark of Athena does have a central plot, it gets sidetracked by a multitude of central characters, relationships, battles and adventures. The gist of the story is that seven demigods, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Jason and Piper, are trying to get to Rome to stop Gaia from awakening. If you’ve read the other two books, the general plot is basically the same here. Now for the problems. There are seven main characters and all of these characters have different relationships with the remaining six. Keeping track of who’s on good terms with whom and who hates whom is confusing and annoying. Also, there are three couples and then poor Leo is cast off to the side. Rick Riordan obviously feels sorry for him and therefore casts him in an annoying love triangle with Hazel and Frank. Another thing Riordan can’t write is romance, and I pray that he will stop trying to put mushy love scenes where they really don’t belong.

There are also way too many battles and adventures crammed into the book. Imagine Harry Potter, except this time Harry gets attacked by Death Eaters every time he exits the Gryffindor common room. The book would go pretty slowly, wouldn’t it? That is essentially Mark of Athena. Every time, and I mean every time, anyone leaves the ship, they are attacked by dead spirits or gods or Gaia or a zombie army. Rick Riordan manages to take a fun and interesting idea and turn it into the longest, worst written, most boring book anyone has ever written.

And then he gives it a horrible ending just to induce to buy the sequel. This time, I don’t think I will.

Purchase this book: Amazon/ Barnes&Nobles/ The Book Depository

Review: Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

Eve and Adam (Eve and Adam #1)

By Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

Release Date: October 2, 2012

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Hardcover, 304 pages

Sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker lives an affluent life in San Francisco with her mother, EmmaRose, a successful geneticist and owner of Spiker Biotech. Sure, Evening misses her father who died mysteriously, but she’s never really questioned it. Much like how she’s never stopped to think how off it is that she’s never been sick. That is, until she’s struck by a car and is exposed to extensive injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible.

While recuperating in Spiker Biotech’s lush facilities, she meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything... until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Emma-Rose may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely. --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

I picked up Eve and Adam mostly because of the first line on the back of the book was “It all started with an apple”. Of all the corny lines in all the world, that one probably takes the cake, especially when used in a novel called Eve and Adam. However, the plot of the book has almost nothing to do with the Biblical story. It could just have easily been titled Juliet and Romeo and the novel would have worked just fine.

The book starts out with Evening, or Eve for short, looking at an apple while crossing the street and then being hit by a car (There you go, ladies and gentlemen. That was the entire role of the apple). Eve loses a leg but it’s regrown at the medical company founded by her mother, Terra Spiker.

But, of course, no young adult novel is ever complete without a boy. In this case, his name is Solo (say it with a Spanish accent, it sounds so much cooler). Solo is Terra Spiker’s ward, who she took in after his parents, her colleagues, died. He wants revenge on Terra Spiker because he blames her for his parents death. Eve has never heard of this really hot teenage boy and naturally is interested. To keep her away from Solo, her mother gives her the task of creating the perfect boy, Adam, on a computer program being used at Spiker Industries and even allows her friend Aislin to help her with it. However, Eve, along with Solo and Aislin, begin to uncover some strange (and illegal) experiments going on at Spiker Industries and Eve is faced with the fact that her mother may be really evil, not just a little mean as she had previously supposed.

While the overall plot of this book was really compelling, there were definitely a lot of problems. The biggest problem for me was Solo. Of all the revenge-seeking characters I have ever read about, Solo is the least angry. His entire attitude towards Terra Striker is: “Terra is such a horrible person but I don’t hate her, I simply strongly dislike her and besides, her daughter is so preeeetyyyyyy........”. In short, he is an incredibly ineffective angry character. Another problem was Aislin. Aislin is really, really screwed up. I understand why her character had to be so out there, but I think she could have been toned down just a little. And then there is Terra (SPOILER ALERT): she isn’t actually evil. At the very end of the novel, she turns out to be perfectly not-evil. It was like the authors got to the end and then realized that Terra being in jail really wasn’t going to work for the sequel and so they suddenly shifted the blame onto dead people.

And finally, the name of the sequel is perhaps the dumbest problem of all. It’s called (drumroll please)........Adam and Eve.

Eve and Adam has an interesting and compelling plot but the characters didn’t quite work. They were either too extreme or, in the case of Solo, not extreme enough.

 Pre-order this book: Amazon/ Barnes&Nobles/ The Book Depository

Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

 The Fault In Our Stars 

by John Green

Publication Date: January 10, 2012

Publisher: Dutton Books

Hardcover, 313 pages

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

-Goodreads

5 stars

Review

I love this book. 

Just in case you didn't read that right, or chose to ignore it, or for some unexplainable reason didn't believe me the first time, I'll say it again.

I love this book.

The Fault In Our Stars is the craziest emotional roller coaster I have ever been on. And as my fellow bloggers can attest, I LOVE roller coasters. While reading this book, I: laughed out loud in the middle of class when the room was completely silent, banged my head against a tree Charlie Brown style, hugged the book to my chest vowing to never let it go (in public!), and cried myself to sleep. 

The Fault In Our Stars opens with Hazel attending the cancer support group her mother forces her to attend for her "depression". Instead of helping her, however, it only increases her moodiness. That is until, she meets Augustus Waters. Augustus was diagnosed with osteosarcoma about a year and a half before, but after having his leg amputated has been NEC (No Evidence of Cancer) for about a year. While introducing himself, he reveals that he is there to support Isaac, another teenage member of the support group who is having his one remaining eye removed in an attempt to completely get rid of the cancer. When Augustus, after being prompted by the support group leader, Patrick, reveals that he "fears oblivion", Hazel speaks up willingly for the first time. "'There will come a time,'" she says, "'when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was a time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be a time after.  And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that's what everyone else does'" (Green). 

If that doesn't sell you right there, I don't know what will. Add to that the fact that the title is taken from a quote from inspiration itself, Mr. William Shakespeare, and there is absolutely no question why this is now one of my favorite books. 

The relationship between Hazel and Augustus builds slowly and believably. Their relationship is not by any means a normal one. There are many obstacles in their way, each of which is over come in an unexpected way. This book kept me guessing, and I was constantly engaged in the twists and turns. Though the plot was unexpected and page turning, it was always believable. As someone whose life has been fraught with cancer lately (in friends, acquaintances, family members, and those who feel like family), this book hit very close to home for me. I found The Fault In Our Stars to be spot on with the information I know about this subject, and while it in no way skirted around heavy subjects like cancer and death, these were treated in a way that most people are unwilling to publicize in such a public fashion. The characters were not characters, but rather very real people talking about very real things. 

I love the characters in The Fault In Our Stars. Hazel is not your typical moody teenager, nor is she a happy-go-lucky, head-in-the-clouds, everything-is-going-to-be-alright type. She has mood swings. She is a bit depressed and moody, but it's to be expected of a sixteen year old diagnosed with terminal cancer. Unlike a lot of other characters in modern literature, however, Hazel has the ability to be happy and have fun. She doesn't walk around with a rain cloud over her head the whole book, which (honestly) she has every right to. And Augustus. There are no words to describe how much I love Augustus. He is the perfect foil to Hazel. Whenever she starts with her depressing commentary, Augustus immediately challenges her and forces her to see things from another point of view. Augustus is always there with a humorous quip which makes you burst out in laughter. And all of the supporting characters have their own personality and purpose. Isaac could make me cry and make me laugh all in the same page. Peter Van Houghten, the author of Hazel's favorite book, An Imperial Infliction, is the character that you love to hate. As a person I completely despise him, but as a character I adore him. Hazel's parents have their odd quirks, but you can see where they are coming from, and their love for Hazel shines through in all of their actions. 

John Green is now one of my favorite authors. He is able to invoke so much emotion I never thought possible in 313 pages. I know I've started to ramble, but I simply con not help it. I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. Go buy it. Now. I'm dead serious. I borrowed this book from the library, and I am now saving up to buy my own copy. It takes a lot for me to actually go out and buy a book. But The Fault In Our Stars is completely worth the 30 minute drive to the nearest book store. 

For those of you (once you have finished the novel- there are a TON of spoilers here) who are interested, here's a link to an interview with John Green.

Purchase this book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Review: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1)

By Anna Banks

Publication Date: May 22, 2012

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Hardcover, 336 pages

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. -Goodreads

3 1/2 Stars

Review

Okay, so as a rule, when my favorite character dies within the first few chapters of the book, I generally become disinterested. However, in this case, Of Poseidon is the exception which proves the rule. 

With a cute, oblivious love interest, and a wonderful cast of supporting characters, it's no wonder that I finished Of Poseidon in merely a day. Galen, though terribly cliched, is the kind of main character you can fall in love with. The other main character, Emma, is a typical teenage female girl who can be found in almost all of modern literature. I found myself not disliking Emma, but becoming bored with her a few times while reading this book. She has her moments, but the characters who really shine are Rayna, Toraf, Chloe, and Rachel. Though none of them have nearly enough time on the pages as they deserve, they provide a nice (often comedic) break from the constant tension between Galen and Emma. 

One of the things which stood out to me while reading Of Poseidon was the unique writing style. Each chapter alternates between Emma's 1st person point of view and Galen's 3rd person point of view. Not only did it stand out, but Banks was able to pull it off famously, which is something a lot of authors can not do. 

The plot was engaging, though very predictable at certain points. I found Of Poseidon to have a fresh take on the mythical creatures of mermaids (or "Syrena). Though pop culture has become obsessed with the supernatural and fantasy worlds, mermaids are often a very overlooked creature in comparison with vampires, werewolves, etc. The plot, rather than an adventure or mystery, is rather a strategic release of information from certain characters which all comes together to create a final picture which becomes slightly more focused by the end of the novel. 

Of Poseidon was an engaging read, and after a major cliffhanger, I am definitely looking forward to reading the second installment in the series.

Purchase this book: Amazon/ Barnes&Nobles/ The Book Depository