Review: Of Triton by Anna Banks

Goodreads Summary: 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?

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Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 246
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
How I Got It: Library

First Line: "My eyes won't open."

Favorite Quote: "Safe isn't always better than sorry. Sometimes you need sorry to appreciate the safe. And sometimes safe is just plain boring."

Review:

I was very happy to get my hands on a copy of this book after enjoying the first one in the series, Of Poseidon, last year. As I said in my review then, these are the first novels ever to have truly captured my attention while featuring mermaids/mermen. Either I've just had really bad luck picking out stories about these creatures, or for some reason I just don't find them all that interesting. I'm really hoping it's the former that's correct, because I could really go for more books like these. I also have to add that the cover for Of Triton is absolutely beautiful, a big improvement from before. I don't disliked Of Poseidon's cover art, but at the same time it kind of creeps me out a little. I have no idea why. And I really loved how the picture of the two people kissing on Of Triton goes really well with a scene that takes places towards the end.

I'll start off with what bothered me. My complaints for this one are pretty slim, though, and I don't think they hindered my enjoyment of the story overall. Still, a couple things did irk me. First of all, I really, really hate that Emma's POV is written in first person, and Galen's is in third person, present tense. Personally, I absolutely hate that kind of writing - to me it feels really awkward and stiff. And what's really frustrating is that this is not Banks' fault - third person, present tense would sound this way no matter who was writing it! It also just seems like a rather odd decision to do it that way. It also feels kind of childish. "Galen knows . . . Galen sees . . ." It makes me think of something like, "Tom goes to the store to buy milk" or "Tom feels sad." I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but hopefully it does. Galen's parts of the book could have easily been in first person.

I also wish that Emma and Galen had more time together. But on the other hand, spending a lot of time apart is much preferable to introducing another dreaded love triangle. I was extremely appreciative that Banks decided not to take this route. That's not to say that something like that couldn't happen in the last and third book in the series, but I find that a second love interest is usually not introduced that late in (unless, of course, it's something crazy like eight books long). However, I really enjoyed the rare moments that they did have together, and somehow it made them all the more precious. Hopefully in Of Neptune they will remain together on a much more regular basis.

While Of Poseidon focused largely on romance and setting up the story, Of Triton is mainly centered on politics and trials and sorting out a whole lot of problems have that have occurred under the sea. While this second novel is a good deal shorter than its predecessor, it had quite a bit going on throughout, making it easy to turn the pages and get really involved in what was going on. The villain we see here - a merman named Jagan - was quite cunning, and I was actually kind of impressed with his arguments against the Royals. I really loved all the side characters - watching Nalia's and Grom's little romance was very sweet, as was Toraf's and Rayna's. Galen continues to be very protective, but it was necessary for him to be here and I didn't think he came off as too possessive.

I remember really enjoying Emma's perspective in the first one, but I kind of developed a love/hate relationship with her here. She still made me laugh, and was really brave under difficult circumstances but honestly her mood swings drove me a little nuts. I could understand her difficulties with Nalia and Grom. But I was quite annoyed with that little fantasy where she longed for a normal human life - not because of her actual wish, but because for a second she pictured being with another guy. She also has this moment where she wonders if she's taken away Galen's respect for his people because he no longer cares about the laws separating them physically, even though she spent a good deal of time being irritated with them before.

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There isn't a huge info-dump of previous events in the beginning, but there are some reminders, and I was seriously grateful for them, because it took me a couple chapters to catch up and remember everything that happened at the end of Of Poseidon. The aggravation that comes with having read something a year ago, I guess. Of Triton was a lovely addition to this series, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I will be waiting eagerly for Of Neptune to come out next year.

4 stars

Books in this series:

1. Of Poseidon
2. Of Triton
3. Of Neptune 

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