Of Neptune by Anna Banks

Series: The Syrena Legacy (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: mermaids, merfolk, supernatural, magic, mythology

Setting: New Jersey coast, and Tennessee

POV/Tense: rotating between 1^st person POV present tense: Emma and 3^rd person POV present tense: Galen

Age/Grade Level: Teens & college age

Length: 327 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: MacMillan: Feiwel & Friends

Summary/ product description: “Emma and Galen’s kingdom and their love is threatened by long-lost Syrena in the brilliant conclusion to Anna Banks bestselling trilogy.

Emma, half human and half Syrena, and her Syrena love, Galen, need time together alone. Away from the kingdoms of Poseidon and Triton. Emma’s grandfather, the Poseidon king, suggests the two visit a small town called Neptune.

Neptune is home to both Syrena and Half-Breeds alike. But Emma and Galen didn’t sign up to be peacemakers between the ocean and the land-dwelling, freshwater Syrena. They didn’t bargain for meeting a charming Half-Breed named Reed, who can barely disguise his feelings for Emma. And they especially didn’t expect to find themselves in the middle of a power struggle that threatens not only their love but their ocean kingdoms.

In this stunning conclusion to her bestselling Syrena Legacy, Anna Banks thrills fans with more action and romance than ever.”

My Review:  Ohmysweetgoodness! I just have too many feels to say how much I loved this finale in comprehensible sentences. There’s just too much. Emmy’s sassy narration and Galen’s royal hotness. The adventure and thrills and things that a so atypical of paranormal romance series. It’s been an awesome ride and I hate to see this series end, but I loved every page of it. It’s a great take on mermaid lore. Of Neptune mainly takes place on land though. Emma and Galen travel to a town called Neptune somewhere in Tennessee where Syrena, Half-Breeds and humans live together.

There’s a character named Reed who flirts with Emma. He’s a Half-Breed like her and also has the gift of Poseidon. This makes Galen very jealous and Galen goes off and ends up kidnapped and Emma doesn’t realize what happened to him because she thinks he left her. Galen should have been more forward about his feeling, but he love Emma so much want her to be happy. If Emma feels like she belongs with Half-Breeds with her, then she should let her be with them. Galen had a lapse in judgment for sure. They’re madly in love and should never let anything put a wedge in their relationship. Despite this almost love-triangle, I still absolutely love this book. I wish Rayna and Toraf were in the book more often, though.

I really enjoyed the setting. A small, fictional town in Tennessee in the Smokey Mountains? I love it! I wish I could visit. This book was like a virtual summer vacation. Caves and canyon and mountains and spring. It sounds so awesome. I visited Kentucky once, and West Virginia, so I pictured those places. Since there’s no ocean nearby, the Syrena swim in fresh water lakes, rivers and caves filled with water. The caves I found especially amazing I’ve been to Mammoth Cave. That cave was cavernous.

So much happens in this book. It has short chapters and is fast paced. You’d never expect a mermaid book to have this much action, but there’s kidnappings and guns and crazy scientists. The ending was amazing. The epilogue was especially romantic and made me long for a tropical vacation too. Emma is such a lucky (fictional) girl.

If you have not read The Syrena Legacy series, you are missing out big-time. You may like it if you enjoyed any of the following mermaid books: Lies Beneath by Ann Greenwood Brown, Siren by Tricia Rayburn, Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs, or Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn Childs. This series is fun and fan-flipping-tastic! Also, full of fishy, funny curses and a great character voice.

Cover Art Review: Nice photo, but I still love the type used for the title. Metallic gold this time. Guy doesn’t look like Galen too me. Too pale.

The Twice Lost by Sarah Porter

Series: Lost Voices (bk. 3)

Genera: Fantasy/Paranormal

Subjects: Mermaids, supernatural, ocean, magic, war, California

Age/Grade Level: 12 and up

Length: 471 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $16.99

Publisher: HMH: Harcourt

Summary/ product description: “Mermaids have been sinking ships and drowning humans for centuries, and now the government is determined to put an end to the mermaid problem—by slaughtering all of them. Luce, a mermaid with exceptionally threatening abilities, becomes their number-one target, hunted as she flees down the coast toward San Francisco.
There she finds hundreds of mermaids living in exile under the docks of the bay. These are the Twice Lost: once-human girls lost first when a trauma turned them into mermaids, and lost a second time when they broke mermaid law and were rejected by their tribes. Luce is stunned when they elect her as their leader. But she won’t be their queen. She’ll be their general. And they will become the Twice Lost Army—because this is war.”

 

My Review: Almost as good as the 2^nd book, but not quite. I enjoyed this well-written conclusion, even though there were some slow parts. The 1^st book, Lost Voices, I didn’t really like, and Waking Storm was so much better. This has the awesome things that were in Waking Storms, but this book was longer.

Mixing magic and mermaids with government and sci-fi-like stuff made for a pretty cool stories. Now that humans have learned of the existence of mermaids, Luce wants to make peace. And she comes up with a crazy-big wave blockade. And that get attention from the media, so Luce ends up on the news. This kind of makes me think of Mermaids: The Body Found, except these mermaids became mermaids because of abuse or devastation. Mermaids capturing the public’s attention.

Luce taught other mermaids known as the Twice Lost how to control water. It’s really cool what they can do with their voice. There are so action-packed parts, but still the book felt slow. Not fast paced at all. And the dialog was kind of immature, which makes sense for the younger girls. I feel like this series is more for 12-14 year old girls that 15 and up. Luce being only 13 herself, there’s only a little romance between her and Dorian. He’s not really around for most of the book.

Still, this book is beautifully written. The words as poetic, lyrical, and full of “lush” descriptions. It’s really easy to picture the ocean scenery or even just the setting of San Francisco. A lot of the book takes place near the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ve never even been to Cali, but I’ve watched a ton of movies and shows set there, so I do know how it looks. Foggy and all.

There are new characters (The Twice Lost Army) such as Yuan and Imani. There’s old characters, like Anais and Catarina. I definitely think Luce and Cat has a “womance” (sisterly love). They get mad at each other, but care about each other. We get to see other character’s perspective. The head jumping is not annoying in this book, because it’s 3^rd-person limited when it does jump perspective.

The conclusion was satisfying, but I kind of wish there was more. I wanted to know what Luce would do. There was no epilogue, or after-the-fact. Peace was made, but how long would it last?

Cover Art Review: The best cover out of the whole series. The mermaids are actually beautiful here but look older than the characters. The top one looks Asian, like one of the new mermaid Luce meets. I love the wave patterns and the hand-rendered script title. And it’s metallic and shiny.

 

 

Of Triton by Anna Banks

Series: The Syrena Legacy (bk. 2)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: mermaids, merfolk, supernatural, magic, mythology, New Jersey

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 246 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Feiwel and Friends

Summary/ product description: “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?”

My Review: I really wish this book was longer. Of course, I did read the prequel short stories, Legacy Lost and The Stranger, before this, so they kind of make up for the shortness. I really enjoy this series. I prefer Emma 1^st person point of view, but Galen’s 3^rd person POV is okay.

Emma is funny and quirky, and has her catch phrase, “Ohmysweetgoodness.” She’s a pretty awesome main character. I like Galen as her love interest, still. No love triangle in this book! And I love the side characters, Rayna and Rachel.

This book series has similarities to other mermaid books, but it still is very unique. Of Triton starts off with a bang. Emma is kidnapped by her own mother. They’re on the run, traveling west. Emma’s mom is Nalia, and she thinks that she killed Grom all those years ago. We know he’s alive, but she doesn’t and Emma’s not sure she can trust Galen not to arrest her mom. There’s action and a car chase. Something I really never saw in a mermaid book. I loved it.

Later on in the book, they’re trying to clear up Nalia’s identity because some Syrena can’t believe that she’s actually alive. There’s the matter of Grom having married/mated with Paca already and finding Nalia after all these years. He discovered that Paca doesn’t actually have the gift of Poseidon, because Emma does. There’s a lot of complicated laws that get in the way and a tribunal. The Syrena government is just so confusing. We can only hope things will work out in the end. Anna Bank makes for a crazy awesome plot.

And there’s awesome twists later on too. One about Rayna, and Galen. It was so cool! And a sad turn of events near the end that made me very unhappy. Read for yourself to find out.

This is the 4^th mermaid book I’ve read this summer. It’s a perfect summer beach read. I recommend this series to anyone looking for a good mermaid book.

Cover Art Review: Such a romantic image. I love the colors and bubbles. I love the title’s typeface (Caviar Dream, I think, with an added flourish). And the title’s silver.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Publisher: Macmillan: Feiwel & Friends

Series: Of Poseidon (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Mermaids, supernatural, magic, fish, New Jersey

Length: 324 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “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.”

My Rating: êêêê1/2

My Review: Another great mermaid book! Yay! Loving the merfolk stories this summer…of course Galen does not appreciate being called a mermaid. They’re called Syrena. I love this very unique take on the mermaid folklore. The Poseidon and Triton were brother Syrena generals rather than a God and his son. That all Triton descendants have dark hair, olive skin and violet eyes, while the Poseidons have lighter coloring. I’m not really spoiling anything, just clarifying any info dumps about appearances (it’s better to know how the characters look ahead time).

I thought that Emma’s ability to talk to fish and sea creatures/swimming creatures was pretty funny at times. It doesn’t seem like a very useful ability (Aquaman…ehhem….). But apparently it comes in handy if your drowning, being attacked by a shark or in need of sea food….yeah, I’d say the holding your breath for a very long time seems much more useful. But how cool would it be to talk to dolphins and penguins, and have them understand you? I’d be able to take some amazing photos…

I really did like Galen. He sounded very hot, even though he had a lot to learn about how to act human. He wasn’t up with the lingo we use. It was pretty funny. And Rayna, the feisty, girly Syrena sis of Galen. Her and Emma hated each other so much at the beginning. The relationship really changed later on. And Toraf, Rayna’s mate, he seemed like a nice guy.

I recommend this book if you enjoy mermaid books, or even paranormal romance. This book has a great (forbidden) romance. Also good if you liked Josephine Angelini’s Starcrossed series.

Cover Art Review: The cover looks greener in person. It looks blue on the computer screen. I love the image of the girl floating upwards, and the title typeface. The typeface looks art-deco, but a more modern, girly kind. I really like the cover. Teal and pink always look amazing together, because they’re almost complementary (but really would be a triad if yellow was added. Very well done cover.

~Haley G