Of Triton (Syrena Legacy, #2)

by Anna Banks

When her mother's reappearance in the Syrena world turns the two kingdoms -- Poseidon and Triton -- against one another, Emma must risk everything she loves and reveal herself -- and her Gift -- to save a people she's never known.

When her mother's reappearance in the Syrena world turns the two kingdoms, Poseidon and Triton, against one another, Emma must risk everything she loves and reveal herself and her Gift to save a people she's never known. Book #2

• ISBN10: 1250042453
• ISBN13: 9781250042453
• Publish Date: 28 May 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Feiwel & Friends
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

In book 2, we discover: a lost heir, a conspiracy against the Royals, and the other Syrena with "the gifts". Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it could not compare to its predecessor due to it being more serious. Anna Banks is quite funny. I saw her in a panel at BookCon, and she had me laughing up a storm, and that's what was missing from this book. I understand that the book dealt with more serious matters (death, a plot to unseat the Royals, threats of death, natural disasters, kidnapping, etc), but it was the humor that I loved so much in the last book.

[reveriesociety_]

The plot was good. In fact, better than in the last book. It kept me at the edge of my er... couch. But, I think the weak point of this installment is the characters. The main character. Sure, she was super badass when it was the time to be, when it mattered, but to get there, I had to wade through her muddy, boring thoughts. They were all over the place, and conflictedin places that were just dumb. Emma had the potential of being very likable, but I don't see where her development is. She has the gift of Poseidon. Cool. But I don't see who she is without it. Hobbies? Motivations? A life? Same goes for Galen.

Overall, not a bad book, but one that needs a little work.

[Chelsea]

Quick thoughts:
1. I can't rave about this series enough. For whatever reason it just sucks me in.
2. I love the romance in this book. It's kind of typical but something about both characters really keeps me interested.
3. I liked who ended up developing the major powers. It was sort of typical but I like how it turned out.
4. I'm loving the new characters we saw. Mainly the king.
5. There's just so much romance going on with everyone in this book! I love it!

[ladygrey]

Admittedly, I stacked the deck against this book but then it turned out not to be terrible. Galen's third person present pov was still awkward. And there was a whole lot of book that could have been streamlined - just like in the first book - making this a much more interesting story overall by combining them into one book. There were considerable chunks where nothing was happening with Emma that were obliviously just there to fulfill the split pov.

But I kind of like the characters. Not Galen when he's being clueless, obviously, but he's cute when he's being sweet and sincere. And Emma was a little bit if a bad ass and wasn't actually annoying at any point.

I didn't like the way it ended on such a down note. That sucked. And I'm not sure why there's a third book since everything wrapped up quite nicely (except for the sour note) but I'll probably read it too since there's nothing to despise about this book even if there's also nothing to love. It's truly an ok read, even mildly entertaining enough to be a good beach read.

[Raven]

Read this and other reviews at my blog.

Learning that her mother is the long lost Syrena princess that everyone believed to be dead was just the beginning. Now, the two kingdoms of Syrena are pitted against each other in a political struggle while Emma struggles internally with an identity crisis. As a half-blood, she is a freak in the human world and an abomination in the mer-world below the sea. When tensions below reach epic proportions, Emma must decide if she will honor Galen’s request to keep herself safe and unknown, or if she should reveal herself and her gift to save the Syrena below.
I was not as impressed with this book as I was with the first one. I still like the series, but this book was enough to take it off my favorites list. It had barely made the cut, but this one just secured the idea that it was presumptuous to add it to that list so soon like I did.

The characters are mostly the same. The mother does a one-eighty on her personality, but with her secret revealed, that was to be expected. Grom basically had no personality and it was very very late into the game that I even started liking him a little bit. The villains and side characters felt rather hollow. If this weren’t a second novel, I would feel like no one was fleshed out. That characters just all became non-impressive and easily faded into the background.

The story had some issues, but it was still entertaining. It was enough to keep me reading despite the issues I had with the characters. I clearly remember in the first book that Emma had trouble breathing for that long under water, and then in this one she can suddenly stay under for hours? That felt wrong to me. The story was interesting but felt a little thin. That could be because of the characters or their motivations feeling garbled.

I almost feel like I should give it less stars, but I just can’t because I really did enjoy it. It felt almost rushed to me. There were just too many issues that I don’t associate with Anna Banks. The fact that it was still told from Emma’s point of view in first person and Galen’s in third was annoying. It’s almost jarring while you are reading really. Then there were a few scenes from Galen’s pov that were written in both first and third and left you confused for a few pages as to whose point of view it was.

I think the worst part of this though, was that there was a pointless death at the end. The death is basically hinted to, but never really led up to. There is no emotion with it. I expected to be bawling like an infant and I was hardly moved at all. But let’s add to that, there will be a sequel. This is working out to be a trilogy. This book had a nice clear-cut ending. It was vague and left things open to a continuation, but it really isn’t needed. So the idea of another one doesn’t feel right. I will still read it, but I can’t help but feel disappointed by it’s existence.

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

4.5 Stars

Of Triton was the perfect book to save me from a reading slump. It wasn't quite as romantic and swoony as Of Poseidon, but it had a bigger focus on the syrena politics and mermaid mythology.

Although Of Triton was a fairly short book (only 246 pages!) I felt like a lot happened and it was a really well done, fully contained story. It had romance, action, politics and completely kept me engaged!

As I said, there wasn't a big focus on Emma and Galden's relationship, which was a bit of a downer, since that's what I really loved in Of Poseidon. Their relationship is discussed often, but they don't actually have a lot of time to be together (and make out like obsessed teenagers ♥). But I think other parts of the book make up for it. Anna Banks gives other couples in the story a bit of a highlight. We get a glimpse into Emma's mother's relationship with Grom (which is soooo cute!), and Rayna's relationship with Toraf. It's like there's love all around!

And the mermaid politics really come into play here. There's a bit of a power struggle, laws are challenged, people become skeptical of the royals.. It's pretty intense!

I really liked how Emma turned into such a badass at the end! She honestly did get a little on my nerves at the beginning because she hated seeing her mom with Grom since he wasn't her dad, and she just went on and on about it. But at the end... holy crap she was FIERCE! She totally took control and stood up for herself and seemed like a really confident badass. I loved it!!

But above everything else, Of Triton was fun. It was a pure, enjoyable read. I got completely sucked into the awesome mermaid lore, the politics and conspiracy, and Emma being a fiercely awesome badass at the end. I also kind of appreciate that it didn't end on a cliffhanger. Although the cliffhanger at the end of Of Poseidon certainly drew me in, it also drove me a little mad with eagerness. I'm happy that I still thoroughly enjoyed Of Triton, but everything also got wrapped up very well! I'm totally psyched to see what Anna Banks throws at us next!