Review: Of Triton by Anna Banks

Of Triton
by Anna Banks
Series: The Syrena Legacy #2
Publication date: 28 May 2013
Feiwel & Friends, Hardcover, 246 pages
Source: Library

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WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR 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?

Once again, Anna Banks infuses Emma and Galen’s points of view with humor, intrigue, and waves of romance.

Rating: ★★★

I waited more than a year to read this book (the library took that long to finally get it on shelves and well, I wasn’t exactly willing to buy my own copy) and while I wouldn’t say I’m crazy in love with Of Triton, it wasn’t too bad either. When compared to its predecessor, Of Poseidon, though, I would no doubt pick the first book. That’s simply because while Of Triton had been pretty enjoyable, it lacked a certain spirit, as if the author had not whole-heartedly wanted to write a sequel.

The plot here was generally interesting, albeit a tiny bit predictable. I would say The Syrena Legacy is definitely on the light side, plot-wise, so don’t expect a lot of intense stuff. Unfortunately, I did expect the story-telling to be more humorous, like it had been in the previous novel. Without the wit and snark Emma possessed in Of Poseidon, the story lacked vibrancy and felt more like pieces of the plot were just being chucked at readers.

On the bright side, the pieces being chucked were nicely shocking and entertaining. I loved how Banks thought of unique problems Emma, as a half-breed, and her Mom, as the long-lost Syrena princess, would face in the world of Syrenas. Said problems were unexpected yet completely likely to happen in their situation, making them both surprising yet realistic. However, I do think the Syrena political conflict could have been better written as the Syrena population was rather dumbly oblivious to how the villains in the story were rather, well, for lack of better words, villainous.

As for the romance, we all know that Emma’s Mom (AKA, Princess Nalia) had been engaged to Grom, Galen’s elder brother, before the whole mine accident, after which everyone had thought Nalia died. The two (obviously) meets again in Of Triton and honestly, I was pretty weirded out by the whole mom-is-in-love-with-daughter’s-boyfriend’s-elder-brother situation. It was hard to swallow but well, I did manage to accept it in the end, since Grom did feel more like a father figure to Galen and Rayna than an elder sibling.

With all the issues that arose with Nalia’s return, I sadly have to admit Emma and Galen’s relationship was left in the backseat. It barely developed from where things left off in Of Poseidon so when all the “I want to spend my life with you.” stuff surfaced, it didn’t come off very smooth. Despite that, there’s still the last novel, Of Neptune, so there’s plenty of room for improvements.

To sum it up, Of Triton was a passably good and fast read but far from the likes of Of Poseidon. Personally, as a fan, I had been quite disappointed. I guess all that’s left to do is hope for a better conclusion in Of Neptune!

Adelena

P.S. Check out my stop in the Of Neptune Blog Tour for a chance to win a complete set of The Syrena Legacy!