It's official. Mermaids are the new "angels" of the Paranormal Romance genre. The is the second mermaid book I've read and I'm less than impressed with these sea creatures. Incidentally, Of Poseidon happens to be worse for me than Lies Beneath .

Of Poseidon tells the story of Emma, a girl who possesses a few Syrena (mermaid) traits, and Galen, a Syrena prince, who attempts to unravel the secrets of Emma. It's discovered that she has the Gift of Poseidon (think Dr. Dolittle at the aquarium) and that she may be the key to pass on the Gift to future generations. The problem arises that Emma can't change into her Syrena form causing Galen to spend more time with her training her. You know what happens next: they fall deeply in love.

I was really looking forward to starting this book for two reasons: 1) The cover is stunning and 2) The blurb mentioned it was a mermaid tale told by both Emma and Galen's PoV. I usually like books that feature duel point of views, but in this case I didn't because it switched back and forth from 1st person (Emma) to 3rd person (Galen).  That stylistic choice felt choppy to me. But despite that, I did find the dialogue humorous at times.

"Maybe you can talk to donkeys, too," Dr. Milligan smiles. Emma nods. "I can. Sometimes Galen can be a jackass."

And that's about all I liked about this book. (See, I'm not that heartless!) Unfortunately, the bad REALLY outweighed any good this novel had and it all started with Chloe, Emma's best friend. Now the beginning of the novel opens up with Emma and Chloe in Florida on vacation before school starts and I was surprised to see that Chloe was black. I had a huge smile on my face and I thought, "Wow! Diversity!" That was until Chloe was described as having a weave and fake nails... and (view spoiler)[she dies in the 3rd chapter (hide spoiler)]. D: The smile slid of my face and my happy cat died. I have a HUGE issue with how African Americans are portrayed in YA novels, if we even make it into a YA novel in the first place. This is the same issue I had with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, where they minority character was so heavily stereotyped I wanted him to die a slow painful death. Same with Chloe, whose only purpose was to create a sad and lonely heroine. Are there black girls who have weaves and wear fake nails? Sure. But that is the easiest cop out when it comes to creating a black female character. I half expected her to bust out and start "doin' the Dougie" on the beach.


I still have no idea how to do that dance.

Chloe wasn't the only character I had issue with. I also really disliked Galen. He's your typical YA male love interest. He's so good looking it hurts to glance at him, females tripping over their panties to give him their numbers, and if he smiles at you: instant orgasm. He was also a controlling douche bag slinging Emma around like she was a Raggedy Anne doll. He always tries to tell Emma what to do and where to go, giving her no choice. There is even a point where he tells her she is going with him to Florida and he already arranged everything including getting permission from her mother. He stalks her and threatens another guy she dates. And I was okay with giving this book 2 stars until he started thinking thoughts like these:

"He scours his memory for a sweet-natured Syrena who would take care of him, who would do whatever he asked, who would never argue with him."

But I really can't expect much for him given how poorly females are treated in this book. I'm not sure what the obsession is with women's uteruses these days. Please don't get me started on the US, but this is YA fiction. Can't I escape the madness in my fiction? No, apparently not. The female mermaids have almost no choice who they want to marry. When a male Syrena turns 18 he searches for a female "whose company he will enjoy and who will be suitable for producing offspring." Great. Just great. So, female Syrena are only worthy if they can produce offspring. Here that girls? Your worth is dependent on a working uterus! Otherwise you are unsuitable!

Galen's own sister, Rayna, spends half of the book angy because she was married off to a Syrena without her knowledge. Yes, that's right. She wasn't even present at the ceremony! Oh, but don't worry she had the option to break off the marriage. Unfortunately for her, the King would probably deny her, so no real rights at all! But what really irked me was when she saw him kiss another girl, she instantly decides she does love him and they go off to an island to mate. -_-

Emma is no exception to this "rule" either. Since she is so speshul and has the Gift of Poseidon, she is (view spoiler)[destined to marry Galen's brother and produce offspring (hide spoiler)]. Galen conveniently keeps this from her the entire book because she really has no say in the matter. Women's rights over their marital status? Their bodies? Their children? Their futures? What's that?



Along with the issue of women, the book has a ton of other problems. For example, somehow Emma can talk underwater while she is holding her breath. That makes no sense. She has to hold her breath. How is it possible that she is talking?  Emma's mother was also a strange one. She is crazy overbearing and pesters Emma into admitting Emma and Galen are dating. But here is the thing: they weren't. She's very, very strict, but just allows Emma to go anywhere with Galen. That didn't match up for me. I would tell you why it makes zero sense, but it would spoil the entire book. Speaking of which, the plot twists are extremely predictable. I knew how the book would end in the second chapter. There's no anticipation, no mystery. Just incredibly slow characters. That is pathetic.

I was really looking forward to this book and was excited to get approved for the galley, but another mermaid tale bites the dust.

1 star for an interesting premise.
.5 star for the lulz it afforded me.

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