Of Triton is the second installment of the Syrena series by Anna Banks. This review will not contain spoilers for Of Triton, but it will contain spoilers for the first book in the series, Of Poseidon.

Emma wakes in a dark motel room as her memories from the day before assault her. Galen and her mother fought in the kitchen after he revealed the truth about her mother’s past. The long-lost Poseidon princess.  Now Emma must come to terms with the fact that not only is she a Half-Breed, but she is also royalty. She will never belong in the human world, but the Syrena realm will never accept an abomination as one of their own. There is even a law that proves she is to be put to death just for existing. 

With her mother’s reappearance, the Syrena world splits in two once again. Poseidon versus Triton. When all her loved ones abandon her on the shore to try and stop the council from overthrowing the royals, she must sit and wait on news to come. Only Emma has never been good at doing what she is told. Will she respect Galen’s pleas for her to keep herself safe on land or will she dive into the deep, revealing herself, to save the not ones she loves, but the entire underwater kingdom?

I have just as many mixed feelings about this book as I did the first one. The majority of the problems that occurred in the first book were also present in this book. But most of the things I liked about the previous book also showed up in this one.

I still loved the premise of this book. I think the idea that Banks had was a brilliant one. One of my favorite parts of the idea is that both Poseidon and Triton were real. If a story counts one of them as real, it usually picks on. It does not usually contain them both. However, this one did and it showed how their descendants lived in today’s world.

I still loved the characters. Emma and Galen still held my attention. But we got to know more about the side characters in this book then we did in the first one, which I loved. Revealing the truth about Emma’s mother created an entire second story for the reader to follow.

There was a significant amount of worldbuilding in this book, which was one of my biggest complaints about the first book. We finally got to see more of what life was like underwater. While there was no day to day life, we still got to meet more Syrena and get to learn more about their laws and customs. This was probably my favorite part of the book.

As for the writing itself, I thought there was much to be desired. The head-hopping was just as bad, though it was easier to get through since I went in expecting it to happen. While I love being in multiple characters heads, it just did not flow in this book. It was extremely jarring at points to switch heads.

I’m not sure what is going to happen in the third book or if the original plan for this series included the third book because I felt like the ending to this book was a very satisfying end. While there are still more things I want to know about our characters and the world they live in, I do not feel an overwhelming need to pick up the next book. This book did not leave me with enough questions.

Overall, I liked this book, but I still think it could have been done better. I think if I had to honestly rate it, I would give it 2.5 out of 5 stars, but as I do not use half stars, I am going to give it 3 out of 5 stars. I think this book would be enjoyable for anyone who can overlook the jarring head-hopping.

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