Tempest Revealed by Tracy Deebs

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 352 Pages
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Narration: First Person: Tempest
Genre: Paranormal/Mermaid
Challenge: Paranormal Challenge
Source: Netgalley

The Tempest Series:
Book One: Tempest Rising
Book Two: Tempest Unleashed
Book Three: Tempest Revealed

Order On Amazon: Hardcover
                           
Order On Barnes and Noble:
Hardcover and Nook

Author's
Goodreads  Website

Goodreads Synopsis:

Half-mermaid Tempest Maguire is trying to have it all: fulfilling her duties as second-in-line to the merQueen Hailana while periodically returning home to the California coastline to be with her family and longtime boyfriend, Mark. Living under the sea and rebuilding Coral Straits is grueling work, while being back home reminds her of everyone she loves and misses. But when her old flame Kona arrives bearing news that Hailana has died and Tempest is now officially merQueen, she returns permanently to Coral Straits--even though it devastates her family and rips her apart from Mark. Once there, she discovers that an old enemy has resurfaced, hell-bent on taking over her throne...with or without her. As Tempest prepares for her final showdown against Tiamat and anyone who stands with her, she must decide what--and who--is really important to her. Because there will be few survivors in the ultimate sea battle that is brewing--and Tempest isn't sure she will be one of them.

My Review:

Since I haven't read a well written mermaid based novel in a while, I was super psyched when I got accepted by Netgalley to review Tempest Revealed, the last installment in Tracy Deeb's exhilarating Tempest Series. There has been no shortage of mermaid/siren novels released in the past year, but only a few of them caught my attention, Tempest Rising obviously being one of them. As soon as I flipped to the first page, I knew it was going to be a keeper and eagerly waited for the rest of the series to release. Now we've finally reached the last novel, and although it's sad to see this incredible series come to an end, it's also exciting to see the protagonist triumph over evil and finally obtain her well deserved happily ever after.

Tempest Maguire can be described in a countless number of ways, but if you asked me to do it in four or less words, I would say Reckless, Stubborn, and Possibly Insane. There were plenty of times when I admired the lengths she took in order to ensure her loved ones' safety, but there were also moments when I felt that she acted too recklessly. She did think things through calmly and rationally on occasion, but the majority was spent literally swimming head-first into bad situations, giving no thought to the consequences that might follow after. 

Since she was half mermaid/half human and had strong connections to both land and ocean, I understood why her loyalties were divided and why she was so desperate to stay a mermaid but still maintain a firm grasp on the humanity that was slowly slipping away. However, even though she stated several times throughout the novel that she cared about what happened to the Merpeoples in her domain, I never once saw that train of thought translated into action. Although I did have many issues with Tempest's character that I did not have in prior novels, Tempest did still keep many of her more commendable attributes. I loved the fact that she never backed down and continued fighting desperately with all that she was, even when the odds were stacked against her.

I didn't exactly hate the romance, but I was no where close to enjoying it either. If you've been keeping up with this series, you should already know that there are two love interests. Kona, the current Selkie King who was recently dumped by Tempest when she returned to land, and Mark, the first man to ever claim her heart and the man who is undeniably human. I've been a die-hard Team Kona fan during the whole series....up to this point. Jealousy is, of course, expected, but his possessiveness and clear disregard of Tempest's feelings, especially when they had merit, annoyed the hell out of me. He changed so much that I hardly even recognized him anymore. I've never vehemently hated Mark, but I never really cared for him as a love interest either. Now that I think of it, Kona and Mark sort of flip flopped in personalities. In Tempest Revealed, it seemed like Mark was the one who did the sweet, sentimental things instead of being his usual pee-on-what's-mine, jealous, jerkish self.

Tempest Revealed was fast paced and filled to the brim with heart-pounding action, yet I felt like the ending was rushed waaaay too fast. Once you get to the last installment of a series, you expect the author to create a huge finale scene and go out with a loud and glorious bang. To have all the questions you asked yourself from previous books answered thoroughly. That was definitely not the case here. I mean, it's been more than a week since I've finished reading this book, and I'm still left reeling from that abrupt ending. The author spent all of her time building the plot, increasing the tension, slowly but surely chugging towards the climax, and when we do finally reach it, nothing happens. I expected the final battle between Tempest and Tiamat to be this huge, electricity-flinging, water-slamming, whirlpool-creating thing of epic proportions, but it only lasted a measly five or six pages. I felt cheated. 

In conclusion, Tempest Revealed still kept it's trademark action scenes, but ended up disappointing me in so many ways. I didn't enjoy the romance, because most of it was Kona and Mark possessively yanking Tempest back and forth in some sick game of tug of war. The action was well paced and had me clinging to my seat, up until the end at least, where things went downhill fast. Although Tempest Revealed fell short of my high expectations, I still had a great time reading it, despite its many flaws.

*An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.

Cover- 4/5
Wish they stuck to the 
original cover model.
Heroine- 3.5/5
Romance- 2/5
Action- 4/5
Loved it until the very end.
Writing- 4.5/5
Overall- 4/5

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 326 Pages
Release Date: May 22, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genre: Mermaids/Fantasy

Of Poseidon Series
Book One: Of Poseidon
Book Two: Of Triton (May 28, 2013)

Order On Amazon: Hardcover
                                Kindle
Order On Barnes and Noble:
Hardcover and Nook

Author's
( Goodreads ! Website ! Twitter ! Facebook )

Goodreads Summary:

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 Review:

Of Poseidon. What's the first thing that pops into your head when you come across this title? Some might say water, the sea, or badass gods. My thoughts? Greek Mythology, Percy Jackson *Swoons*, and Jello. Don't ask me where that last one came from, because I honestly don't know. Although....it does say alot about my mental sanity doesn't it? xD Anyways...if your looking for some sort of Greek related myth, or maybe your an obsessive Percy Jackson fan waiting for the next big thing in the Mythology genre. If you are, turn back around and head the other direction! I'm not saying you won't enjoy what this book has to offer, but if your relentlessly set on a Mythology based book, you won't be finding it in this novel.

Of Poseidon was a refreshing theme! Were all used to the Greek gods by now, heck that was what I assumed the theme to be based off of just by looking at the cover. However, even though Of Poseidon wasn't exactly what I was expecting, it was pleasantly surprising how interested I became on the whole subject matter. The idea of a race of mermaids, or "Syrena", as they liked to call themselves, that were each divided into two categories (Poseidon, being those who didn't mind a human's company and Triton, being those who openly despised them), intrigued me.

Anna Banks doesn't fail to jump right into the story! No long drawn out introductions or tedious explanations! She literally starts off with one of the major characters, Emma, tripping on her flip flops and falling smack into Galen, prince of Syrena. I loved what she did here! This certain scene was what I was anticipating all along, and Anna didn't fail to deliver!

Emma was a so so character for me. She started off with a major blushing problem. Emma seriously blushed like a bajillion times each page. Might be an exaggeration on my part, but ehh, that's what it felt like to me. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against characters who blush, but to do it so repetitively? It starts to grate on your nerves after a while. However, even though she had a tendency to get embarrassed...alot..she also had this stubborn and headstrong nature about her. When Galen specifically told her NOT to do something, it basically guaranteed that she would do it anyways. Her reactions to difficult situations were at times realistic....but other times not so much. There was this one particular scene when she attacked someone (With good reason!), threw them out a window, and then the following day became friends with said person. Don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that going from murder to omg lets be bffs is a little far stretched.

Galen was an admirable character! But If I couldn't read from his POV, I probably would've thought of him as a creepy stalker dude who wouldn't take no for an answer. However, since we did have the opportunity to read from Galen's perspective, I understood the problems that he was going through, and that even though he had a stalkerish tendency in the beginning of the novel, he had good intentions. I loved the way that Anna wrote Galen's character! It was like stepping into his shoes for the day, and experiencing the world for the very first time. As a Syrena Prince, he didn't spend much time on land, because it was frowned upon by his society. Words and phrases that are second nature to us, were completely foreign to him. It was adorable to see him flounder around (Haha fish joke!) to find the right word he was looking for.

Writing style.......wasn't feeling it. Everyone has different opinions, and I respect that. But for me, my favorite writing style is First Person past tense. Of Poseidon jumped from First Person present in Emma's perspective to Third Person present in Galen's perspective every other chapter. This constant switch back and forth made the wording awkward, stilted, and flat. I had to reread pages over again, because the writing style just didn't make sense. And for certain scenes, when there was alot of action going on, the sentences were abrupt and choppy. The author was probably hoping that this style of writing would make the scene more epic, but sadly...it just didn't work out.

The action was well paced. There were a few spots when I got slightly bored and ended up flipping a couple of pages, but it wasn't very often. One of the main reasons I picked up Of Poseidon, was because I heard from alot of my favorite bloggers that the characters were witty and that this book was chock full of laugh inducing humor. Do I disagree with that statement? Yes and no. There were several times when the reactions or comebacks of certain characters made me laugh or chuckle. However, there were also times when the humor was just a little too much, and veered dangerously close to corny.

Overall, Of Poseidon had a great idea with a unique twist. The action was well paced and the characters were fairly decent. However, if your picky about your writing styles or if you were hoping for a Greek myth based book, this novel might not be for you.

Hero- 4/5
Heroine- 2.5/5
Romance- 3.5/5
Action- 3.5/5
Comedy- 4/5
Overall- 3/5

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