Colorimetry: Wow - Review and Author Email

Welcome Waiting on Wednesday-ers and Colorimetry Readers... today I give you the long-awaited email from Anna Banks that nearly rolled me off the couch (had I been less wedged, I would've fallen off.)

Wow is hosted by Breaking the Spine...

Of Poseidon

by Anna Banks
Hardcover, 324 pages
Expected publication: May 22nd, 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
NetGalley e-copy for review on my Nook

Premise: Ganked from Goodreads

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.

I have been in love with this cover since the first time I saw it and posted it on Waiting on Wednesday back in November. That means I can claim it as my own, right?

What do I like about it?!?! The color, the fogginess, the way the girl is swimming fully dressed in the dark?! I'm not sure. I tell you what, though... this cover has NO HINT of Author-Snarkiness!! To find that, you gotta read the very first paragraph in the book:

"I SMACK into him as if shoved from behind. He doesn't budge, not an inch. Just holds my shoulders and waits. Maybe he's waiting for me to find my balance. Maybe he's waiting for me to gather my pride. I hope he's got all day."

I had just slipped into bed and cracked the book open (figuratively speaking) to see if I wanted to read it next (in my compulsive way of avoiding my "to do" review list.)

And instantly I was cracking up. When I thought I was done laughing, I was laughing again. And then I wanted to cry... and then laugh... and my husband thought there was a problem with me and there was... I was getting a loaded dose of Anna Banks.

I would like to say it's only this book that's the problem, that the author had a moment of confusion where snarky humor overtook her writing, that she settled down after a chapter or two. No such luck. Check out her picture below... innocent right? But then read her email to me. Uh-huh!!

So what did I think of the book?

My Review:

I didn’t mean to read the entire book in one day. *ahem* Really. I didn’t have the time, and I really wanted a book I could wander through slowly on my Nook, so Of Poseidon was very inconvenient.

It's light & fun… if death and survival-of-the-species is “light & fun”. The author’s humor leaks out everywhere, from the exclamations, to the slapstick situations that got reactions out of me (yes, I think tripping is funny. I’ve done my fair share of it.)

I saw in other reviews that procreation was criticized as a goal. In answer, my reply is, "it was explained". I am all about WHY’S!! There is plenty reason behind the procreation focus, not to mention the characters complaining about it themselves and I didn't feel any one person, like Emma, was more put out than anyone else. It made plenty of sense, although, I agree the system stinks. Who wouldn't?! You'll have to read it to see what I mean.

Emma is a fun character. She has deep, strong relationships and a good grasp on her own feelings. Garen is excessively handsome, which borderlines cliché, alrighty, especially with the hormonal-type romantic attraction firin’ up every scene. (Think Firelight or Twilight wolves.)

The story is told very interestingly. Emma’s point of view is in first person, whereas Garen’s is in omniscient third. I was jolted out of the story a few times settling into the pov over and over. The overall effect is understanding the situation from both sides, while feeling as if I am Emma.

So, what did I like best? The world-building. The irreverent humor. The Syrena were believable. Their history and general life are explained a little, enough to answer some initial questions. There is plenty more that is not explained, but the story is not complete in this volume. (Semi-cliff-hanger, anyone?!) And the humor caught me by surprise too many times to count.

I would so love to discuss deeper plot stuff... like...

When did I catch on to who was who? What's up with Grom's love life?! What in the world is Garen going to do with the pickle he's gotten himself into?! And can we see more of Toraf and Rayna PLEASE?! I love 'em!!

My Rating: 4 - Good!! This is a snarky light read with a well-developed concept.

Now for the good stuff.

I saw all the humor on Anna's website. I mean, she says stuff like " If you put chocolate in front of me, you must not have wanted it in the first place." So I wrote her an email asking if she hadn't noticed that her story didn't end when the book did? 'Cause I kept trying to flip to the next page on my Nook when I was out of pages!!

I know... irreverent of me. But she replied with this (I am justified!!) (Bolding mine):

Hey Laura!
    I'm so very mad at you right now. I was eating dinner with my family at THE fanciest Sonic in town when I read your email and I promptly snorted coconut slushy right out of my nose and onto my chili dog. I paid good money for that chili dog! So, please know that wherever you are right now at this moment, I am giving you the stank eye.

   LOL! As for the plans on wrapping up that story, there will be a sequel, tentatively called Of Triton. Unfortunately, Galen dies. Or does he???? Mwahahahahaha! (Payback for my chili dog! I mean, it was a foot long!).

   As for your questions, Syrena is the Polish word for mermaid. Don't tell Galen.

I got the idea to write about mermaids from an article I read which outlined how they'd discovered that the colossal squid--that ginormous thing you see with its tentacles wrapped around ships in old drawings--actually does exist. All this time, as late as 2005, they thought the colossal squid was just fishermen's lore. I thought, What ELSE could be out there? Mermaids? Sasquatch? (I believe in Sasquatch, BTW). And so it began.

I collect signed books, Gone With The Wind stuff (seriously) and cellulite, which I store below my waist. My favorite color is red. I'm from Niceville Florida. The people in Niceville are not always nice. In fact, whoever named it Niceville might have been using sarcasm...

I'm glad you like the cover. They were actually thinking about changing it at one point, so I wake up each day thankful that plan was thwarted because I lub my cover! :)

I'll let my publicist know that you very obviously had pages missing from the ARC you downloaded, because I certainly DID finish up the story, AND I started a new one. All in the last sentence of the last page. Alas, I know this ending is going to get me a black eye when I go on tour this summer.... =D

Thanks again for the laugh (snort),
Anna

I rec'd her email when I was sitting on the couch with my abundant family watching some show about fixing up cool hotrods (if you must know, Anna Banks) and I started laughing outloud, of course, and had trouble staying upright despite being squished in place tightly.

I did not email back... 'cause obviously she's got the upper hand with snortin' slushies and who knows what irreverent thing I would say next. Better to stop while I'm ahead and just publicly post her email to share with everyone. Don't you think?

We got some good news here... a sequel in the works, and Galen's possible imminent death, and a word in Polish!! Plus some touring comin' up!!

Ganked from her blog:

Oh hecktotheyes! I'm going on book tour this summer with three fellow Macmillan (and undeniably awesome) YA authors: Jennifer Bosworth (STRUCK), Emmy Laybourne (MONUMENT 14), and Leah Bardugo (SHADOW & BONE). We shall be called FIERCE READS. Check out our Facebook page here, and be sure to like us, at least a little. :)