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Goddess Girls #17

Amphitrite the Bubbly

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A new mergirl shows up at Mount Olympus Academy—and Poseidon just might be her perfect match in this seventeenth Goddess Girls adventure.

Amphitrite is a mergirl with a big crush on Poseidon—but will his quirks make her fall out of like?

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2015

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About the author

Joan Holub

327 books1,223 followers
NY Times bestselling children's book author:
GODDESS GIRLS series + HEROES IN TRAINING series (w Suzanne Williams); THIS LITTLE TRAILBLAZER a Girl Power Primer; ZERO THE HERO; I AM THE SHARK. Lucky to be doing what I love!

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5 stars
454 (54%)
4 stars
215 (25%)
3 stars
117 (14%)
2 stars
30 (3%)
1 star
12 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for Daisy.
309 reviews61 followers
May 28, 2016
This wasn't my favourite book in the series but I think it was a good addition to it. I loved seeing some familiar faces from earlier in the series that don't go to MOA, as well as getting more of two of my favourites; Hades and Pandora, AND the awesome new character of Delphinius, but I thought the story let this book down.

Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention, because although the whole contest thing seemed cool at first, I soon found it to be overcomplicated and very badly paced, in my opinion. The first half of the book was just boring to me because the whole mermaid thing didn't interest me for some reason and then the contest came up and suddenly I was getting tons of names and rules thrown at me. By the time the first task actually started (HALFWAY through the book!) I had pretty much lost interest in what it was about. To be honest though, this was probably more my problem than the book's, because I think I am now technically over the intended reading age and I was reading this in short bursts, so the set-up chapters felt much longer to me than they probably were.

Another thing that sort of bothered me was Amphitrite as a main character. Although I later came round to the fact that she was actually quite a sweet girl, at first I just couldn't see what was likeable about her. Almost everything she did was for herself and the complications and quirks of mermaid life didn't grab me. Perhaps if the opening scene had been more exciting or eventful and had shown a little more of the mermaids' lives, I would have cared more. However, as I said, by the end I liked her a lot more and I'm looking forward to seeing her crop up in later books.

I really enjoyed reading from Poseidon's POV, and thought the authors did a fantastic job of portraying his character as well as adding to it in this book.

Towards the end of the book the contest started to feel very rushed (they travelled halfway around the world in about two chapters!), in contrast to the slowness at the beginning, which goes back to my point about bad pacing. Still, I was impressed by the way that storyline wrapped up and the overall ending to the book was very cute! Overall I was disappointed with this book's plot and I think the first half could've been a lot better, but it excelled in many places and I would recommend reading this book if you like the series.
Profile Image for ✧ hayley (the sugar bowl) ✧.
352 reviews71 followers
April 7, 2024
4 ⋆ ˚。⋆୨୧˚

poseidon and amphitrite are my new favorite thing (i know, i say that every time about every new relationship presented in these books but who’s going to stop me 🤭) and i thoroughly enjoyed this book.

this plot was so much fun and i loved the element of the games and also the ol’ sister switch which happened in this book. also, like i have already alluded to, the ROMANCE.

i have always loved flawed, cocky, proud, flirty, insecure poseidon and now seeing him fall “in like” as these books say (yeah, I know…) made me feel like a proud mama. amphitrite was a fun mc as well and i’m glad i read this.

can’t wait to read the rest of this series!!


୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆
Profile Image for Joan.
2,240 reviews
April 9, 2020
Nice fun story. Not destined to win lit prizes but a pleasant story, with clear good and bad groups. Amphitrite, is a good mergirl but she has never managed to do the transformation spell to be able to go from ocean to land. She gets to join a competition that Zeus has set up for MOA (Mount Olympus Academy) that’s fun till the giants and Geia, their Mom, crashes. The rules are changed to include a team of giants. Will Poseidon, her captain, and her team manage to win against the cheating giants? Will Poseidon and Amphitrite learn some lessons and succeed against the giants and Geia? Will Amphitrite be able to master the shape shifting spell? Read to find out. Pleasant story, some excitement suitable for students younger than junior high level. Nice moral themes that do not spoil the story by being too obviously moralistic. Recommended. Reader who age out of this series might be ready for Rick Riordan’s first series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Profile Image for Briann.
199 reviews1 follower
May 3, 2023
I read this book as an adult college student during finals week to relive childhood nostalgia. It was okay. Definitely would have been more fun to read as a child (oh, the good old days). It did distract me from the stress of finals for a bit, so that was fun.
Profile Image for Joanna.
1,622 reviews48 followers
August 23, 2016
This was selected by my four year old daughter, who I'm sure picked it based on the cover. She seemed to like the story even though I'm sure that she didn't understand most of it. I found the effort to incorporate Greek mythology amusing, but not especially well done or clever. We haven't read any other books in the series, so maybe I'd be more appreciative of character development across books, but it's hard to say. This is definitely a book for young readers and a young audience with little crossover appeal to adults. The plot and characters are quite simple and emotions are told with very little nuance. But anything that engages kids in reading is a good thing.
8 reviews
August 23, 2016
Amphitrite the Bubbly is part of the Goddess Girls series by Joan Holub. The Goddess Girls books (including this book) are some of my favorite summer reads. The books in this series put a modern twist on Greek mythology to somewhat relate to young girls today. This particular book is about a young mermaid named Amphitrite who meets the Mount Olympus students on the adventure of a lifetime. I would recommend this book (or this series) to pretty much all young girls looking for quick reads of about 250-300 pages.
Profile Image for Doni.
663 reviews
May 5, 2018
I was surprised by how much I liked this book, especially because it figures Poseidon heavily and up until this book, he was my least favorite character in the series. But Amphitrite is such a nice character that she changes Poseidon for the positive. Great surprise, late in the game.
Profile Image for Meg McGregor.
4,040 reviews77 followers
July 31, 2021
Amphitrite the Bubbly, is the 17th book, in the Goddess Girls series!

I enjoyed this story very much! Not only did it contain multiple-plot lines (which I love) its main focus is on the MOA Temple Games. This story reminds me very much of The Amazing Race, where the contestants have to go to different countries and they have to master challenges in each country!

This is such a fun read; and what a great idea, how to entice younger readers, to enjoy learning about Greek Mythology!

I would have devoured, all these stories, during my upper elementary and Middle School years!

In this story, Amphitrite goes to the Temple Games, taking the place of her sister Thetis, who did not want to leave their Underwater Home! But Amphitrite is a free spirit and longs for adventure!

She is on Poseidon's team, and is a very big help; her wide range of reading geography, folktales, and mathematics aids in her team getting into the last two teams for the WIN!

Of course, everything works out; I like the way the authors always are able to wrap everything up!

They don't win, but Poseidon's dream of having his own temple, comes true!

"Because it's a surprise. For you" she told him. "Makes sense your temple would be under the sea, right?"

"A temple? For me," he repeated, obviously astounded. "But who built it?"

"Who builds temples,: she said, shrugging as she beamed at him. "An immortal's fans of course. In this case all the creatures of the sea. They've -- we've been building this place for years now. To show you that we of the sea are all behind you. We know that you have our backs. That you protect us and are always thinking of our welfare. And we appreciate it."

She showed him a mosaic of tiles that depicted him larger than life, riding three hippocampi through tumu7luous waves, his trident raised high in battle. "Last year, all my sisters and I made this mosaic from bits of shells we collected."

The only concern I have is this. Would the target audience be able to understand, all the mythological references?

Perhaps a list of the main characters and places, with a few facts about each, would help Ms. Holub's readers, enjoy this series even more!

Also, I was a teacher for 30 years and a nanny for ten. As a teacher and former nanny, I would really like to see more emphasis on the scholastic side of being at Mount Olympus Academy! I know that sports and parties and all are important; but so are the academics!

And I am very happy to see that the scholastic as well as the sport and winning aspect were all in this story. That is why I gave it five stars!

I am so looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
Profile Image for QSTCMomma.
242 reviews1 follower
October 24, 2021
I’ve been reading this series with my 9 year old. They started out cute stories. Not overly well written but not terrible. Good plots for discussion with my daughter about friends and relationship issues and making good choices.

This book was not even decently well written and full of errors. The story line was pointless and the dialogue was painful.

I understand that once a series starts the authors need to crank out the next one quickly. But it would be better to stop than to put your name on such very poor work.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
1,241 reviews4 followers
September 10, 2023
This is a good Goddess Girl book, even if there was getting to be too many by this point. I like Amphitrite as a main character. She is nice, and this book was how I learned to pronounce her name properly. The best thing about this book, however, is Poseidon. This book manages to give him character development and make him seem less of a drip. Now he is a proper romantic match for Amphitrite, as per the myths. This is a fun book.
Profile Image for Liz.
482 reviews4 followers
July 7, 2021
I was hoping that Poseidon would be given the chance to redeem hisself eventually! I’m not quite sure I completely agree with the ending (Amphitrite found the plant, Athena just picked it up), but the concept of teamwork being more important than individual gains still stands.
3 reviews
January 11, 2020
I like the book but I don't like how point of view is split between Amphitrite and Poseidon. I like the temple games. 💖

I 💖 MERMAIDS
Profile Image for TheGryphonVera.
16 reviews5 followers
March 22, 2021
Ah. This book.

I desperately wanted to love it. This was the first book I read after having revisited the series and I really wanted to get wrapped up in this book and this story and all of these familiar characters. Instead I was left feeling so bleeeeh about it? It was kind of nice to get all the warm nostalgia fuzzy feels from the story, but the story itself was just so boring and substanceless and pointless that it felt hard to truly enjoy. The fact that the main characters of the original story were so interesting and are not featured in this story were definitely one of the main reasons that this didn't work for me, but I also genuinely think somewhere along the way this series' writing got a little bit derailed and the characters all became sort of flat, which makes it a LOT harder to get truly interested and invested in the story. But obviously, nostalgic feels and familiar and sweet characters did prevent me from stop reading it altogether out of boredom.
Profile Image for Linda Jaejoong.
555 reviews7 followers
April 10, 2016
Wir laden euch herzlich zu den Tempel Spielen der Mount Olympus Academy ein, der Hauptgewinn ist ein eigener Tempel. Ein Traum wird wahr für Poseidon er hat die Chance seinen eigenen Tempel zu bekommen, nur das ist einfacher gesagt als getan. Zunächst muss er dafür ein super Team zusammen stellen und die Meerjungfrau Thetis ist die perfekte Kandidatin für sein Sieger Team.

Was er nicht weiß ist das Thetis nicht Thetis ist, sondern ihre Zwillingsschwester Amphitrite. Sie möchte nur eins, endlich frei sein und die Welt entdecken. Ich mochte sie wirklich sehr, sie war sympatisch, witzig und zum knuddeln süß. Poseidon ist das genau Gegenteil, er ist eingebildet, egoistisch und nicht sehr freundlich.

Natürlich hatte Poseidon auch seine guten Momente, aber sie waren leider nicht oft, ich war ein wenig enttäuscht von ihm. Er war ja schon immer nicht sehr freundlich, aber er hätte sich doch ein wenig mehr Mühe geben können. Ansonsten war die Geschichte mal wieder super gut, sie war spannend, witzig und voller Action. Das Cover ist ein Traum, es ist von allen mein liebstes. Ich freue mich schon auf die nächste Geschichte!!
Profile Image for April.
1,278 reviews20 followers
March 2, 2016
Cute but not my favorite. Although Amphitrite's portions are delightful; once Poseidon starts to have POV chapters it begins to drag; mostly because his only driving ambition is to Win a Temple from the Games Zeus is holding and he doesn't mind being a bit of a jerk to do so. Amphitrite has a lovely few scenes in her undersea world before becoming a legged land-version of a mermaid for the entire rest of the story. There's a contest to see which of 7 groups of 5 students (some from MOA and others chosen by the team captains from across the globe; mortal and non) can win a series of challenges and win their own temple! Poseidon chooses Amphitrite's sister but in a last-minute swap Amphitrite willingly takes her sister's place and the Games are Afoot. There are cute moments and a bit of danger when a rowdy group of Giants join the crowd but this one was sadly not the best overall; it lacked the charm of some earlier stories (mostly because Poseidon is a self-centered character and difficult to enjoy reading as a POV character) and I was bummed that the challenge ended up skipping what could have been a fun bit in Egypt to rush off to the finale in Greece.
Profile Image for Narariel.
292 reviews9 followers
August 4, 2019
An interesting addition to the Goddess Girls series, this story seems to have more than the usual amount of point-of-view of a godboy. Specifically Poseidon. I found the changes in PoV to be well-done and to add to the story. The book seems to include not only a moral as usual but also a gentle reminder of courtesy and its benefits. I liked the flaws in the characters and the fact that the main female character wasn't a goddessgirl, thus having fewer powers. I felt this gave her a chance to showcase other abilities not based on magic.
Profile Image for Beenee Reads.
400 reviews
November 22, 2015
Another cute book to keep me going between releases of my 'Must Have Now' books!

It really is amazing how Joan Holub is able to twist the classic myths into child friendly completely different stories! The great thing about these books (at least for me) is that the characters are (for the most part) in their early teen years and not only do they act like it, but throughout the series they have grown in a believable manner as people.

Can't wait to get my hands on the next book!
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
475 reviews
December 4, 2015
Fun book! Even though this is a children's book I still like to read it because it's a nice twist on Greek mythology and the gods and goddesses!

So this one was interesting since it was mermaids in it so that was cool... Though Poseidon is described as a real jerk and I don't really like that way perceiving him.

Overall a good little mythology book, looking forward to the next one.
Profile Image for Kelly Carey.
879 reviews4 followers
September 21, 2015
I had never heard of this character from Greek mythology; however, she is like the little mermaid in a way, except she has a lot more sisters. Just like the little mermaid, she wishes to live on land.
Profile Image for Grace.
128 reviews3 followers
September 19, 2015
This book was pretty fun and entertaining. It told the story of a mergirl named Amphritite who traveled to MOA to complete in the games.

I liked it, but since I enjoy reading Greek mythology, it got annoying reading the book because of how the actual mythology in the book was written.
Profile Image for Kaytee.
426 reviews6 followers
November 23, 2016
amphitrite is really pretty and i think poisiden was wrong and i think he is pretty selfish i should say even though i felt bad that he did not get his temple and i knew it was hard cause i am a sore loser.
Profile Image for Isabella.
98 reviews
September 21, 2015
This book was amazing and I'm so glad that with as many books there are in this series that Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams have not lost their spark.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews

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