Reviews with content warning for Death - The Chalice of the Gods

➽ Percy Jackson is back with another adventure! I have to admit that I was sceptical about a sixth Percy Jackson book at first, despite loving Rick Riordan's work. The original series holds such nostalgia to me, that I'm always unsure if a new book can live up to that. We've also seen a lot of Percy in other series, but I'm happy to report that he's got one more adventure left in him! I really liked The Chalice of the God as it gives us another quest, that makes sense for Percy and where he's at. He's saved the world countless times, so this time the stakes are more personal. After finally being (somewhat) at peace, Percy plans to graduate and apply to New Rome University together with his girlfriend Annabeth. Once again the gods thwart his plans as they require him to get three recommendation letters ... by another god. Percy's shocked and annoyed, but not surprised that they are still punishing him for being a kid of the Big 3. The normal rules have never applied to him!

“Are you kidding?” He grinned at Annabeth. “A chance to do quests, just the three of us? Like old times? The Three Musketeers!” “The Powerpuff Girls,” Annabeth suggested. “Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey,” I said. “Wait a minute,” Grover said. “I’m fine with this,” Annabeth said.”

➽ The original trio - Percy, Annabeth and Grover - is back for another quest to get Percy his first recommendation letter! I love their dynamic so much, they have all been through a lot and are there to support Percy. Luckily, their quest is in New York, as they also have to focus on their school work. The cupbearer of Zeus, Ganymede, has a big problem: the chalice of the gods has been stolen! If he can't get it back by the next feast, Zeus will blast him into the stratosphere. Percy agrees to help in order to get a recommendation! As always their adventures are so much fun and told in Riordan's distinct, humorous writing style. I loved seeing different gods that hadn't gotten the spotlight, such as Iris and Hebe!

“You know,” he said, “sometimes it’s the smallest waves that knock you off your feet. Tsunamis—everybody knows they’re powerful. Tidal waves—big and impressive. But those small waves? They hold a lot of power. They prove what the ocean is capable of, even when no one is paying attention.”

➽ I loved the themes that were explored in this book! Between dangerous quests and deadly threats, Percy never expected to make it this far into adulthood. Now he's finally close to going to college and living a 'normal' life with his girlfriend. Most demigods never make it to their stage, but Percy desperately wants to have all the experiences, he thought he might never get. Things are changing for him, as he's also close to moving out and his mother and her partner are expecting another child. I felt for Percy, as he's still trying to orient himself and plan a future with Annabeth!

Content Warnings

lunep's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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cherub__'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I know this was written primarily as a way to generate interest in the Disney+ show, but Chalice of the Gods was a great throwback to OG Percy Jackson. The humor was similar, the characters were eminently themselves, the gods were extremely on-brand, everything felt right. It's not every day you get such a perfect, modern throwback to something you cherished growing up!

My only gripe, writing this as a non-teenager, is that post-PJO and post-HoO, there's so much possibility to really examine the consequences of previous series on our main characters, and I think Rick took a pass on doing so here. Obviously this is still a childrens' book so there is some ceiling on discussion of heavy topics, but the fandom has repeatedly demonstrated through fan-fiction preferences that they're ready for attention to be paid to the darker aspects of both Greek mythology and the world of PJO in particular. Given the lower stakes in CoG, it even felt that this was less interested in examining the heavier aspects of our favorite characters. But, this is a small gripe. I loved PJO for what it was a decade ago, and this gives me one more pearl to treasure going forward.

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icedlemonade's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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barda's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I adore the Percy Jackson series and all of Rick Riordan's mythology books, and this new one was no exception. If you are looking for a good replacement to Harry Potter, but with much better diversity and an author who takes great care in portraying people of all genders and races, these books are it.

This book is more lighthearted compared to a lot of his other books in the mainline series, but it works well for the overall tone, as this time Percy and his friends aren't trying to save the world; they're just trying to get Percy into college. It's nostalgic in a good way, with the characters reminiscing over past adventures at times, but the book never falls into the trap of becoming too bogged-down in nostalgia. The plot is simple and as we know the characters well already they don't really change or develop in, but complexity really isn't warranted in a book like this either.

My main complaint would be Percy using some really modern language like "deepfakes" - I thought that as Percy was only 17, the book would be set a few years in the past to make it line up with when the books started in 2005 (though it has been a while since I read the other books so there might be an explanation I missed).

In any case, if you're looking for a fun read with loveable characters, this book (and, by extension, the rest of the Percy Jackson books) is a great one to pick up.

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Percy Jackson is back! And this time, his quest isn't focused on the world ending: it's focused on getting him into college. Honestly, the fact that the stakes were pretty low in this one (not that there isn't any imminent danger, this is Percy we're talking about), made this such a fun read. Reading from Percy's perspective is alwasy fun because he has some of the best commentary, but just the overall tone of this one was less serious than some of the other series set in this world.

Riordan already announced another book after this one, and I'm betting is going to be a trilogy (3 quests to get into college and all). It's great seeing Percy, Annabeth, and Grover get back together for quests, and I'm sure we'll see more of that in the next books!

If you're just staring your Percy Jackson journey and wonder where this one fits in: it takes place after the Heroes of Olympus but before the Trials of Apollo. Once this trilogy is done, I think it will be a nice little bridge between the two series!

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