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kassidyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Outing
mmccombs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
4.0
A magical book I am so glad exists! The writing was easy to read but also quite lyrical and had some beautiful lines. It’s a love story and a coming-into-yourself story, the character dynamic felt so intimate and sweet. The quest felt more natural than some other PJO books, though I’d say it felt a bit long in some parts. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to read this in middle school, but still thankful to have read it now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Grief
Minor: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
alyxinthestars's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Outing
sarieatsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This story really captures a lot of queer joy that is needed in the middle grade genre and just in books in genre and I loved every word of it. I also loved how the book took a deeper look into Will and Nico's characters, especially regarding some of Nico's trauma and Will's troubles with extreme self doubt and anxiety and how their personalities spanned into their relationship. This book was just all around a beautiful read and made me love Will and Nico's characters together and separate even more <3
fav quote: "'pain helps us learn'....'it is unforunate, but we rarely forget the lessons taught to us in moments of pain.'"
fav quote: "'pain helps us learn'....'it is unforunate, but we rarely forget the lessons taught to us in moments of pain.'"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent
mattyb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Mental illness and Kidnapping
dmatson21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved being back in the riodanverse but there were some things that were lacking and wish we had gotten more of. Wills past/character could have been explored more and made the for an even more emotional book. Overall, it was incredibly heartbreaking but Nick got his happy ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Medical trauma
Minor: Death, Eating disorder, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
alys055's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A lovely story about change, grief, accepting your past, and embracing your demons. Plus, Cocoa Puffs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Kidnapping, and Outing
miiine's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was scared that this book might not live up to my expectations but I think it might have even surpassed them.
Especially the way it adresses the trauma the characters, especially Nico, have gone through in the previous books surprised me in a good way. It's rare to see in fantasy that those things actually get talked about and not just brushed under the carpet so I'm glad that they really leaned into this topic and showed how Nico learned to not only acknowledge that his past was indeed traumatic but to also slowly start to unravel those issues.
Furthermore, it's amazing to see their relationship throughout the novel and I love that it becomes clear that they aren't a perfect couple by any means and have to learn to communicate with each other but still love the other one deeply.
Imo Rick and Mark working on this together was exactly the right decision because it gave Rick a guide in writing a story centered around queer characters and probably also helped him to not shy away from adressing the characters' Ptsd etc., as it's the first time one of his books really delved into this topic extensively.
I'm happy to know that Rick worked together with a queer author to write this book and get it right; it shows that he actually takes his support for the lgbtq community seriously and continues to work on the representation and general diversity in his books.
I haven't read any of Mark's other work but I can tell that both of them came together beautifully when writing this.
This book ripped my heart out in a good way while I also couldn't stop smiling during some scenes because Nico and Will being cute and goofy together just warmed my heart
Especially the way it adresses the trauma the characters, especially Nico, have gone through in the previous books surprised me in a good way. It's rare to see in fantasy that those things actually get talked about and not just brushed under the carpet so I'm glad that they really leaned into this topic and showed how Nico learned to not only acknowledge that his past was indeed traumatic but to also slowly start to unravel those issues.
Furthermore, it's amazing to see their relationship throughout the novel and I love that it becomes clear that they aren't a perfect couple by any means and have to learn to communicate with each other but still love the other one deeply.
Imo Rick and Mark working on this together was exactly the right decision because it gave Rick a guide in writing a story centered around queer characters and probably also helped him to not shy away from adressing the characters' Ptsd etc., as it's the first time one of his books really delved into this topic extensively.
I'm happy to know that Rick worked together with a queer author to write this book and get it right; it shows that he actually takes his support for the lgbtq community seriously and continues to work on the representation and general diversity in his books.
I haven't read any of Mark's other work but I can tell that both of them came together beautifully when writing this.
This book ripped my heart out in a good way while I also couldn't stop smiling during some scenes because Nico and Will being cute and goofy together just warmed my heart
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Abandonment, and War
justagirlwithbooks's review against another edition
3.75
“There cannot be light without darkness, nor darkness without light. You must have the contrast for both to exist.”
I LOVE YOU NICO MY SON-
In all seriousness though, in my usual one sentence reviews:
This book was far from perfect (and it was kind of cringey at times) but I still enjoyed it because I love Nico.
In reflection, this book is a 3.5 stars but I bumped it up 0.25 stars because of
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
PTSDbluejeepbaby's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Injury/Injury detail