Reviews with content warning for Death - The House of Hades

And unsurprisingly, we have another five star from Mr. Rick Riordan. The ending of "Mark of Athena" destroyed me, and this book took it ten steps further. It picks up right where Mark of Athena left off, with Percy and Annabeth in the depths of Tartarus and the rest of the seven trying to make their way to the other end of the Doors of Death.

It's funny how for the first two books and this series, everyone and their mother was rooting for a Percabeth reunion and now they're stuck together in a way that no one really expected. Reading about their bond strengthening even more, if that's possible was pretty beautiful and just proves even more how they're my OTP. The small callbacks to moments in previous books and the small memories or anecdotes in both of their narrated chapters were some of my favorite parts. Even though they're fighting their way through hell, Riordan manages to capture their humanity in such a youthful way, because sometimes we fail to remember that they're still teenagers. Bob and small Bob are two of my favorite characters in the entire Percy Jackson universe, and the impact that they had on this book was just incredible. The last line of the book did in fact make me cry (and also reminded me of Zoe Nightshade from "The Titan's Curse," which made me cry even more...It's crazy to think sometimes that Titans and Giants have feelings and brains....and Riordan manages to make the reader care about them and give us the perspective of two of the biggest foes in the entire series. It just worked so well. The last couple scenes in Tartarus where

Annabeth and Percy make the choice to go up in the elevator and let Bob and Damasen save them was so emotional. I thought it was so impactful how Annabeth was the one to push them to go - and to let her have that realization about letting others save you as a child of Athena. Percy's POV was heartbreaking and we can so tell how his hero's curse is loyalty. His care towards Bob and regret about what he did despite his true identity was heartbreaking. I love Bob.

Reading about the seven without Percy and Annabeth was just as disorienting as they talked about in their POVs, but watching them pull themselves together made me root for them even harder. I liked the dynamic of adding Nico to the fray and he made a lot of their scenes a lot more exciting. He also had some really great character development (i.e. the Cupid scene with Jason..) and I'm really excited to read how that is fleshed out and concluded in the final book. Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank and Hazel all managed to have their time to shine despite the large number of main characters in the book, and Riordan manages to balance all of their development and personalities so well so that the reader feels that we get enough of each. Frank and Hazel especially in this book just had such amazing moments that made me love them even more (especially in the end).

Leo's journey in this book diverts a little from the main quest and I thought that his time on

Calypso's island was so unexpected. It's true that he thinks of himself as less than some of the other hero's especially Percy and Jason, so reading about his experience here in a role that many other strong, infamous male heros have also taken was super interesting. I think this "ship" was totally unexpected and I liked the little enemies to allies to *potential* lovers thing that they got going on.

Can't wait to see how that turns out! I think what makes Leo so endearing is the fact that he isn't the "stereotypical" hero. We see his flaws and he understands his flaws deeply. I'm glad that we get to read about this character development and confidence boost throughout the books.

Overall, this is again, like "The Mark of Athena" a shining example of a really great YA fantasy. It just works so well and I love these characters and the journeys they go on. Storylines and characters weave so well throughout the books and within the books, and I can't wait for everything to tie together in the end.

Content Warnings

finnft4's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

It's harder to judge this one since it's SO different from the other books. The books have gotten dark, but nowhere near this book's level. I probably still like The Last Olympian more, marginally - just because I like how final everything feels. As the 4th book of the series? It's great. It's so dark, gripping, and tense that it's hard to believe it's marketed towards such a young audience.

And at this point, the characters are definitely starting to click more for me, now. My favorite is definitely Leo. I like Percy and Annabeth a lot more than I thought I would when I started the series. I think they're a bit boring at times, but this book definitely strengthened them for me.

(I go into spoiler territory below here.)

RANKING
[1] PJO: The Last Olympian
[2] HoO: The House of Hades
[3] HoO: The Mark of Athena
[4] PJO: The Lightning Thief
[5] PJO: The Titan's Curse
[6] HoO: The Son of Neptune
[7] PJO: The Battle of the Labyrinth
[8] HoO: The Lost Hero
[9] PJO: The Sea of Monsters
[10] HoO: The Blood of Olympus

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Death, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: War and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

Annabeth and Percy in Tartarus was an insanely interesting plot line. Annabeth's outsmarting tricks were cool at first, but at a certain point it just became unbelievable how gullible the monsters were. Absolutely not a book-ruiner, though.

Bob and Damasen were absolutely fantastic. I didn't get that emotional over their sacrifices, but they were incredible nonetheless, and it was still emotional. Percy and Annabeth reflecting on whether they're really "the good guys" added a lot of moral complexity that I appreciated. The moments where Percy exhibits uncharacteristic violence are surprisingly dark for the demographic. I did read one review for this book that called it his "bully Maguire arc" which made me laugh a lot. Still. The fact that he scared Annabeth into crying was so powerful, and his arc with Bob really makes you question who is "good" and who is "evil." Complexity. And the two of them facing so many curses for all the monsters they killed, man... I didn't think the book would take that route. I'm absolutely not complaining, though. I'm SHOCKED by how dark some of this stuff got.

I'm glad to see my homeguy Leo get some development. Same for Frank and Hazel; they were dope as fuck in this book. Even Jason was more tolerable than usual (I don't have anything serious against him; I just find him boring).

I probably have to mention this, but I was NOT a fan of the Cupid scene. I heard some people mention it before reading, so I knew it was coming, but JESUS CHRIST. I really didn't like it. Though I'll keep in mind that this book was published in 2013. But I'm perfectly fine reading books without OUTING, thanks. Being LGBT+, it was extremely uncomfortable. I get that it's just a product of the times, though, and this was probably a crazy moment when the book initially came out. On that note, I'm glad people were able to find Nico relatable. I mean, I do, to an extent, with his mannerisms and touch aversion. But I don't think the scene should be treated as a super heroic and brave moment for Nico - and generally good queer representation to begin with. He was outed by this dumbass loser of a god (but I thought the message about love being painful was interesting) who refused to give them information if he didn't, while continuously berating him for being cowardly in the process. It wasn't a consensual thing. How Jason handled it was mostly fine, other than the one line he said to Nico about him "not even trying" after he isn't ready to tell other people that was pretty fucked up. And holy shit I wish the fandom would stop infantilizing him 😭

majakrmer's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

4.75

Content Warnings

orchidlilly's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense 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? No

4.0

Content Warnings

stinkyrat's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

itsjusterika's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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

4.0

Content Warnings

mothie_girlie's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

Content Warnings

mengzhenreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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

This book was literally life changing. When I read this book for the first time back in fifth grade, I had no idea what it would mean for me and my identity and I can't imagine my life without this book. This is the best book in the series undoubtedly and honestly I cry a little bit thinking about it. Perfection.

Content Warnings

More...