Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

5 reviews

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Vomit, Outing, Murder, Mental illness, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Blood, Violence, War, Torture, Body horror, and Animal death

kathrynleereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

 Having read more than a fair few of Rick Riordan’s books in the past, I began the House of Hades familiar with Riordan’s ability to intertwine humor and tragedy. That being said when the book opened with the downtrodden crew of the Argo II fighting monsters and Percy and Annabeth slowly trudging through Tartarus, it was clear that Riordan was taking his talent to a whole new level.

Without Percy to placate the sea, the crew of the Argo II is forced to travel over land in their attempt to reach the House of Hades, where they hope to rendezvous with Percy and Annabeth to close the Doors of Death. The House of Hades is packed with glimmers of hope, moments of despair, and more than a few instances of desperate demigods completely winging it.

Riordan took the time he needed to sort out the issues and the mythology, not rushing the plot, but not letting it drag either. My only disappointment was the way the two timelines connect. On the Argo II, a month passes while the crew makes their way to the House of Hades, but in Tartarus, Annabeth and Percy only manage to find time to sleep a handful of times. It wasn’t clear whether this was supposed to represent the near-constant-torture of existing in Tartarus, or if it was simply an oversight in the two storylines.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Outing, Violence, Vomit, Death, Blood, and Torture

finnft4's review against another edition

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

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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 😭

orchidlilly's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gore, Animal death, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Misogyny, Bullying, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, and Sexual harassment

bexi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Outing