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adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sometimes you need a little nostalgia book to act as a brain wipe. This one really hit this mark, but I can’t say it was fully perfect. Of course I’m not the intended audience now, so I can forgive the slightly cringe dialogue and needy pop culture references for what was overall a charming and relatively inclusive plot. What I can’t forgive, however, is the various jokes levied about Apollo’s physical transformation and specifically that he has acne and is a larger size as normal. These jokes - repeated copiously I may add - felt so tone deaf especially given the target audience of this book who likely resemble Apollo in his transformed state. For a book featuring a diverse cast, these jibes just felt cheap and like leftovers from a bygone trash era.
Other than that, I enjoyed the book but I do hope that future offerings don’t repeat the same mistakes as the above.
Other than that, I enjoyed the book but I do hope that future offerings don’t repeat the same mistakes as the above.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Slavery, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence
Moderate: Islamophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Vomit
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
The book was definitely a good start to this new series and I'm already looking forward to the next four books in the Percy Jackson universe. First of all, I have to say I think it's great that the chapters are so short. I love short chapters and secondly, I find it quite interesting that the book is written from the perspective of Apollo, a god. And that also influenced the writing style. We were in the mind of a person who isn't used to human nature and who had to get used to it first and who thinks completely differently to all the demigods and teenagers we've had so far. I definitely thought that was a great idea and I liked it. I find Apollo's arrogance quite funny at times and I've already taken him to my heart, but I can understand why it's a bit difficult for some people to get into the book. However, I have to say that I really enjoyed it and it's a good continuation of the events of the Heroes of Olympus series. I find the story has a darker undertone. Of course there are jokes and funny moments but overall I have the feeling it's just darker for example Nero wanting to burn teenagers and children alive and I also thought it was cool that Apollo himself kept talking about his past, from ancient Greek times and also about his two true lovers. I'm definitely excited to see how the whole thing with the oracles continues.
Leo and Calypso are back, I'm so happy! And of course Percy Jackson and also Rachel Elizabeth Dare was in the book. The poor boy just doesn't want to be dragged into this again and he just wants to be left in peace by the gods and I'm definitely excited to see how it continues because they're hopefully meeting the other seven and I also found it very sweet how Nico and Will acted with each other, even in the presence of Apollo. Apollos feelings towards his children were really cute, even if he is basically stuck in the body of a sixteen-year-old. And Meg definitely seems to have a very dark backstory. I haven't quite taken her to my heart yet, but I think she has a lot of potential for character development, and the same goes for Apollo. I think he can still develop a lot. He's still very attached to his godhood to some extent, but I do believe that over the course of the story, he'll come to understand how the demigods really feel!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Vomit, Grief
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Vomit
adventurous
funny
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
And we’re back again! It always feels a little like coming home to read new adventures by Rick Riordan.
Much like all his other series, this was a grade A mythological MG adventure. I do admit it was pretty different to have a god as the MC and sole POV character but it made the book even more enjoyable.
Kudos for the excellent depiction of how an abused child might react to their abuser. I can’t wait to see how she overcomes it (because I have no doubt Riordan will give her a good ending).
Much like all his other series, this was a grade A mythological MG adventure. I do admit it was pretty different to have a god as the MC and sole POV character but it made the book even more enjoyable.
Kudos for the excellent depiction of how an abused child might react to their abuser. I can’t wait to see how she overcomes it (because I have no doubt Riordan will give her a good ending).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Murder, War
adventurous
funny
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
I really enjoyed coming back to the world of Percy Jackson, and having a god-turned-mortal as the hero of the book was really interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the book and the "fall from grace" storyline, but I can't say I enjoyed it as much as the author's previous works. The characters (mainly Meg) were irritating, and as much as I love Percy, I felt like he was just a name drop and him being the "white knight" made him seem like a flat character. I felt like the entire book was exposition for the coming series, and nothing truly exciting happened until the last 3/4 of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
funny
informative
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Vomit
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like the cast of characters was quite the downgrade from the first two series. I liked the side characters and reoccurring demigods well enough, but Apollo was so insufferable, I hope he'll have grown as a person in the second book.
Also it feels like nothing happened until the big showdown? Feels like a more solid way of storytelling than the previous books, which were like video game quests, but I don't like change so it was weird to not have a bunch of little adventures.
Still liked the book tho
Also it feels like nothing happened until the big showdown? Feels like a more solid way of storytelling than the previous books, which were like video game quests, but I don't like change so it was weird to not have a bunch of little adventures.
Still liked the book tho
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping
Minor: Fatphobia