funny informative medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

An age appropriate guide to the Greek pantheon, organized by introducing the gods/goddesses and narrated by Percy Jackson (given he mentions Piper as a friend and alludes to memory issues with Hera, we can assume this is written in-universe after Trials of Olympus). For the most part, godly sexual assaults are euphemized (with one exception of an attempted rape between children of gods) but it's otherwise straightforward.  John Rocco's art is lush, and the physical volume is a little bit oversized. I would've been all over this during my elementary school Greek mythology phase if I'd been born a decade and a half later. 

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funny informative medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix

This did what I was looking for which was give me a very broad overview of Greek gods mythology. Since so many fantasies are based on these myths I thought it was high time to understand those better.

I never did read anything in PJO universe so I was new to Percy as a narrator. He is funny and his insights into the myths were fun. A lot of modern day references which could be quite cringe at times

My biggest takeaway from these myths is that the goddesses just want to be left alone! Most of them do not want to get married 😂

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adventurous funny informative medium-paced
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A fun read for those who would like to have more background on the 12 main Greek gods told from Percy's point of view and explanation of their myths. It was entertaining, and I actually learned something!

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adventurous challenging dark funny sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Phew, you can tell from the content warnings how wild the Greek Gods are. As someone who has read the Bibliotheca, this was definitely a much more entertaining and digestible way to read about the twelve (major) Gods of Greek Myth. And obviously since it is written to be family friendly, that a lot of it was watered down. 

I don't love how biased Percy is towards his father since there were several instances where what he was describing was his dad raping women, but called it 'cuddling' and hardly had anything bad to say. However, he did do that with Zeus as well which is odd since he pretty much hates the guy. (obviously, Percy is fictional and I am talking about Riordan here). 

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot and will be continuing into the Greek Heroes as told by Percy Jackson.

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adventurous funny informative medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Despite Riordan's success with the other books set in this universe, this one falls short.

Making the Greek God's stories family-friendly is a job and a half, and unfortunately, whilst this book is fun and informative, with that classic Percy Jackson flair with him as the narrator, it definitely feels tone-deaf in places with how it explains certain events.

Greek mythology at its core, is based on incest, rape, and misogyny. This book trivialises a lot of that and definitely excuses it in order to make the Gods more bearable in the main series.

Overall, this book was fun to read, despite being slightly uncomfortable in places. It probably shouldn't have been written, especially as a kids book, and could be seen as insensitive in regards to how it conveys the events.

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adventurous dark funny informative fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous funny informative lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous funny informative fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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