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elie 's review for:
The House of Hades
by Rick Riordan
The books in Riordan's series (both Percy Jackson and The Heroes of Olympus) tend to meld together for me, but I'm tempted to say that this one was my favorite of this series so far. Maybe it'll stick out in my memory. Just maybe.
Riordan is toeing the line between middle level/juvenile and young adult lit. Percy and Annabeth are literally going through Hell (or maybe not literally; is Tartarus that separated from the Underworld or is part of it...?) and things get grim. These two are prepared to die. Did I mention they are 17? They have accepted their fates, that they will die in Tartarus, but they're okay as long as they have each other. Wow. <3
As for the others, they showed interesting development along the way. Each of them, Piper, Leo, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Nico all feel like outsiders and not as powerful or helpful as the others. They all doubt themselves as they compare themselves to their friends. What kid hasn't felt that? Yet, each demigod has a chance to shine. There were many instances when I really had no idea where the plot was going and was intrigued to find out how the demigod would pull off their trickery or magic or fighting. Sciron and the god of farming (can't remember the name) were two instances where I was blown away.
Oh man, I can't remember the context, but there was one part where a god (goddess?) fell in love with someone of the same sex, and Jason, who was with Nico, was like "What? That's weird." I was about to throw the book at the wall because I thought that was the commentary Riordan was going to leave us with: being gay is weird and makes people uncomfortable. Then we find out that one of the characters is gay. I think it was Jason again who says "that's just who you are" in a comforting, supportive way. Then I mentally retracted my wish to chuck the book. This is a big leap for Riordan, who started off with all characters being white and straight in the first series. This is also a great step in middle level literature. I've seen a fair amount of YA that has LGBT characters, but middle level lit just isn't there yet. Kudos to you, Mr. Riordan.
Riordan is toeing the line between middle level/juvenile and young adult lit. Percy and Annabeth are literally going through Hell (or maybe not literally; is Tartarus that separated from the Underworld or is part of it...?) and things get grim. These two are prepared to die. Did I mention they are 17? They have accepted their fates, that they will die in Tartarus, but they're okay as long as they have each other. Wow. <3
As for the others, they showed interesting development along the way. Each of them, Piper, Leo, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Nico all feel like outsiders and not as powerful or helpful as the others. They all doubt themselves as they compare themselves to their friends. What kid hasn't felt that? Yet, each demigod has a chance to shine. There were many instances when I really had no idea where the plot was going and was intrigued to find out how the demigod would pull off their trickery or magic or fighting. Sciron and the god of farming (can't remember the name) were two instances where I was blown away.
Oh man, I can't remember the context, but there was one part where a god (goddess?) fell in love with someone of the same sex, and Jason, who was with Nico, was like "What? That's weird." I was about to throw the book at the wall because I thought that was the commentary Riordan was going to leave us with: being gay is weird and makes people uncomfortable. Then we find out that one of the characters is gay. I think it was Jason again who says "that's just who you are" in a comforting, supportive way. Then I mentally retracted my wish to chuck the book. This is a big leap for Riordan, who started off with all characters being white and straight in the first series. This is also a great step in middle level literature. I've seen a fair amount of YA that has LGBT characters, but middle level lit just isn't there yet. Kudos to you, Mr. Riordan.