A review by zanm
The Sun and the Star by Mark Oshiro, Rick Riordan

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Unfortunately, this is a strong 3.75 or a weak 4. I rounded up for my review and was lenient in places I would be harsher would this be anyone other than Rick Riordan. This book was mostly just a nostalgia fest/pandering to the fandom which is totally fine! The problem is, it was not a story that had a lot of layers nor did I feel engaged. Everything was stated outright. Problems were introduced and immediately solved. The entirety of the novel was a fluffy-feel good piece that didn't exist to expand the PJO universe or explore an action-packed prophecy, but simply to explore Nico's (yes only Nico, not Will, he was about as developed as Jason Grace was) trauma. It is my belief that this book could have (and should have) been a novella. The
journey getting to Tartarus
was the longest part of the book and nothing was even happening! Parts of the writing also felt extremely dated in the 2020s and I'm not sure the PJO universe is canonically in that time period. (If Percy was born in 1993 *thanks google* and is, what, 18? 19? now...shouldn't it be 2012?) That's a small critique though, when my legitimate critique is the 2020 writing felt...cringey. I painfully shouldered past it and it got better as the book went on, but it had the feeling of an adult trying too hard to be relatable to teens nowadays, than an accurate depiction of what it's like to be a teenager. But the book did have a good message and, once it picked up toward the end, I was engaged by then (only took 75% of the book to get there), so it pulled the rating up in my books. I would recommend this to any PJO fans who want to know more about Nico but would caution them to have lower expectations. It's not a bad book but it certainly lacks that Riordan charm we all know and love. I assume it's because this was a co-written book. (Sometimes it felt like two voices were passing the book back and forth making up a story.) I also want to say the 3rd person point of view really distanced the characters, but I grew to love it. Overall, this had fanfic vibes...but in a neutral way.
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PROS AND CONS
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Pros:
  • Nico and Will are adorable and really thrive on healthy communication.
  • Nico goes to therapy!!!
    (Not a major plot point but)
  • I had warm fuzzy feelings at the end of this
  • Nico had a nice little character arc about
    self-love
  • Will had a good arc about
    accepting Nico's trauma as it is and not fixing it which is a great message to the audience

Cons:
  • Long/slow beginning 
  • Felt Ooc for Nico to
    come out to the whole camp
    even in the way they explained it...and there was an "everybody clapped" moment...
  • Nico felt Ooc the whole time, really, but what do I know
  • Not enough Will backstory!!! Even in chapters in his voice!!!!!
  • Mr. D felt Ooc too but, again, what do I know? Tbh his change in character was kind of nice, even if I had to suspend my disbelief about it.
  • Random meme references. So many. Too many. I had to keep ignoring them.
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