A review by atlas_shruggs
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 I remember reading this when I was 14, the first time I read the PJO series, and I remember absolutely hating it. Okay, maybe hate is a strong word, but when I was reading this book for the first time I actually put it down for a while and debated just not finishing the series. Apparently 14 year old me was bored. And 14 year old me was a fucking idiot. I think this might actually be my favourite of the entire series so far. The tension is palpable, you can tell that it's the penultimate book in the series just from how final everything feels, every second feels important, every sentence and every page makes you realize that time is running out and there is only one book left in the series. I absolutely loved all the references to mythology in here, the story of the Labyrinth, Ariadne, Theseus, Daedalus and Icarus is so interesting and I loved seeing Rick's interpretation of it. I love that Tyson was such a big part of this was well, I love him so much and his relationship with Percy is just so goddamn cute, and how protective he is of Annabeth. I think my least favourite thing is the sort of love-triangle with Percy, Rachel and Annabeth but it also feels very realistic. Percy and Annabeth were definitely not in a place to be together, especially not Annabeth, and being with Rachel does give Percy some sense of normalcy even though she is so connected to the gods world. This book is also fully not middle-grade anymore, absolutely traumatizing. 10/10, I want to hit 14 year old me over the head.