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A review by ellaellaellaetc
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
5.0
the mark of athena is just that girl I'm sorry I don't make the rules!! this is the third book of the the heroes of olympus series and once again I'm not going to explain what this is about I'm just going to review with full spoilers.
ahhhh I love this!! this was my favourite book of all time for quite a while and it's definitely my favourite of rick riordan's (it's also number 3 on my list of the top 100 books of the 21st century!!!)
this book is for the annabeth chase stans!!! finally getting annabeth pov after all this time is just... like I'm not kidding when I say that I reread the first few chapters of this book at least once a year, usually more😭😭 you get to know annabeth and watch her grow up with percy for YEARS and you slowly understand more of her backstory and the way she thinks. while percy really understands her, he's kinda stupid so getting a peek directly into her mind is just😭😭 like I can't even describe how much she means to me, I love this character 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
this book is just such a step up from the first two in the series! this was the first time I've read the books NOT immediately one after the other and I ragged on tlh especially because of that. reading this reminds me where everything was building up to!! (doesn't mean that the lost hero had to suck though... he still could have made it a good book...). seeing everyone interact once you've gotten to know the groups separately was such tea!! i remember being so gagged by the leo/sammy thing and all the drama it creates the first time I read it omgggg. and the moment where both percy and jason both try to sit at the head of the table before giving it up to annabeth? cinema.
and guys.... the reunion scene?? I don't even think I could possibly explain my emotions in words. I have reread it many times over the years and the giggles that it still manages to ellict from me are not okay.
I think all of the sidequests/shenanigans that they have to do are peak in this book as well. narcissus + echo cameo with mcshizzle is obviously a classic, percy v jason possession fight is fucking sick, percy, frank & coach going to the aquarium (with frank turning into a goldfish) is comedy gold, the girlies having tea with aphrodite is such a slay, "oh no, frank is turning into a crazy dolphin" pirate robbery is cool, finally meeting hercules was fun and him being lowkey chill until he finds out that they were chosen to to the quest because of hera and makes everything really difficult for them and of course, the HBIC, the mark of athena quest itself.
seeing annabeth on her own and problem solving is just so so sick😭😭 guys I love annabeth 😭😭😭 this is such a haunting quest and is such an in-depth look into her mind!! fuck she's awesome!! arachne is terrifying and annabeth doing her thing and tricking her to be the first child of athena to successfully complete the quest 🥲🥲🥲🥲the whole thing with the non-chinese handcuffs is such a cool callback and such smart idea (for both rick riordan and annabeth).
this is probably just because I was rereading and knew what was coming but when she is rescued (or should I say when the statue is rescued) I could physically feel the relief in my body but also the slow sense of dread because you know that something horrific is about to happen😭😭 let's just say that I am so glad that I read these for the first time in 2015 and all the books were already out so I didn't have to wait a year to read house of hades😅😅
to me, this is a near perfect book for what it is and my only complaints are really stuff that are complaints about the series as a whole which are: piper is very not like other girls and annoying, the couples should have been slow burn/there was too much emphasis on the relationships, leo's behaviour around women makes me uncomfortable and coach hedge unnecessarily causes so many problems to the point where it gets really annoying. also this last one isn't a series critque but this book is set literally immediately after the son of neptune and frank all of a sudden has complete control over his powers??
final great things that didn't make it into my review to finish up:
- the romans chasing them makes for a fun background conflict
- reyna and annabeth conversation was great!! I love reyna in general and seeing these together was great!!
- annabeth's initial discomfort to percy fitting in with the romans SLAYS
- the argo II is such a cool ship!
- riordan humour is still there ladies and gentleman!! this is a funny book!!
I think that's all I can be bothered to say rn but if you want to talk to me about this pls lmk and I will monologue at you for as long as you allow me to. 5 stars
ahhhh I love this!! this was my favourite book of all time for quite a while and it's definitely my favourite of rick riordan's (it's also number 3 on my list of the top 100 books of the 21st century!!!)
this book is for the annabeth chase stans!!! finally getting annabeth pov after all this time is just... like I'm not kidding when I say that I reread the first few chapters of this book at least once a year, usually more😭😭 you get to know annabeth and watch her grow up with percy for YEARS and you slowly understand more of her backstory and the way she thinks. while percy really understands her, he's kinda stupid so getting a peek directly into her mind is just😭😭 like I can't even describe how much she means to me, I love this character 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
and guys.... the reunion scene?? I don't even think I could possibly explain my emotions in words. I have reread it many times over the years and the giggles that it still manages to ellict from me are not okay.
I think all of the sidequests/shenanigans that they have to do are peak in this book as well. narcissus + echo cameo with mcshizzle is obviously a classic, percy v jason possession fight is fucking sick, percy, frank & coach going to the aquarium (with frank turning into a goldfish) is comedy gold, the girlies having tea with aphrodite is such a slay, "oh no, frank is turning into a crazy dolphin" pirate robbery is cool, finally meeting hercules was fun and him being lowkey chill until he finds out that they were chosen to to the quest because of hera and makes everything really difficult for them and of course, the HBIC, the mark of athena quest itself.
seeing annabeth on her own and problem solving is just so so sick😭😭 guys I love annabeth 😭😭😭 this is such a haunting quest and is such an in-depth look into her mind!! fuck she's awesome!! arachne is terrifying and annabeth doing her thing and tricking her to be the first child of athena to successfully complete the quest 🥲🥲🥲🥲the whole thing with the non-chinese handcuffs is such a cool callback and such smart idea (for both rick riordan and annabeth).
this is probably just because I was rereading and knew what was coming but when she is rescued (or should I say when the statue is rescued) I could physically feel the relief in my body but also the slow sense of dread because you know that something horrific is about to happen😭😭 let's just say that I am so glad that I read these for the first time in 2015 and all the books were already out so I didn't have to wait a year to read house of hades😅😅
to me, this is a near perfect book for what it is and my only complaints are really stuff that are complaints about the series as a whole which are: piper is very not like other girls and annoying, the couples should have been slow burn/there was too much emphasis on the relationships, leo's behaviour around women makes me uncomfortable and coach hedge unnecessarily causes so many problems to the point where it gets really annoying. also this last one isn't a series critque but this book is set literally immediately after the son of neptune and frank all of a sudden has complete control over his powers??
final great things that didn't make it into my review to finish up:
- the romans chasing them makes for a fun background conflict
- reyna and annabeth conversation was great!! I love reyna in general and seeing these together was great!!
- annabeth's initial discomfort to percy fitting in with the romans SLAYS
- the argo II is such a cool ship!
- riordan humour is still there ladies and gentleman!! this is a funny book!!
I think that's all I can be bothered to say rn but if you want to talk to me about this pls lmk and I will monologue at you for as long as you allow me to. 5 stars