A review by devlev7
Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

To be honest this book was…only okay. I had high hopes, being a major Percy Jackson kid. And while Daughter of the Deep does have some of the charm of teenage heroes with mysterious family histories in unexpected fantastical situation, it just fell short for me. It feels like Riordan has tried to take the same formula as The Lightning Thief  but based around a much more contained text (Jules Vernes’ 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and sequel instead of Greek mythology) that have him less to work with, on top of it feeling like a sort of more forced and stale version of a story we’ve already heard. Riordan clearly did a lot of research, and that shows in a fun way. However, I think the amount of the book that was spent trying to convince the reader to buy into the stretches between his “sacred text” and the technology he described took away from the heart of the story. The characters, while diverse, felt a bit shallow. I would’ve appreciated more time spent getting to know their relationships than their alt-tech. However, I recognize that I, an adult, may not be the primary target audience for this novel, which isn’t at all to diminish YA, moreso to say I recognize my critiques may not be relevant to the enjoyment of a younger person while reading this book.
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