Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian || A Book Review

Wow... Just- just, wow...

Has a book ever made you feel sad, angry, and happy at the same time? 'Cause this one sure did. I can't believe the Percy Jackson series is over...

Okay, okay. This is the fifth, and last, Percy Jackson series (written by Rick Riordan) book review. You can read the first one, the second one, the  third one, and the fourth one first.

We follow Percy and his friends on their adventures, yet again, to stop Luke and his army of monsters. With Kronos controlling Luke's body, they think they lost, though afterwards, with the help of Hestia, the goddess of the Hearth, they realize that all they need is a little hope.

!!! SPOILERS AHEAD (not the ending, though!) !!!

Mrs. O'Leary

This book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, but ended with me feeling all fuzzy and warm inside.

We got to see more of Mrs. O'Leary, Percy's giant hellhound, which is always good. But really, Camp Half Blood at the moment is really depressing. As Percy quoted:

It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.

But a good note to the sad song we have here is that Percy and Annabeth are getting closer. And no, I don't mean they're becoming super BFFs for ever, I mean they're actually falling in love.

I mean, sure, she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful.

We also get to spend more time with Nico, who is as sarcastic and awesome as ever.

I'd never get used to the fact that this twelve-year-old kid spent more time talking with the dead than the living.

 I really enjoyed this book, even though it was a little bittersweet. I especially enjoyed all of the scenes with Percy and Annabeth in them. Especially since they *ahem big spoiler* kissed at the end.

Anyway, I'm going to keep this review short and sweet. Here are some quotes I liked:

Annabeth and Percy

"Except he forgot," Nico muttered. "And his father jumped off the palace roof in despair. But other than that, it was a great idea." 

The older lady harrumphed. "I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could've married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo. You had to eat the pomegranate."

Clarisse was a stubborn idiot. End of story.

A terrifying image flashed through my mind of Apollo in bell-bottom pants and a slinky silk shirt.

Maybe under most circumstances, offering a seven-year-old kid a knife would not be a good idea, but when you're a half-blood, regular rules kind of go out the window.

From left to right: Paul Blofis, Sally Jackson (Percy's mom), Annabeth, Percy, Nico

" [..] Zeus is un imbecile." 

I was about to make some clever comment, like "No."

The campers down at the volleyball pit had early '90s hairstyles, which were probably good for keeping the monsters away.

"Yeah, baby!" a voice wailed. "PARTY!"

"The world will fall, the gods will die, and I will never achieve a perfect score on this stupid machine."

But this was Annabeth. If I couldn't trust her, I couldn't trust anyone. 

Zeus' royal nostrils flared.

And one last one just for the sake of Percy's mom being totally awesome and badass.

"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" I demanded.

My mom blew the hair out of her face. "About two seconds ago."

Anyway, that wraps up my Percy Jackson book reviews. I can't believe it's over. I enjoyed this series so much, and I really recommend you read it!

Cya!

Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth || A Book Review

Hoooooo boy!

This one... this one was a big one.

Anyway, this is the fourth book review to the Percy Jackson series written by Rick Riordan. You can read the first one, the second one, and the third one first.

All good? Alright. Percy, Grover, and Tyson led by Annabeth all go on a mission to find Daedelus, the old inventor, before Luke does. If Luke gets to him first, he might be able to get Ariadne's string, a sort of compass device, and navigate the tunnel to the camp, leading an invasion.

!!! SPOILERS AHEAD (not the ending, though!) !!!

So much happened in this book I'm convinced it could've been split in two. It was like plot, after plot, after plot. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this emotional rollercoaster. Usually, books don't really affect me in terms of emotions, but this book got to me. 

Nico di Angelo

A little side note: something I realized about Percy is that he is such an unreliable source of information. He's always asking Chiron or Annabeth to explain things to him, and I'm just here waiting, reading the book, waiting for Percy to finally catch up so that we can start the adventure.

So let's begin with Nico di Angelo. Poor troubled Nico di Angelo. Percy constantly receives Iris Messages from him at night, except they aren't from Nico. He saw Nico talking to ghosts and planning to bring Bianca, his dead sister, back from the dead for another person's soul (not your typical 11-year-old). Later, he finds out Bianca send the Iris Messages because she wanted Percy to stop him. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson find Nico in the maze. At first he's resistant and bratty, saying Percy let his sister die, and that he doesn't want their help.

Eventually, they escape the three-chested man, Geryon, with Percy shooting him from the side and hitting all three of his hearts (don't picture that). Nico refuses to come with them, and he stays with the herder, Eurytion.

I find it really sad how much Nico changed. He used to be a bubbly little kid, always excited and amazed. Now with Bianca's death, he became a dark, grim character, though he is still naive.

Something I want to mention is that Annabeth actually kisses Percy when they were trying to escape Hephaestus's forges. Percy doesn't have time to react, since he gets cornered by telekhines- half dogs half seals- and he blasts himself upwards in a spurt of water.

Annabeth glared at me like she was going to punch me. And then she did something that surprised me even more. She kissed me.

So let's move on to Calypso. Poor, little Calypso. Since Calypso supported her father, Atlas, in the war against the Titans, she was forced upon a prison. Now, this prison isn't so bad actually. You have a beautiful beach, nice, clear water, and invisible servants to tend to your every need. You're even immortal! Only problem is, she's completely and utterly alone.

Until Percy gets blasted there by The Fates.

Calypso

After he escapes a cavern by blasting himself with water up into the air, he emerges on an island. Calypso helps him get better and tends to his every need. Calypso softens towards Percy, and keeps trying to push him out each time she gets close. When Percy finally asks why, she explains her curse. She also explains that every once in a while, a hero emerges there, wounded, for her to heal, but they can never stay. And she always falls in love with them.

Calypso desperately asks Percy to stay, and as much as Percy would like to, he just can't. He has his friends at Camp-Half Blood who need him. Calypso sadly sends him away on a magic raft, after kissing his forehead as a blessing.

"They send me a person who can never stay," she whispered. "Who can never accept my offer of companionship for more than a little while. They send me a hero I can't help... just the sort of person I can't help falling in love with."

Then a little trace of her smile returned. "Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you?"

Now, if that doesn't shatter your heart into a million tiny pieces I don't know what will. I pitied Calypso, even though I knew if Percy stayed- first of all, I would be really angry- he wouldn't be able to save his friends.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare

The next thing that happened was the re-appearance of Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was originally seen in the previous book at Hoover Dam, when Percy accidentally sliced her with his sword, Riptide. But since she was a mortal, it just went right threw her like a ghost. Unbelievably, Rachel can see through the Mist. Meaning she can see through the sheen that prohibits mortals from seeing monsters, and swords, and other frightening things.

When Percy returns from his little vacation, he realized that he needs Rachel to guide them through the maze to find Daedelus, since she's a mortal and she can see through the Mist. Annabeth is aggravated by that, and is bitter towards Rachel. Percy is oblivious as to why.

I nodded, looking at Rachel with respect. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."

Before we continue, I'd like to share some quotes that I liked in the book:

"Just relax." My mom didn't sound relaxed.

Now, as far as I knew, he was still sailing around on his demon-infested cruise ship while his chopped-up Lord Kronos re-formed, bit by bit, in a golden sarcophagus, biding his time until he had enough power to challenge the Olympian gods. In demigod-speak, we call this a "problem."

Annabeth's hand slipped into mine. Under different circumstances I would've been embarrassed, but here in the dark I was glad to know where she was. It was the only thing I was sure of.

"He [Percy] killed the water fountain last night," Tyson confided.

"Let's not talk about it being alive," Grover whimpered. "Please?"

Then Annabeth said what I was thinking: "Run." 

We didn't stick around to play knock, knock with her, though.

[...] had a fabulous breakfast of granola bars and juice boxes, [...]

"Quintus..." Geryon mused. "Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?" "Yeah." "Never heard of him," Geryon said.

"[...] Do you really want me to explain the details of how I [Annabeth] was born?"

The sky thundered in the distance, so I figured the burgers smelled okay.

 The horses whinnied and made me a whole lot of promises that they would be good flesh-eating  horses from now on, but I didn't stick around to chat. 

It isn’t easy being a brilliant inventor," Hephaestus grumbled. "Always alone. Always misunderstood. Easy to turn bitter, make horrible mistakes. People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can’t be fixed."  

Anyway, eventually they find the lost god Pan. To Grover's dismay, Pan is dying, and should have died a long time ago. Since nature is getting sparser and sparser, the God of the Wild is fading. He fades right there in front of them, and Grover is forced to go tell the Cloven of Elders that Pan is dead.

Pan

I found this really saddening, because it's true. The wild is fading in real life. Trees are being cut down, rivers turned into dams. I think the author, Rick Riordan, was actually trying to a convey a message of what's happening.

A little thing I do is I use Ecosia.org, which is a search engine just like Google, except for every 45 searches a person does, a tree is planted. I made Ecosia my default browser, and it's amazing how you can plant trees by looking up cat memes!


Anway, that's it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope it encouraged you to read the book (which I highly recommend you do!) if you haven't already.

PS: Percy also gets an adorable hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary, so yeah, just wanted to add that. Okay, have a nice day!

Mrs. O'Leary

Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse || A Book Review

Oooooh, boy.

Satyrs and minotaurs, Rick Riordan is a genius. He knows how to write a series, and he's doing wonders.

Ahem, anyway, this is my third book review for the Percy Jackson series. You can read the first one here, and the second one here.

So we're all caught up? Okey dokey. With Thalia, daughter of Zeus, back, everything seems okay. Well, until they find out that there are two more half-blood siblings, and one of them becomes a huntress, and Annabeth gets kidnapped. Percy, Grover, Thalia, Zoë (a huntress), and Bianca di Angelo (the half-blood huntress) set out across America to find Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, who has been kidnapped by Kronos's general, Atlas. Well, Percy's more in it to save Annabeth, but he doesn't let anyone in on that. Percy's back to his old adventures, running away from monsters and slashing his sword, Riptide, as he tries to save his friend.

!!! SPOILERS AHEAD (not the ending, though!) !!!

This book was the spaghetti to my tomato sauce. The ravioli to my pickles. My first impression when I saw the book's title was disappointed. I didn't want any more of the Titans; Kronos, tartarus, etc. I wanted more of Percy Jackson. But I was not disappointed when I started reading. It was more Percy than I ever could have wanted. We got to see a quirky new character, Blackjack, Percy's pegasus, who is hilarious and full of character.

Blackjack, Percy's pegasus

A ton of hay, maybe, Blackjack mused. That sounds good. All right, but be careful, boss. I got a feeling they didn't come here to meet anything friendly and handsome like me.

He's kind of like Donkey in Shrek! The character who always jokes when there's nothing to joke about.

We also got introduced to Zoë Nightshade, a feisty 2000-year-old, though she looks around fourteen. She is one of Artemis' ladies of the Hunt, and it's what it sounds like. Artemis and her ladies go around hunting animals. I really like Zoë and her personality, though she can be a little difficult at times, I understand her. She often doesn't understand modern slang. For example, when they're visiting the Hoover Dam, they decide they're going to go into the snack bar.

Zoë Nightshade.

"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoë said. "We should eat while we can."

Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?

Zoë blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."

Anyway, it goes on like that for a while. The name of the chapter is even "I Have A Dam Problem." Such humor, haha.

"Stars," she [Zoë] whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

Thalia Grace.

The other character we were introduced to was Thalia Grace. She's a lot like Percy. A natural-born leader, hard-headed, and brave. Thalia and Percy are either hugging or at each other's necks. I love Thalia, because she just seems so free-spirited, like no chains would ever be enough to hold her down.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said.

And finally, the last two characters are two half-bloods. Older sister Bianca di Angelo, is 12 years old (or 84, more on that later), and her little brother, Nico di Angelo, 10 (or 82). They are orphans, and lawyers pay for their school and such. They're first seen at Westover Hall, where Bianca is scolding her little brother. Nico seems friendly and excitable at first. He has a passion for a card game called Mythomagic, which is a game with cards and Greek god figurines.

Nico asks lots of questions.

Was Annabeth my girlfriend? (At this point, I [Percy] was ready to stick the kid in a meat-flavored snack and throw him to the wolves.)

Bianca and Nico di Angelo.

 But he shows off his dark streak when Percy tells him some upsetting news. Nico is last seen running into the woods, after he tells Percy he hates him and wants him to die... Yeesh. Anyway, I hope Nico comes back, and is okay.

Bianca is Nico's older sister, and she took care of him all their lives. When Percy and Artemis rescue them, Bianca makes a quick choice to join the Hunt. Percy is disappointed, and so is Nico, since only girls can join it.

So, about their ages. Well, you know how in my first book review, I talked about how they got trapped in the Lotus Hotel and Casino? Well, the same exact thing happen to these small children. They eventually got out, but they were trapped there for years, and since Bianca joined the hunt and is immortal now, that means she still has many years to go.

Aaaaalso, there was some sort of romantic tension between Percy and Annabeth. Take this scene where they were dancing, for example.

So we went to the dance floor, and I looked over to see how Thalia and Grover were doing things. I put one hand on Annabeth's hip, and she clasped the other hand like she about to judo throw me.

Percy and Annabeth dancing awkwardly.

[...] We shuffled around for a few minutes. I tried to concentrate on little things, like the crepe-paper streamers and the punch bowl- anything but the fact that Annabeth was taller than me, and my hands were sweaty and probably gross, and I kept stepping on her toes.

Then they danced again during the Olympus celebration party.

"So," Annabeth said. "What did you want to tell me earlier?" 

The music was playing. People were dancing in the streets. I said, "I, uh, was thinking we got interrupted at Westover Hall. And... I think I owe you a dance."

She smiled slowly. "All right, Seaweed Brain."

So I took her hand, and I don't know what everybody else heard, but to me it sound like a slow dance: a little sad, but maybe a little hopeful, too.

Now, if that's not cute, then I don't know what is.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book, and don't have anything negative to say about it! I hope this review encouraged you to read the book (which I highly recommend you do)! See ya!

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters || A Book Review

Heya!

This is my second review to the Percy Jackson series! If you haven't read the first review, I highly recommend you start with that one, over here.

Okay, so without any other further ado, I'll get started! The Sea of Monsters was written by Rick Riordan. With Grover gone to find the Pan, Percy and Annabeth are now reduced to a duo as they hurtle away from monsters (as usual) and have a cyclops, Percy's friend, Tyson, tag along with them (not usual). They find out Thalia's pine tree was poisoned, and that the only way to save it is to get the Golden Fleece, which just so happens to be guarded by a giant near-sighted cyclops, who also just so happens to have kidnapped Grover, only he thinks Grover is a lady cyclops that he's going to marry. From Percy turning into a hamster to Annabeth swimming towards deadly Sirens, they never give up.

!!! SPOILERS AHEAD (not the ending, though!) !!!

Tyson being Tyson.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It kept me hooked, and I finished it in a matter of days on my Kindle. I had a real soft stop for Tyson, since he's such an innocent little sweetheart. Though I felt like he was a bit of a copy of Grover. They were really similar, with only a few differences, but it didn't really bother me. We learned a lot more about Annabeth and Luke (darn you, Luke!!). I could connect with Annabeth, and I understand why she thought the things she did, and why she did certain things. 

Though it was an awesome book, I found it started out slow, and it took me a bit to get into it. Maybe that's just because when I read the first book, I really knew nothing about Percy Jackson, so I was instantly hooked, and wanted to learn more. Whereas now, I practically know the amount of hairs on his head, so nothing really hooked me at first, except for Tyson, of course. I found the bully thing a little redundant. In every school Percy's been to, including Camp Half-Blood (that I know of), there's a bully that the teachers love. I just felt frustrated at the unfairness of that.

Percy after he saves Annabeth from the sirens.

I found a lot of humor in this book, though. I took some notes on my Kindle, so here they are. 

"Powdered donuts," Tyson said earnestly. "I will look for powdered donuts in the
wilderness." He headed outside and started calling, "Here, donuts!"

I shivered. The way she told it- even know, six years later- freaked me out worse than any ghost story I'd ever heard.                                             

What did you do?"     

"I stabbed him in the foot." 

"What could be worse than hummus?" (Otter here: Hummus is amazing.) 

Chiron sighed. He set Annabeth and Grover down on a picnic blanket next to me. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare." 

Percy telling Annabeth she's a genius.

Also, I really felt like Annabeth and Percy's relationship were starting to grow. Annabeth was becoming more open towards Percy (though she never lost her feistiness), and she was sharing parts of her childhood. Character development, guys!

There were two really cute parts in the book with these two half-bloods that I'd like to highlight. The first one was where Percy silently promised to the gods that if Annabeth's plan worked, he'd call her genius (despite his pride). When they're riding back on their water horses, Percy tells Annabeth she's a genius, even though she's unconscious.

The other part was where Percy and Annabeth were doing the chariot race. They managed to win, thanks to Tyson's transforming clock, which turned into a shield once you clicked the button on it. They won the chariot race, and Percy made the brave move to tell everyone it was because of Tyson that they won, even though he'd been embarrassed by his half-brother prior. Tyson blushed, and everybody cheered. Then, Annabeth kissed Percy on the cheek!! 💖💕😌😊My. Heart. Melted. I know, of course, that they'll end up together, that's just a fact. I like that their relationship is moving slowly, unlike some other books I've read where one second they've just met, and then the next second they're kissing. 😐But I can't wait to finish the next book and see how their relationship evolves.

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this book review, and that if you haven't read the book already, that it makes you want to read it (because I highly recommend you do!)- but don't forget to start with the first one!

Annabeth kissing Percy's cheek.

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief || A Book Review

Hello, everybody!

I'm going to try something new today!

I recently read the book The Lightning Thief, part of the Percy Jackson series, written by Rick Riordan (now, that's a tongue twister!). I know I'm a little late, considering it was originally published in 2005 (okay, maybe a lot late...), but I'm really glad I read it! It was an amazing book that took me out of this world, and into present-time New York City, where Percy and his two friends scampered around, trying to find out who stole Zeus' lightning bolt.

An interesting thing that happened is that I actually watched the movie before reading the book, and actually really enjoyed it. I always think you should watch the movies before the book, otherwise you won't enjoy the movie. Because, oh my gosh, when I read the book I was disgusted with the movie. 😭😫😣So if you actually want to enjoy the movie, just watch the movie first.

!!! SPOILERS AHEAD (not the ending, though!) !!!

12-year-old Percy is a troubled kid. He has ADHD and dyslexia, which doesn't make his teachers like him any better. He has trouble controlling his temper against annoying kids like Nancy Bobofit, an annoying redhead who always gets a kick out of annoying Percy's best and only friend, Grover Underwood.

My first impression on the book was positive. Unlike some books, this one sucked me in immediately, and all I wanted to to do was keep turning pages. Percy seemed like a kind character, and I liked how he was always out to help his scrawny friend, Grover. Everything was well described, and I could picture exactly what was going on. I sympathized towards Mr. Brunner, Percy's Greek Mythology teacher, who was his only teacher who seemed fair, and genuinely cared about Percy.

The book was set in modern New York City, I find. People wear modern clothing (t-shirts, jeans), and they don't use any old words or slang. Percy goes to a modern school, with modern kids and bullies, and modern teachers. Nothing seems old-fashioned. Percy attends a boarding school called Yancy Academy.

While Percy and his mom are at Montauk beach, their favorite place to go, they're forced to flee, along with Grover. Percy's mom gets strangled by a minotaur, which results in her evaporating in a spasm of light. Percy goes over Half-Blood Hill, which is a camp for Half-Bloods. Percy finds out he's half human... half god. Half Greek God. Mr. Brunner is actually a centaur, and he hides his horse part of himself in his wheelchair. Percy finds out Grover is a satyr, and has goat legs. Percy meets a blonde girl his age, who's named Annabeth Chase, who seems snobby at first, but as they go on their quest to find out who stole the Lightning Bolt, he finds out she's a smart and clever girl.

Medusa, Percy, and Annabeth

There are a few parts I found redundant. For example, at first, they wander into a woman's house (Chapter 11), nicknamed Aunty Em's Gone Emporium. It's a classic Hansel and Gretel story, since they're lured in by the smell of cheeseburgers. Long story short, they find out she's Medusa, chop her head off, mailing it to the Greek Gods, and flee.

But then, they wander into another building. The Lotus Hotel and Casino (Page 258). I was surprised that after their mishaps with Medusa they'd trust another overly friendly person, but there they were, having the times of their life playing in the arcade and relaxing in the hotel beds. It turns out, once you go in there, you don't want to come back out, and time is distorted. What seemed like a few hours for them was actually five days. Of course, Percy and Annabeth get out, dragging Grover who doesn't want to leave.

And then another thing like that happens while they're in Las Vegas. While outrunning rich street kids, they dart into Crusty's Water Bed Palace (Chapter 17). They heard the gang kids running outside, and their muffled voices getting quieter. Crusty, the owner of the shop, appears behind them. At least seven feet, he seemed friendly at first, but then he trapped Grover and Annabeth in water beds and tried to stretch them out to make them fit. They find out he's Procrustes, a shady character in Greek Mythology. Percy tricks old Procrustes into going into his own water bed, and traps him there. After making him evaporate into dust, he frees his friends, and they escape.

Grover, Percy, and Annabeth

Doesn't this all seem a little redundant? I feel like they should've learned not to trust people from the first Medusa encounter, but then they went into a casino, and then they trusted Crusty. I would've liked if they were forced in a bit more, because they seem a little too naive.

Also, near the beginning, I feel like the author keeps throwing things we didn't know in our faces. A curtain moving, a mysterious cabin, why certain things happen. I felt a little frustrated and impatient when that happened.

Anyway, I still really enjoyed the book, and think that you should give it a read! I found the plot twist at the end very refreshing, and I never would've though it. I can't wait to read the second one, and hopefully write a review as well. Rick Riordan is a talented author!

Have a nice day!