The Lightening Thief is one of the most fun books I’ve ever read. It is full of adventure, jokes, lovable characters, Greek mythology and (my fave) lots of sass/sarcasm. Basically, it has everything that I could ever wish for.

First of all I just want to acknowledge that I first read this book back in 2010 when the movie came out (yeah I’m that kid who read the book because of the movie, not sorry about it though), and so I was a bit worried that seven years later I might not enjoy it as much as I did the first time around. Thankfully that was not the case, obviously I read this a long time ago so I can’t really remember how much I loved it, but I think I may have even loved it more this time around. This story just as so much to offer it’s readers!!! And I know that there is so much I didn’t appreciate the first time, because I don’t think I was even aware of all that it had to offer me. I feel like this is one of those series that continues to get better every time you reread it.

This story is pretty straight forward. We have Percy, who believes himself to be a below-average kid who has a life that is pretty sucky, only to find out that he is actually the son of one of the big three Greek Gods and that both he and his life are far more exciting and important than he could have ever imagined. Percy goes to camp-half blood, where he meets other demigods (children of greek gods/goddesses and humans) and is almost instantly set out on a quest to save the world.
Percy is joined by Annabeth (MY GIRL) and Grover, and the plot in it’s most basic form is your typical heroes journey), but thankfully the characters, the setting, and the tone of this book keep the story feeling fun and new. The writing is fast paced, witty, and very easy to follow. This story is very clearly aimed for younger readers, but like I mentioned earlier it has a lot to offer, so don’t let that keep you away.

Percy is the kind of character who questions the legitimacy of everything happening around him, despite the fact that he accepts his new life style he doesn’t necessarily understand it all which provides lots of opportunity for things to be explained both to him and the readers. This allows readers to kind of go along with Percy on his journey, rather than just read about it. It also provides a great opportunity to learn about Greek mythology, which is a lot of fun to read about! I think Percy’s curiosity about his new life, the other characters, and the tie in to Greek mythology are the books strongest factors.

I don’t want to go into too many details about which Greek Gods make an appearance, or about any of the challenges that our trio faces because I think that experiencing everything and figuring it out with the characters adds to the fun. This story will make you laugh, it will educate you in a fun way, and it will have you rooting for the characters to do their best. It’s heartwarming and fun, in all of the very best ways.