Confession time: this is the first and only book that's ever left me so desperate by the cliff-hanger ending that I had to write fanfiction in order to survive. I had to cope somehow. (Yes, I did post it publicly. No, I will never tell a soul where I posted it or what my username was. Yes, I will carry this secret to my grave.)

Like pretty much all the other books in this series, it starts with a (literal) bang and doesn't stop. I loved getting to finally read from Annabeth's point of view. We all fell in love with her in the first PJ series, and so it's so rewarding to get to live the story with her for a change. We still get Percy, too, and Leo as well. Which, honestly, is all I really need. This book did feel a bit more episodic than Riordan's other works, which made it feel a bit choppy while reading. Again, as a child I did not care. It made it easy to go back and reread, cause I could just pick my favorite adventures they take and reread those. But since the books are so long, I think several side adventures could have been cut and the book wouldn't have been changed at all.

So much happens in this book though, and by the end I was wrecked. When I read this as a kid, I didn't realize that this book had literally just released a few weeks before, and so I had to wait a whole year for House of Hades. I don't think I'll ever forgive Riordan for that! But my, was my heart shattered. Goodness gracious. Riordan knows how to keep his audience entertained (unlike Ephialtes and Otis lol).

One qualm I had with this book was the /drama/. Going back as an adult, it just felt really stifling. And like, sure, what do you expect when you stuff seven angsty, powerful demigod teens on a giant warship and send them off on a life-threatening quest? But it did make it a bit hard to read as an adult. There was a good bit of skimming. And eye-rolling.

There's also the matter of Piper. The way Riordan approached her heritage is just ... not cool. He showed a very surface-level understanding of Cherokee culture. It kind of felt like he hadn't done any research into it except for Cherokee myths, and then just kind of built certain aspects of her character based on those myths. (Like, when she's wearing "Cherokee eagle" pajamas? Like?? Wtf are Cherokee eagles?? And then her whole braiding feathers into her hair--just, no. Please no.) This isn't specifically a book-three problem--it's all throughout the series--but it made me a bit grudging toward her. I just wish Riordan had done some more research, and maybe actually talked to some Cherokee people (I don't know that he /didn't/ do this, but if he did, it's certainly hard to tell.) Cherokee people are not myths, and they shouldn't be treated as such. You can't claim to understand or know a culture based on how you assume their mythology might influence their daily lives.

If not for this--honestly, the "Cherokee eagle" pjs are the reason I'm taking off a star. I just can't in good conscience give it five--it keeps a high rating, because for its flaws, this book is fun and riveting. I also owe it because, like, it takes a lot to make me desperate enough to write fanfiction. I also loved the scene where Annabeth plays the dumb blonde card on Octavian. And Percy's stunt with the pirates will never fail to keel me over in laughter. (Made all the more hilarious by utilizing Frank's already comedic powers and the first series' jokes about dolphins from Mr. D, which appears in the first book. How cool is that?!) And, as always, #teamleo forever.