samtherat17's Reviews (162)

I don't know why this happened, but for some reason I enjoyed this way more than the Greek Gods one. I just feel like the humour was just better placed in this one, and I found myself both enjoying the stories and laughing at the jokes. Really the only problem I have with this book is that the Hercules and Jason chapters were way longer than some of the other ones, but to be fair Percy himself jokes in the book about the Hercules chapter taking way too long, so I can't be too mad.

A fairly decent beginning to the Trials of Apollo series. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but the story didn't really grab me as much as something like The Lightning Thief or The Lost Hero. Also, why does Rick do these cliffhangers??😭 It makes me want to ignore my TBR completely and pick up the next book!

I really liked all the stories here, especially the Percy and Annabeth one which I just found really cute tbh. The other two were also really fun--I think I liked the Luke/Thalia story more, but the last one was fairly decent as well.

Plus, a bonus story from Rick's son! I'm not gonna lie, I was expecting it to be a little kiddy, but I was really proven wrong and blown away. This was actually really good. I'm not lying when I say that if you told me that Rick wrote it, I would have believed you.

A pretty great set of short stories and cool extras. I especially liked the first and last stories, but the middle one was decent as well. Would recommend if you want to dive deeper into PJO, and this is pretty much required reading for Heroes of Olympus.

Finally, we come to the end of the Heroes of Olympus, and Rick really delivered a banger here. I'm torn between this and The House of Hades for the best book in the series, but The Blood of Olympus was really great. Quite surprisingly, I actually thought Reyna and Nico were the MVPs in this book--especially a certain Reyna moment at the end was really powerful. Apart from that, the main seven were also excellent as always and I really love the bonding between them, because at this point in the series they've all become best friends with each other and the moments in which they just interact with each other are some of my favourites in the book. And man, we have to talk about the absolutely epic ending.

When the gods showed up during that fight...whoa. That was just such a crazy moment. And of course, Leo's "death". I'm gonna be honest, Rick really fooled me there, because I thought Leo had discarded the physician's cure, but him getting an injection from Festus? That was a really excellent and clever subversion of expectations. It was also really great seeing Leo reunite with Calypso, but how's that cliffhanger gonna be resolved? I guess I'll now have to read The Trials of Apollo😅.

So yup, The Blood of Olympus was an excellent conclusion to the series. I have to say, I do prefer PJO as a series overall--maybe it's just because of nostalgia, but still, Heroes of Olympus was a really great series and I'm looking forward to reading The Trials of Apollo soon. I need to find out what happens after that cliffhanger!

To be honest, this book isn't very different from the other Heroes of Olympus books. I mean, I enjoyed all of them (at least till this point), but I felt like none of them had that extra "something" which could have made them 5 star reads. Well, The House of Hades had that special something. I think the major reason why I liked this one more than the others was because there was just so much more emotional development for all the characters. I mean, it's a bit crazy how Rick fit this much character work into a single book, but you know what? He pulled it off pretty well. Minor spoilers here for the previous book, but a certain event at the end of it leaves Percy and Annabeth isolated from the rest of the seven; and I just love how Rick handled their relationship throughout the book. One of my favourite couples in fiction for sure.

Another pretty great instalment in the Heroes of Olympus, but I didn't find this to be as good as the first two. I don't know if there is a something like a 'too many monsters' syndrome, but to be honest that's what I felt while reading this book. The book was just a bit overlong, and the plot was a little convoluted. However, I would be lying if I said that I didn't find the the final act to be absolutely spectacular.

Annabeth's showdown with Arachne, Percy and Jason uniting against the giants

...it was really tense and exciting. 

THAT ENDING THOUGH!!! I almost teared up. I mean, Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus and him telling her that he won't let her go again...oh man. Absolute cinema.

I found The Lost Hero to be an excellent read and The Son of Neptune continues that tradition. Our favourite seaweed brain Percy is finally back, and even as an amnesiac he is entertaining as always. The new PoV characters Hazel and Frank are also pretty great, and they both have compelling backstories and character arcs. And of course the plot is engaging and full of twists, turns, and monsters; but at this point you expect that from Rick. So yup, another amazing entry in the Heroes of Olympus. 

WHY DID RICK HAVE TO END THE BOOK THERE?????? Oh man, now I have to pick up The Mark of Athena!

Well, it seems like the Percy Jackson re-read has now turned into a full Riordan-verse reread, and if I get to read books like The Lost Hero, I'm not complaining about it. Rick tries his hand at a longer, more mature book/series, and you know what? He does it pretty well. The first instalment of the Heroes of Olympus is just as much of a thrill-ride as any of the PJO books, and has much more epic action and story packed into it. I think the only thing that pulls it down from a 5-star rating is that I'm not the biggest fan of Jason. Rick already set the golden standard for main characters with Percy, and while Jason is cool, I don't think he (or anyone tbh) measures up to Percy.

A pretty good, accessible and humorous retelling of the Greek myths--narrated in his signature style by our favourite teenage demigod! I do think that the jokes were a bit too much here though--maybe this book would have benefited from being a bit more serious at points. Although I may just be saying this because I've grown out of the target audience for this book.