The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5): 3 Stars

The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan

The final book in the Heroes of Olympus series is all about the seven heroes of the prophecy.  The prophecy reads:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire, the world must fall,
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death

Considering the word "death" and phrase "final breath" were in the prophecy, there has been a lot of speculation that one of the seven would die.  Considering the seven consisted of three couples (Percy and Annabeth, Jason and Piper, and Frank and Hazel), and one single member, I was worried for Leo's safety. Leo is by far my favorite out of the seven and I was just not okay with his death.  And as I read on, my worries were only heightened. There were also many fan speculations that Leo would die and that is how he would end up with Calypso.  This ending would NOT have been okay with me!

With Gaea on the rise, giants to be fought, and Camp Jupiter and Camp HalfBlood at each others throats, the seven have a lot of work ahead of them and none of it will be easy. Luckily, they had the help of Nico, Reyna, and many others. 

Much like the rest of this series and the preceding series, Riordan does an excellent job of voicing teenagers in a "must save the world" predicament. Forced to grow up, but still feeling the feelings of teenagers (angst, fear, jealousy, etc.) Riordan captures their voices perfectly.

The main character I feel that Riordan nailed down was Nico. Knowing now that Nico has been in love with Percy, the same guy who was there when his sister, Bianca died, and having to watch him with Annabeth, Nico's chaotic attitude made so much more sense. I went from waiting for him to be revealed as a bad guy, to liking him and hoping he put down his guard long enough to figure out he had friends.

One thing I found curious about this book was that Riordan had no chapters from Percy or Annabeth's perspective.  Each chapter is titled after a character (not just the seven) and is from that character's perspective.  Yet none of the chapters focused on Percy or Annabeth.  Why? Anybody know? Was Riordan bored of their characters always taking the limelight?

The Heroes of Olympus series was very good and I found that I enjoyed it even more than the  Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Perhaps it was because the characters were a little older and more mature. Perhaps it was the addition of Leo. Whatever the reason, it was an enjoyable series.

Now, you may be wondering why I rated the entire series as 3 stars if I enjoyed it.  The answer is simple. I am not a YA fan. I struggle to relate to teenagers and often find myself rolling my eyes when they act immature. That being said, I believe if you like reading about teenagers, this series would be a 4 or 5 star rating for you!

Rating: PG

Recommended for those who enjoy: mythology, action, YA, and young love.

The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4): 3 Stars

 

The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan

The last book ended with Percy and Annabeth trapped in Tartarus and the rest of the seven flying on the Argo II. I assumed by the title that we would learn more about the mysterious Nico, who frankly, up until this book, I was convinced was going to be revealed as a bad guy. I was not let down. 

There are many battles in this book (in fact the heroes got very little rest). Riordan also brought back some old characters from the previous series like Rachel Dare, Grover, Bob, and even, the evil Kelli. It was great to know that the old heroes were not sitting on their thumbs but were also helping in the impeding war, just not "on screen". 

As I implied earlier, we learned a lot of Nico in this book. In fact, we learned a big secret about Nico that helped explain why he had been acting the way out. It was like a light went on and I just said, "Well, that makes sense." I stopped hating Nico so much and realized that he was just a kid who was dealing with a lot and had no one to lean on and no one to help. He trusted no one. But that might all change now that he had his sister, Hazel around. Perhaps they could bond.

Leo, once again, is by far my favorite character. He's funny, witty, and loyal. But in this book, Leo finally gets something he has been missing since he was introduced.  Leo gets a girl (kinda)! Being the seventh wheel on the Argo II hasn't been easy for Leo, especially as a teenage boy with hormones raging. But he finally found a girl who suits him perfectly.  Yippee!

While this book did not end on a cliffhanger, it did end with the heroes knowing that they have a big task ahead of them and that some of them may not survive.


Rating: PG

Recommended for those who enjoy: mythology, action, YA, and young love.

The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus): 3 Stars

 

The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan 

In Son of Neptune, we heard part of a prophecy.  We finally hear the whole thing in Mark of Athena:

Wisdom's daughter walks alone,
The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,
Twins snuff out the angel's breath,
Who holds the key to endless death.
The Giants' bane stands gold and pale,
Won through pain from a woven jail.

The team is all together for the first time in the third book of the series: Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and of course, my favorite, Leo.  Unfortunately, the two camps end up at each others throats and Reyna knows that Annabeth must find the Mark of Athena to end Hera/Jupiter's plans, and bring the camps together. This is not an easy task and could very well end with Annabeth dead. The book ends with a rather steep cliffhanger (I shake my fist at you Riordan!)

Riordan reminds us that these heroes are only teenagers through Piper. Piper, now dating Jason for real, shows crazy, irrational jealousy with Reyna. No matter how often Jason explains that Reyna is his friend and a great warrior that they need to trust for this impending war, Piper can't help but let her jealousy get the best of her. As an adult reading this, she drove me crazy, but then again, she is a teenager and that is fairly accurate teenager actions. 

I also found it very interesting that the seven have been paired off with each other (all expect the seventh-wheel, Leo). Each of them seems to have found their match with each other, which is very coincidental.

Rating: PG

Recommended for those who enjoy: mythology, action, YA, and young love.

The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2): 3 Stars

 

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2) by Rick Riordan

He's back!  Missing from the first book of the the new series, Percy Jackson returns in the this book, minus his memories.  Much like Jason, Piper and Leo were taken to Camp Halfblood, the Greek demigod camp, Percy is taken to Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod camp.  There he meets Reyna, Hazel, Frank...and Nico. Of course Percy doesn't remember Nico, but Nico definitely remembers Percy. 

Percy really enjoys Camp Jupiter and Camp Jupiter is amazed by Percy's talent.  But the fun and games end quickly when Mars, the god of war appears and tells them death has been chained. The team now must do what they can to correct the wrong and Percy must try to regain his memories and find out who is Annabeth, the girl who remains in his memory.

This was definitely not my favorite Percy Jackson book so far. After our introduction to Leo in the last book, I miss Leo.  I really wanted more Leo and, of course, he's not in this book. And while I like Reyna and her can-do attitude, I found Frank and Hazel to be big dull duds. Their characters were boring and did little to drive the plot forward. I found myself not caring about their pasts.  

Also, what is up with Nico?  I kept waiting for him to be revealed as the bad guy. He's very dark and broody, but then again, he is the son of Hades! 

Rating: PG

Recommended for those who enjoy: mythology, action, and young adult novels.

Looking For Alaska: 3 Stars

Looking For Alaska by John Green

I don't know how many of you have ever seen an interview with John Green or have seen one of the many videos he has floating around the Internet, but let me tell you, that man is hilarious. He's the perfect combination of funny and nerdy with a good dose of wit. He never ceases to make me giggle. In fact, I knew about, and adored, John Green long before I ever read any of his books.

Now a question lingers in my mind: Do I like John Green's books because I like his books OR do I like John Green's book because I like John Green?

Looking for Alaska is a coming of age story about a young boy, Miles, who is ready go go out and find himself. He is a relative unknown at his high school and is now headed off to a boarding school, where he is ready to become someone.  With the quirk of loving to find out people's dying words, it doesn't take Miles long to bond with his roommate, Chip, the bad boy.

Within minutes of meeting, Chip and Miles have a connection. Chip, who goes by The Colonel, gives Miles the nickname of Pudge and introduces him to Alaska, a girl who instantly wins over Pudge. The trio soon become an unbreakable force, breaking the rules and rebelling. Pudge finally feels like he has a place in the world.

But all the changes one fateful night.

This story had many elements that I enjoyed: I loved Pudge's quirk of finding out last words, I loved the Colonel's unwillingness to mold to specific type of person, and I loved Alaska's wild and fearless attitude.

The story also had elements that annoyed me: I am not a fan of teenagers with the indestructible attitude because I find them annoying, I am not a fan of teenagers who miss the consequences of being irresponsible, and I am not a fan of self absorbed characters (which I felt was Pudge).

This being my third book by John Green, I am left with the same question I had before: Do I like John Green's books because they are great reads, or because I really like John Green? 

The answer is: I don't know.

What do you think?  Can an author's personality change how you look at a book?

Rating: PG-13

Recommended for those who enjoy: YA, teenage love, and coming of age stories.

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The Maze Runner: Two Stars

 The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Thomas woke up in an elevator with no memory of who he was, or where he came from. All he knew was his name.  When the elevator opened to the Glade, he realized he was not alone. Every boy there had arrived the same way; without memory.  Outside of the Glade was a giant maze.  Does it hold the answer to everything?  And why does Thomas have faint feelings of recollection?  And why did a girl (the only girl) appear on the elevator the day after Thomas; a girl he feels connected to?

Oh boy...where to start....

#1: This is a YA dystopian novel. I don't like YA or dystopian novels.  I only read this for my book club.  I wanted to note that right off the bat, because that probably is a big portion of why I didn't like this book.

#2: The language was obnoxious and distracting. The author made up a profanity for the kids to use, and let me tell you, they used it ALL THE TIME.  "You are the shuckiest shuck-faced shuck that ever was."  Yes, that is an ACTUAL line from the novel.  What's worse, is the language is literally just replacement words for ACTUAL swear words.  Shuck=Fuck, Klunk=Shit, and so on and so forth. If you are replacing a swear word (especially with rhyming words) with another word, its STILL swearing. Either use the real words or just don't swear.  It would have been fine if the words ended up having a purpose to them, but I felt like the only purpose was to swear without actually swearing and the end result was a major distraction.  Also, the last 1/4 of the book seemed to have dropped the swearing practically all together, which was just sudden, strange, noticeable, and distracting.

#3: These kids were kind of slow on the uptake. They are supposed to be 14-16 year old boys who are incredibly smart, but I felt like they would look at obvious answers for a ridiculous amount of time. Thomas himself would question almost everything, but not not bat an eye at things I am sure most readers questioned (which were clues to the end).  I understand that they are young boys, but I think if the author wanted their ignorance to be believable, he should have lowered their age to about 10.

#4: The end was disappointing and the characters didn't grow. I expect that most novels end with the characters having progressed.  I didn't feel that way in this book. The kids have spent years trying to solve this riddle and the answer came because it was given to them. I don't want to spoil anything, but if you read the book, you'll see what I mean. Its like the answer was finally handed to the kids through Thomas.

#5: Anyone seen Cube? I felt like this was a tame, YA version of this movie.

Now, you may be wondering why I didn't give this book a rating on one star, and the answer is simple: the concept was awesome. I loved the intrigue and mystery.  I just didn't like the author's interpretation of the concept.

Rating: PG is you don't think fake language is swearing, R if you do

Recommended for people who like: YA, dystopian, thillers,