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.