Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Sea of Monsters

Another fun adventure with our boy, Percy Jackson, and his friends.

I felt there was better character development in this one, maybe partially due to the appearance of Tyson and the character arcs that come with him. Tyson is a Cyclops child who Percy meets at his regular school and who everyone is mean to, seeing him as an ugly, mentally disabled kid who lives on the streets. Percy, not knowing he's a Cyclops, gets on with him well and tries to defend him from bullies, only to be defended by Tyson when it turns out monsters have infiltrated the school. When they end up at Camp Half-Blood, everyone is mean to Tyson because he's a Cyclops. Poor thing, he's a good boy! I feel like the book deals pretty well with Percy's mixed feelings of genuinely caring about Tyson, but still being embarrassed by him

Spoiler

particularly when it's discovered that they're half-brothers

- it's a difficult topic to do, but it didn't seem too ham-fisted, overly sympathetic towards Percy, or overly patronising towards Tyson.

As with the first one, the application of mythology to the modern world is fun and nicely thought-out. The thing that's really cool about these books is that there's some interactivity in placing the stories that are being referenced, and, as someone who's not hugely knowledgable on Greek mythology, I'm learning lots of interesting bits, too.

I was glad to see a return from Grover, as well as a lead for him to come back later on. Unlike the first book, I felt like the lead-in to the next book was less shoehorned in, too. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

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mikki_9's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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rokinjaguar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Very good follow up. I really liked Tyson and Clarisse in this one. Cute character development, compelling sequel hook.

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aceofsphades_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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navayiota's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Not my favourite in the series, but still amazing. I love how seamlessly all the myths blend, both with each other and with the modern world- the characters and the locations never seem out of place. Percy is such a relatable character and he's so dear to my heart, I can't explain how much I love the way he's written.

Spoiler

It was really interesting how his run in with Circe kept being brought up, how it seemed to have affected him, how much he reflected and wanted to do better due to it. I'm also so happy he ended up standing up for Tyson the way he did. I have been in both positions before, especially as a kid and it feels great to see a child character make such good decisions. I never had a Percy in my corner growing up, but I hope I can embody his good traits as an adult, and stand up for myself and others when we're mistreated.

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