mollymoo1234's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
I love the Percy jackson series so far and I’m not gonna lie I’m already thinking about ordering a camp half blood hoodie it’s just so good from the characters to the weird thoughts going on in Percy’s head and I just love it
Enjoy xx
Enjoy xx
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Injury/injury detail
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The Sea of Monsters was for me a bit less enjoyable than the previous novel of the Percy Jackson series, mainly because it had quite a lot story elements I wasn’t too fond of. Like I’ve mentioned before, I probably would’ve loved this series if I read it as child but I have the feeling that I’m a bit too old now.
There are two main conflicts this time at Camp Half Blood: Someone poisoned Thalia’s tree, leading to the slow decline of the protection for the demigods. To stop this, Clarisse (lol) is send on a mission to find the Golden Fleece but Percy, his newly found half-brother Tyson, and Annabeth try to find it as well, mainly because Grover is gone and his disappearance is connected to the Fleece. Honestly, this whole plot around was just a bit weird and too silly for me. Then, there are other story elements I rarely ever like, like cyclops and giants or a story mainly taking place on the sea.
Spoiler
the cyclops mistaking Grover for a female cyclops and wanting to marry himAt least, the pace was again quite fast, even though it was annoying that our main characters fall in one trap after another. What I also didn’t like about the ending was that . Other things I noticed about the story this time were that some plot points really reminded me of HP, like the wild taxi drive at the beginning, or the general plot point that the antagonists try to resurrect the big villain. It also annoyed me that some of the conflicts in the novel were caused my miscommunication because characters are so often interrupted when having important conversations. What I in contrast really enjoyed was the way this novel talks about social issues, like homelessness in reference to Tyson’s character.
Spoiler
characters don’t really die (edit: this changes soon lmao) but are only apparently dead and even then, Percy barely has an emotional reaction. This time, this was the case with Tyson and later ThaliaLike I’ve said in my review of The Lighting Thief, the characters are definitely carrying the series for me. Percy has a great character development; at the beginning, he’s so terribly mean to Tyson which made me so mad, but later, he realizes his mistakes and even , showing how much he’s grown as a person. Talking about Tyson, he had a bit of a Forrest Gump vibe to him which I didn’t like so much since it reminded me of the cliché depiction of people with disabilities. Furthermore, Luke is quite the cliché villain.
Spoiler
helps ClarisseAll in all, The Sea of Monsters extends the world of Percy Jackson and further develops its characters, but the rest in this novel was sadly not enough for me to give more than three stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism and Injury/injury detail
anniereads221's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Ableism, Injury/injury detail, Violence, Animal death, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury
dancing_on_ur_muml0l's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
sad
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? No
4.5
Spoiler
noooo Tyson :(
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Injury/injury detail, War, Bullying, and Cursing
hope_sky321's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/injury detail
Minor: War
orchidlilly's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Gore, Ableism, Injury/injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Cannibalism, Body shaming, Classism, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
ewwniamh's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
3.75
this series is truly peak fiction
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood and Injury/injury detail
foxo_cube's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
4.25
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- 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!
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-brothersAs 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!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Injury/injury detail, Violence, and Classism
mikki_9's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Grief, Injury/injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Blood
navayiota's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Slavery, and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/injury detail