Reviews with content warning for War - The Lightning Thief

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The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

34 reviews

parlonny's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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mollymoo1234's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

So this is my first time reading the Percy Jackson books and I had heard amazing things about them and one of my best friends also recommended them so being the book nerd I am I obviously bought the whole series before even reading the first book ( like one does :D) at first it took me a while to get into it but once I got in I was hooked I just love the way this book is written so much from Percy’s weird thoughts to the chapter names like “ we take a zebra to Vegas “ I also love how much character development there is in this book and really enjoyed it , hope this helps
Enjoy xx

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finnft4's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense fast-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

4.5

Good. A middle grade adventure novel was refreshingly different to read, especially compared to the sort of novels I usually read. Even though this is the first time I've ever read any Riordan book, it still felt nostalgic, reminding me of what I used to read when I was younger (and, admittedly, read more in general - before having assigned readings, and before I started being so cynical of the content I consumed). It almost made me feel like a kid again. And it does feel like a series I would've loved when I was younger; I hate that I never got into it.

Before I actually get into the book, I'll put a disclaimer here: my view of Percy Jackson was definitely tainted by the bad movies. I had watched both of them (but barely paid attention for the second one since I didn't like the first one) before reading the book and unfortunately couldn't shake the association of the two. As such, I already knew most of the plot points and twists. As the series goes on, I hope this aspect becomes completely negligible. The badness of the movies shouldn't be hurting how much better the books are.

I'll first briefly go over the stuff I didn't like (not a lot of stuff tbh).

Spoiler

So I thought the whole "Western civilization is in danger, the Olympus locations are all in Western places, the Gods went with the West" thing to be pretty stupid. A lot of people commented that this was white supremacist. I wouldn't go that far, but it's definitely white-centric. Definitely not a book-ruiner, though. Just a bit silly. On the same note, I rolled my eyes a little at George Washington being Athena's son lmao.

I also thought that, while the book was generally good at balancing the serious with the lighthearted, there were definitely some instances of tonal whiplash, where a dark scene would happen shortly after or before a comical one, with little room in between - I think this is pretty unavoidable though, considering how fast-paced the book is.

Now onto the stuff I liked.

Spoiler

I found Percy, Grover, and Annabeth to all be fun and likable characters. Percy is an interesting narrator; I particularly liked how sarcastic and "impertinent" he was - he definitely had his own, strong personality. Him learning to be more brave and starting to forge his own life path was great to see. Grover and Annabeth's characters, while both being similar to ones I've seen before, both had their own unique qualities as well and their own little arcs, which I appreciated. I also found most of the side characters to be endearing or entertaining (though a couple were pretty outdated and tiring tropes, this wasn't a huge issue for me). I thought the whole ADHD + dyslexia = half-god to be strange at first, but it eventually grew on me. The whole concept, along with the characters being descendants of gods, is all super cool. Certain characters having certain skills or qualities depending on their parents was very interesting. As someone who used to be into Harry Potter, it reminded me of Hogwarts houses (which was one of the big things I liked about that series).

I really LOVED the action scenes in this book, too. They were crazy. The fight scenes were perfectly tense; Riordan really nailed the visual imagery.

I had such a fun time reading this. Looking forward to getting to the rest of the series!

Edit: I used to rank this one pretty low, but it's since grown on me. After thinking on it more, I've only just realized how good it was. It has so many stand-out scenes, and the quest doesn't feel unnecessarily long, menial, and formulaic (like in some other books). It's simple, and it effectively builds the world while investing the reader. A great start.

RANKING
[1] PJO: The Last Olympian
[2] HoO: The House of Hades
[3] HoO: The Mark of Athena
[4] PJO: The Lightning Thief
[5] PJO: The Titan's Curse
[6] HoO: The Son of Neptune
[7] PJO: The Battle of the Labyrinth
[8] HoO: The Lost Hero
[9] PJO: The Sea of Monsters
[10] HoO: The Blood of Olympus

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mariareviews's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

i’m kinda feeling like i’ll be addicted to these books for a while

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johannarose's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing 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

This is actually my first time reading the Percy Jackson series and I was so excited because of it. The first book, The Lighting Thief, was fun to read but I just noticed that I’m just not the target audience and that it’s definitely MG and not YA.

In this novel, we’re introduced into the world of the Camp Half Blood Chronicles. Percy Jackson is a normal boy until he’s attacked by a fury and learns that he’s a demigod who has to learn to use his abilities at Camp Half Blood. There, he’s accused of stealing Zeus’ master bolt and only has a limited amount of time to find it and the real culprit. On this mission, he gets help from his new friends Grover and Annabeth.

The story is told in a quite fast pace which I enjoyed; there are barely any moments where it slows down which is also the effect of the (kinda artificial) time pressure. Additionally, the action scenes are great, especially the final fight, even though I’m not the biggest fan of monster fights. Of course, the story has some clichés, like Percy being the only child of Poseidon in camp or

Spoiler

his mother not actually being dead

I’m still not sure what to think about the integration of Greek mythology into modern books. I don’t like how violent and disturbing it can get, but those parts are mostly left out in The Lighting Thief. In contrast, I always enjoy seeing mythological people and creatures in modern settings. The idea with the summer camp is also so nice and just something different from a boarding school, even though I always love those. What I additionally liked as well was the American setting. The humour obviously is a bit more childish and sometimes feels a bit out of time, e.g. making fun of overweight people, but some moments were even funny to me.

The strength of this series are definitely its characters who are all so amazing, lovable, and honestly quite diverse considering the fact that this book was released in 2005. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth are all such great characters and I liked them quite a lot. It was especially cute to see how their friendship started to bloom. Another character I really liked was Luke but

Spoiler

he sadly has to be the bad guy, oh well

. What annoyed me a bit though were some of the cliché characters used, like the terrible and mean stepfather or the mean girls like Clarisse, but this luckily changes in the later novels. I also had the feeling that Percy’s feelings weren’t always portrayed so well; for example, when

Spoiler

his mother apparently died

, he barely had any emotional reaction to it.

I’m pretty sure I would’ve loved The Lighting Thief as a child but the original German cover scared me back then for some reasons lmao. Now being an adult, I had fun reading this novel but there was not much more to it. Still, I can’t wait to find out how the series will continue.

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rdmoreland0801's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Spoiler

I didn’t read this series when it first came out, so I’m pretty late to the game. Although this is definitely YA, the storytelling and world-building are beautifully done.

Percy is a 12 year-old boy, deemed a troublemaker. He has been diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, being expelled from multiple schools. On a class field trip, Percy begins to understand that he is not normal.

Percy eventually makes it to Half-Blood Hill, where he should be safe from the monsters chasing after him. This is where he discovers he is the son of Poseidon.

Percy sets out on a journey with Grover and Annabeth to find Zeus’s master bolt, believing the culprit to be Hades. There are many monsters to fight along the way, and they eventually realize their strings are being pulled by someone else to start a war amongst the gods.

Throughout their journey, we see the world through a half-blood’s eyes, seeing both the mundane and the mythological. With a storyline different than Greek mythology I’ve read before, I look forward to what the rest of the series will bring.

Spoiler

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love_book's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

READ THIS BOOK!!! It is the best one that you'll ever read.

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lilybearillini3's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

I had only seen the movie (RIP) until I listened to this book. It was also something I just didn't get into when I was younger, I was more into other series.

I enjoyed this audiobook and the story is really fun and adventurous. I can definitely see why so many people love this book! It had a nice mystery and I love informative fiction where I can learn about something. I am okay at Greek mythology (nevermind I studied abroad in Greece), but I had a fun time learning Greek god stories.

I know movies are different than books, but wow the movie took almost nothing from the book, minus the characters and a few of the events. I am looking forward to the Disney+ TV series adaptation, I think they'll be able to be more true to the book and Rick Riordan actually has a say in it. The casting already sounds great.

I will probably continue the series at some point.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

I always wish Percy Jackson came out five years earlier and I caught it in middle or high school.

The books require a lot of suspension of disbelief, sure, but it’s all great fun. I enjoyed tucking in to read the book because there’s so much hope and grit in the characters. I adore Annabeth in particular - as a middle schooler, I would’ve wanted to be her.

This is a reread, so I already knew I would like it. It messes with me a little because I was introduced to the movie first and while I know fans don’t like the movie… it’s my first introduction and I always compare everything to it. I found myself surprised by all the stops along the journey, because I didn’t remember them (they weren’t in the movie). There’s so much lore - even the references are delightful.

I enjoyed my reread and already know I’ll read it again someday.

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