Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Il ladro di fulmini

I missed out on the Percy Jackson hype as a kid and this didn’t disappoint. This was fun and I can see how these characters have resonated with so many. The story as engaging but there were a few things that seemed inconsistent. I generally dislike first person writing and the repetition of some points was tedious. This is well suited for middle grade and I frequently had to remind myself not to judge too harshly. Overall a strong start to what I think will be an exciting series.

Content Warnings

sammiesreadathon's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

becca_w_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous inspiring mysterious tense 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? N/A

4.75

Content Warnings

finnft4's review against another edition

Go to review page

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).

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.

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

Content Warnings

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

atlas_shruggs's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious relaxing sad fast-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

5.0

Reading this again after so long felt like dipping myself in a bathtub filled with pure serotonin. I read the entire series originally when I was around thirteen (so about eight years ago now) and I remembered absolutely loving it at the time. This series along with The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd and Fang Girl were my jam back in the day, and with the upcoming tv series adaption (along with crushing finals depression) I thought it was time to revisit it. And oh boy. I smiled so much while reading this book, I completely emptied my highlighter and ran out of tabs before I even finished it. This was the perfect companion to my finals studying, and it made me even more excited for the upcoming series.
Since it had been so long I'd also forgotten a lot of the plot points in here, like the gang's side-quest to get Ares' shield and the waterbed emporium. I also loved the subtle foreshadowing and the way Rick writes Percy's character. The only thing I would personally change is the slight fatphobia towards Clarisse, she is the only character who is described as fat and she is frequently called ugly. But other than that, this is an excellent book that I recommend to anyone looking for some serotonin.

Content Warnings

leighvanne's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

More...