primrosee's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ashreads7's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
finnft4's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This one was silly. After reading the whole book, that's the one word I can use to describe it: it's just ridiculous. It's not as corrosive as some of the reviews had me believe, but it's just so tiresome.
I mean, it's very similar to how I felt about Blood of Olympus, which I already don't like. It feels like this book was written shortly after that one, in a not great way. They both have very similar issues.
Apollo as a narrator is a bit fun. Then it gets tiring. Half of his dialogue is some sort of outdated pop culture reference. Some people complained about his bisexuality being preachy and overdone at times, but it only felt really intolerable at maybe one certain passage. Some other times felt unnecessary, but they were negligible. And I appreciate the effort. As for his personality, he sort of goes back and forth between being a narcissist and then 180-ing into feeling completely worthless, neither with cool-down. His sudden care for other people that springs out near the middle of the book feels very fast, especially with how comically high his ego was at the start. But not to worry. A couple of throwaway "I'm still the best" lines solves that problem immediately /s. Apollo is egotistical, but not in a particularly entertaining way. And this isn't an archetype problem either. I love egotistical asshole characters; one of my favorite characters period is Emperor Kuzco from the cultural masterpiece ENG. The difference between the two is that Kuzco, even though he displays very similar behavior to Apollo, is extremely entertaining without being annoying. Kuzco also has lower depths of assholery than Apollo (that he still BELIEVABLY grows from), who just occasionally thinks back on the times when he had little regard for mortal lives and then goes, "that was a bad thing to do". Such moral complexity /s. Apollo has his moments, but he failed to be a super engaging character to me. Because of that, I really didn't care about the story (which is not solely his fault, either: story and its characters are just boring).
It's strange. I don't hate the book. I dislike it, I guess...? I just have absolutely zero feelings on it solely because of how disengaged I was with it. I didn't care for any character. Most of them act the exact same. The only time I did was when a character was being especially annoying. Those were the two personalities in this book - nothing or obnoxious. There were some fun comic relief moments between the campers occasionally, but it's not enough to save anything lmao. Honestly, a meteor could've hit Camp Half-Blood and killed all the major characters in this book, and I would have absolutely no reaction. I was completely stone-faced most of the time while reading. The villain is also a Redditor, which is really the nail in the coffin.
Plot-wise, nothing particularly interesting or notable happened in this book. Everything felt like something I've already read in another book - a book that did it in a better, more interesting way. There were some moments that were a bit funny (a lot of the moments intended to be funny felt annoying), but it mostly felt like that hazy feeling you get when zoning out. Which I did a lot while reading this. For such a short book, I took a lot of breaks from reading it. The main thing that kept me going was the fact that my next book is a Magnus Chase one (I LOVED the first one, so thinking about this helped tremendously) and the hope that the rest of this series will be better. I don't really care to finish it, but I will, just because I bought the rest of the pentalogy. It’ll probably get better based on the general trend of the ratings but as of now it’s mid.
I mean, it's very similar to how I felt about Blood of Olympus, which I already don't like. It feels like this book was written shortly after that one, in a not great way. They both have very similar issues.
Apollo as a narrator is a bit fun. Then it gets tiring. Half of his dialogue is some sort of outdated pop culture reference. Some people complained about his bisexuality being preachy and overdone at times, but it only felt really intolerable at maybe one certain passage. Some other times felt unnecessary, but they were negligible. And I appreciate the effort. As for his personality, he sort of goes back and forth between being a narcissist and then 180-ing into feeling completely worthless, neither with cool-down. His sudden care for other people that springs out near the middle of the book feels very fast, especially with how comically high his ego was at the start. But not to worry. A couple of throwaway "I'm still the best" lines solves that problem immediately /s. Apollo is egotistical, but not in a particularly entertaining way. And this isn't an archetype problem either. I love egotistical asshole characters; one of my favorite characters period is Emperor Kuzco from the cultural masterpiece ENG. The difference between the two is that Kuzco, even though he displays very similar behavior to Apollo, is extremely entertaining without being annoying. Kuzco also has lower depths of assholery than Apollo (that he still BELIEVABLY grows from), who just occasionally thinks back on the times when he had little regard for mortal lives and then goes, "that was a bad thing to do". Such moral complexity /s. Apollo has his moments, but he failed to be a super engaging character to me. Because of that, I really didn't care about the story (which is not solely his fault, either: story and its characters are just boring).
It's strange. I don't hate the book. I dislike it, I guess...? I just have absolutely zero feelings on it solely because of how disengaged I was with it. I didn't care for any character. Most of them act the exact same. The only time I did was when a character was being especially annoying. Those were the two personalities in this book - nothing or obnoxious. There were some fun comic relief moments between the campers occasionally, but it's not enough to save anything lmao. Honestly, a meteor could've hit Camp Half-Blood and killed all the major characters in this book, and I would have absolutely no reaction. I was completely stone-faced most of the time while reading. The villain is also a Redditor, which is really the nail in the coffin.
Plot-wise, nothing particularly interesting or notable happened in this book. Everything felt like something I've already read in another book - a book that did it in a better, more interesting way. There were some moments that were a bit funny (a lot of the moments intended to be funny felt annoying), but it mostly felt like that hazy feeling you get when zoning out. Which I did a lot while reading this. For such a short book, I took a lot of breaks from reading it. The main thing that kept me going was the fact that my next book is a Magnus Chase one (I LOVED the first one, so thinking about this helped tremendously) and the hope that the rest of this series will be better. I don't really care to finish it, but I will, just because I bought the rest of the pentalogy. It’ll probably get better based on the general trend of the ratings but as of now it’s mid.
CURRENT RANKING
[1] PJO: The Last Olympian
[2] HoO: The House of Hades
[3] HoO: The Mark of Athena
[4] MCGA: The Sword of Summer
[5] PJO: The Lightning Thief
[6] PJO: The Titan's Curse
[7] HoO: The Son of Neptune
[8] PJO: The Battle of the Labyrinth
[9] HoO: The Lost Hero
[10] PJO: The Sea of Monsters
[11] HoO: The Blood of Olympus
[1] PJO: The Last Olympian
[2] HoO: The House of Hades
[3] HoO: The Mark of Athena
[4] MCGA: The Sword of Summer
[5] PJO: The Lightning Thief
[6] PJO: The Titan's Curse
[7] HoO: The Son of Neptune
[8] PJO: The Battle of the Labyrinth
[9] HoO: The Lost Hero
[10] PJO: The Sea of Monsters
[11] HoO: The Blood of Olympus
[12] ToA: The Hidden Oracle
beanbag883's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
3.5
katiem0201's review against another edition
5.0
Rick Riordan's books never disappoint me. This was a fun, quick read that was everything you would expect from a Riordan novel.
I need to get the sequel now.
I need to get the sequel now.
daphnesstrawberryfield's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
josiesbooknook's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Out of all Riordan's books, this has been my least favorite. It is hard to know if I will like the other books in the series better as in this one it felt like you were meant to slightly dislike/struggle with the mc. Great side characters though. Not totally sold on the story, but I will give the next one a shot as well. Best part of the book? A very lovely reunion with one of my favorite characters from the Riordanverse. Also the cute sidestories.
tirilknu27's review against another edition
3.0
A fun and easy read. Don’t think I’ll finish the series. Maybe I’ll try out the percy jackson series instead or something like that since I really enjoy Rick Riordans writing, not 100% sure tho.