Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Lightning Thief (Movie Tie-In Edition) by Rick Riordan

74 reviews

hedyharper's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kaidoz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Bullying: MC gets bullied verbally several times by classmates, and later is physically assaulted with weapons by several peers. On the bright side,

he kicks their asses.

Death: Mentioned frequently in threats and in passing. Ghosts and the like. Emotional/Domestic/Child Abuse, Alcohol: MC’s stepfather is emotionally abusive to MC and his mother, often while drinking. Physical Abuse: Implied abuse when the abuser raises their hand and the victim flinches. MC says aloud ‘[Abuser] hits you,’ and it is not contested by the victim. For more context:

It is revealed near the end of the book that the stepfather hits the MC’s mother when he is not around. This is rectified.

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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

3.25

I can certainly see why this is such a well loved series; lovable characters, tons of action, and emotional depth all packed into an easy to read bundle. What lowers my experience, reading this as an adult, are things I probably wouldn’t have picked up on if I had read this when I was still the intended audience. There were numerous instances of the author using ableist language: the words

cripple

and

lame

both appeared multiple times. In addition, in true early 2000s fashion, every fat character was a bad guy, clearly intending readers to see them as gluttonous and repulsive. 

I might continue the series at some point, as I felt the strong points of this book still made for an overall positive reading experience, but i’m not chomping at the bit

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cluckieduck'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? Yes

3.5

12 year old me would have been absolutely enamoured with this book and would have obsessed about being great friends with Percy, Annabeth and Grover. 36 year old me has some issues with the dialogue and character descriptions (SO MANY ugly things). I’ve already started watching the new Disney+ series and appreciate the changes that have been made to the story. 

But overall it’s a fun little romp - a very easy read and a great way to pique an interest in Greek mythology. I’m interested to see how Percy and his powers develop and where the story goes from here. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and War

leoblueish's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

cadybooks's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Car accident

Minor: Fatphobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

aprilblues348's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Car accident, and Alcohol

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

5.0

I haven't read this book since I was in fifth grade myself, but I picked it up again seven (?) years later to freshen my judgement for the new Percy Jackson series on Disney+.
I honestly thought that I might not like it that much now I did then, and that I'd find it childish, but... I really don't. Well, it's childish, of course, (it's for children), but not so much that I don't enjoy it? It's silly and funny, but not too silly. I think Riordan writes an excellent balance between humour and serious themes here.

There are times where the humour overshadows and ruins seriousness in books (and films especially, [cough-cough] MCU's Thor), but that is really not the case here! Riordan's humour does not make me think it appropriate to include themes such as grief and domestic abuse, and finding that balance can actually be quite difficult, but so important.

There's also me having forgotten how likeable Percy is as a character. What a charming little man.

I was very positively surprised by this book! My expectations weren't that high, given that I last read it in fifth grade and my standards then were «funny haha» and «mythos», but it still holds!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Minor: Cursing and Blood