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A review by chloe_reyes
The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro
adventurous
hopeful
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
2.75
Going into it, I knew I was going to be biased bc Nico's my favorite character, so take this with a grain of salt.
It's an okay book. Nothing really noteworthy, but I didn't find it boring enough to be abandoned. I think Nico's and Will's voices could be developed further and more distinctively. It falls into the Percy Jackson humor more than I'd want it to. Speaking of character voices, Mr. D reads OOC to me. Wdym he's nice now??? He willingly admits that Nico and Will are his favorites—what?? It feels wrong.
I wasn't too immersed in the writing or the plot. It was,,, fine. The writing veered into the tell not show territory every now and then. The metaphors used can be too heavy-handed for my taste.
It was kinda anticlimactic, ngl. Nyx, who is a primordial that was explicitly stated to be stronger than Gaea, wasn't that much of a threat to Nico and the gang. Okay, I get that this is just a standalone, but it could've been better. They were in Tartarus where they were weaker, but the situation didn't read as anything heart-stopping. I wasn't at the edge of my seat like I was reading PJO or HoO, or heck, even ToA. It wasn't bad, and it wasn't like I hated anything. It could just be better. I also don't really get why Nyx's children just went all rebellious, like huh? I don't think it was established solidly enough for them to just. go against their literal mother.
I liked the scene with Hades. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. It was very touching and because it was already set up that Hades does care, it wasn't jarring to me. I also really appreciated the scene with Piper. I don't know when they got close, but I'll ignore that because we finally got closure with Jason's death. I was always bothered with how quickly Piper seemed to move on. Like, wdym she got a girlfriend right after Jason died?? It got explained, more or less, so I'm grateful we got this moment with both Nico and Piper addressing how they felt about the situation.
Nico and Will. I'm still miffed about how quickly their relationship developed. I still want to read about it. I just don't understand how Nico, this kid who couldn't get over Percy for YEARS, moves on just like that. Then gets himself a boyfriend, what, several months later? Yeah, right. Their dynamic was pretty cute but also kinda annoying. I didn't really feel it too much. Maybe because we weren't there with them from the start like with Percy and Annabeth (the Percabeth name drop was stupid)? I liked how they both actively communicated with each other, even if it was very in-your-face. They're good for each other, but idk, I just wasn't feeling them too much.
Overall, the rating is only this high because Nico's my favorite character which is probably why I didn't find the book to be boring. In retrospect, there really wasn't much action going on. The pace was pretty slow and there wasn't much tension. Still, at least we got a book in his POV. Hopefully, the next Nico book doesn't have a co-author because I think it's that fact that made the writing kinda jarring to read.
I wrote most of this right before going to bed, so this is me mostly word vomiting everything out.
my rating system:
5: life-changing
4: love it
3: it's okay
2: ehhhh
1: trash
It's an okay book. Nothing really noteworthy, but I didn't find it boring enough to be abandoned. I think Nico's and Will's voices could be developed further and more distinctively. It falls into the Percy Jackson humor more than I'd want it to. Speaking of character voices, Mr. D reads OOC to me. Wdym he's nice now??? He willingly admits that Nico and Will are his favorites—what?? It feels wrong.
I wasn't too immersed in the writing or the plot. It was,,, fine. The writing veered into the tell not show territory every now and then. The metaphors used can be too heavy-handed for my taste.
It was kinda anticlimactic, ngl. Nyx, who is a primordial that was explicitly stated to be stronger than Gaea, wasn't that much of a threat to Nico and the gang. Okay, I get that this is just a standalone, but it could've been better. They were in Tartarus where they were weaker, but the situation didn't read as anything heart-stopping. I wasn't at the edge of my seat like I was reading PJO or HoO, or heck, even ToA. It wasn't bad, and it wasn't like I hated anything. It could just be better. I also don't really get why Nyx's children just went all rebellious, like huh? I don't think it was established solidly enough for them to just. go against their literal mother.
I liked the scene with Hades. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. It was very touching and because it was already set up that Hades does care, it wasn't jarring to me. I also really appreciated the scene with Piper. I don't know when they got close, but I'll ignore that because we finally got closure with Jason's death. I was always bothered with how quickly Piper seemed to move on. Like, wdym she got a girlfriend right after Jason died?? It got explained, more or less, so I'm grateful we got this moment with both Nico and Piper addressing how they felt about the situation.
Nico and Will. I'm still miffed about how quickly their relationship developed. I still want to read about it. I just don't understand how Nico, this kid who couldn't get over Percy for YEARS, moves on just like that. Then gets himself a boyfriend, what, several months later? Yeah, right. Their dynamic was pretty cute but also kinda annoying. I didn't really feel it too much. Maybe because we weren't there with them from the start like with Percy and Annabeth (the Percabeth name drop was stupid)? I liked how they both actively communicated with each other, even if it was very in-your-face. They're good for each other, but idk, I just wasn't feeling them too much.
Overall, the rating is only this high because Nico's my favorite character which is probably why I didn't find the book to be boring. In retrospect, there really wasn't much action going on. The pace was pretty slow and there wasn't much tension. Still, at least we got a book in his POV. Hopefully, the next Nico book doesn't have a co-author because I think it's that fact that made the writing kinda jarring to read.
I wrote most of this right before going to bed, so this is me mostly word vomiting everything out.
my rating system:
5: life-changing
4: love it
3: it's okay
2: ehhhh
1: trash