A review by brittanyae
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

adventurous funny lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

"There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it."

Content Warnings: child abandonment, violence, death/murder, ableism (regarding ADHD and dyslexia), mentions of war, anxiety, hostage situation.

Oh  man, the progress we make with Percy and Annabeth in this book is an absolute delight. Watching their relationship slowly unfold once again has been the highlight of this reread so far. Percy just <i>knowing</i> she survives that initial fight with Thorn. The lecture from Aphrodite. Percy trying to figure out how to ask/beg Annabeth not to join Artemis and her hunters and not being sure why it bothers him so much that she had ever considered it. His jealousy anytime Annabeth mentions Luke.  The slowly mounting tension between them is brilliant, and I am living for every second of it.

Anyway, on to the actual plot of the book beyond the budding romance. We once again have Percy sneaking off on a quest that isn't his (shocking, I know), though it turns out he was meant to be there in the first place. But all the bonding we get between him and Thalia over the course of this one is truly a delight. They bicker like siblings because they just have so much in common - especially the weight of knowing that the Great Prophecy is possibly about them. I know the whole 'chosen one' trope is obviously incredibly common, but one thing I truly love about how it's handled in this series is that we really hear straight from the people it could involve just how overwhelming and scary it is. The moment towards the end of this book where Percy takes it on his shoulders, all but declaring he's going to make sure the prophecy is about him - it's fascinating to see how others reacted being like, "Are you sure you want that?" and he's honest and upfront about it and admits that no, he's really not, but he sort of has to.

Speaking of the end of the book, I find it intriguing (this time around reading the series - I honestly can't remember if I noticed this the first time, but again, I was a fairly young teen at the time) that during the party on Mount Olympus,
Athena tells Percy that his fatal flaw is excessive personal loyalty, and then there are conversations right around that time (I can't remember if it happens right before his talk with Athena or after) about how if the prophecy is indeed about Percy, that he might come to betray them in the end. It seems like those two things would inherently contradict each other, would they not? Athena mentions that he puts others first, even at risk of his own life; it seems odd to then immediately have people being like "But hey, this kid could switch sides on us..." Obviously we have Luke in the story to show us how easily the demigods can go from feeling a bit ignored by their parents to full-on hating them and feeling abandoned and wanting revenge, but it just doesn't line up for me that they truly could think Percy capable of that.


Also, not really all that related to the plot of this book, but I also have to mention that I love the two tiny mentions of Ariadne in this one. Look forward to hearing even more about my favorite figure in Greek mythology even more in the next one, so onward we go!
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