A review by honorablemmmention
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

adventurous 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? It's complicated

2.5

I was sooo exited to find this book in storage and finally read the next part in the saga, but after the excitement wore off I realized why this is the least popular one. The tone is kinda all over the place, i mean it's middle grade I'm not exactly expecting a marshmallow to commit suicide or for both a bully and Percy to use the r word (even though it's use is debatable in the context of Percy defending Tyson.) And the inclusion of Confederate soldiers felt very odd. 

I guess the charm has worn off and i can finally admit the middle grade stuff comes off as cringe to anyone older than the target audience, even if some modern equivalent reveals were fun.

The pacing is also just bad. Things that take a long time to to and things that happen in an instant take the exact time to read, and leaves no impact. I've never been a fan on action, but the sequences in this made me skim read.

I was however completely gripped by the ending, and will definitely read the next book.