Indulgent Readers

Review: Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth

I have yet another review for a book in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. I read the majority of this series during my week off, curled up in my new favourite reading space, a hammock.

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan book cover

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth progresses the story of Percy and his friends, as they enter the dark ever changing mythological Labyrinth, to find its creator. In this book we also meet a couple of new mythological people including Hera and Calypso.

In this book we learn a little more about Nico, who while not a main character is clearly becoming more important as the books go on. Percy is dreaming about what Nico is up to and the readers are only seeing small snippets of what Nico is doing.

Grover accompanies them on Annabeth’s quest hoping to find the Great God Pan, this leads to the group splitting up and Tyson continuing to travel with Grover despite the issues that Grover has been struggling with regarding his experience with Cyclopes’.

The above challenges allow the characters to demonstrate their growth, and in this book we see that they are starting to mature. In this book Percy is about to turn 15 and the other characters are of a similar age. This is reflected in some of the themes that the book addresses.

Rick Riordan writes this book in a way that keeps supplying mysteries to the reader, even the end of the book ends with a mystery which encourages you to read the next book as soon as possible (i am very glad that the series was complete by the time i first read them!). I also like the way that Riordan has introduced more and more of the Greek gods to the readers in each book. It helps to ensure that the reader is not overwhelmed or trying to keep each god straight in their head.

One of the themes in this book is overcoming your fears, this book allows Grover to confront more than one fear. He not only ends up facing his fear of Cyclopes’, which is very rational, he also has to face the fear of being underground. He accepts that these fears are something that he had to face to be worthy of his search for the god Pan.

This book also addresses the theme of growing up, we see the characters develop their relationships and their feelings. Grover has become more mature and he recognises that his bravery could lead to a great reward. The characters also have started having romantic relationships. This helps to demonstrate that characters are becoming more mature and are growing as happens in real life.

The fourth book in the Percy Jackson series finishes with a high amount of tension and I could not help but feel that the ending was bitter sweet. Throughout the book you start to become more nervous for the characters and worried for if the characters will come through to the ending of the book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am giving this book 4 stars, I have loved reading it and it did sweep me up into the mythical world,

Mid Year Freak Out Tag

We are at the end of June and while I planned on doing the Mid Year Freak out tag slightly earlier, I haven’t quite got around to it. June seems to be the perfect time to start freaking out about all the books that I am yet to read this year.

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

Startdust by Neil Gaiman book cover — Stardust book cover

There are a couple that I was torn between but Stardust is currently the best I have read this year.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

Kingdom of Ash, by Sarah J Maas, book cover — Kingdom of Ash book cover

As i have read a number of series so far this year this was a little difficult to choose but Kingdom of Ash was an amazing sequel and was worth every page.

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

House of Earth and Blood, by Sarah J Maas, Book cover — House of Earth and Blood book cover

I have read a lot of Sarah J Maas this year but her newest release House of Earth and Blood I am yet to read. While I am taking a break from reading Sarah J Maas I am planning on reading this one soon.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

Tower of Nero, Trials of Apollo, by Rick Riordan book cover — Tower of Nero book cover

I am really looking forward to reading The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan, though I do need to read the Tyrant’s Tomb first.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Divergent, by Veronica Roth, book cover — Divergent book cover

Currently this is Divergent, I will write about this later in the year. I would like to give it another go but my first attempt reading it did ot go well.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Tower of Dawn, Sarah J Maas, book cover — Tower of Dawn book cover

Tower of Dawn If you have read my review of this I did say at the time that I had put off but it surprised me. If you are reading the series do not skip this book, not only is it integral to the plot it is also a really good read.

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR

This year was the first time I read anything solely by Neil Gaiman and I feel that I should read more of his writing.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

I don’t have a fictional crush.

NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER

Nico di Angleo, he is such a complex character and he has such a positive influence on Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I also feel that he is under appreciated by a lot readers.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

A lot of books have made me cry this year…though i am aware I cry easily. The book I cried at most was Kingdom of Ash, but as I have listed that one already I am going to say that it was Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, as it is heartbreaking.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

Good Omens made me laugh so much. It made me very happy at the humor in it was just my cup of tea.

FAVOURITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION

Stardust. Though I had seen the film prior to reading the book but it is such a good film it deserves another shout out.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU HAVE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

I can’t remember the last book that I bought but I was bought Name of the Wind and while the cover is dark it is beautiful and have some good contrasts.

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

I am trying to not commit to any specific books at the moment as I seem to be struggling to get to the books that I have been saying that I will read on my Blog. But I really want to read the Inheritance Cycle this year.

I want to know what your favourite book of the year so far is? What are you most looking forward to reading in the last six months of the year? Let me know below.

Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse Review

The weekend was a long one for me, I got in the car on Sunday evening, for the first time since March. It was a shock for me to realise this. I have not been in a car for a quarter of the year. Clearly I do not really need them in my life, which gives me hope for a reduction in car use in the future. In addition I managed to write my review for Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse.

In this book we meet a number of new god’s and Percy Jackson ends up in another quest. Percy was not originally meant to take part in the quest, but due to his stubbornness he follows the quest and ends up joining them.

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan book cover — The Titan’s Curse

In this book the number of gods that we meet in creases and we learn more about the mythology surrounding them. I will admit that the first time I read this series I had to google who everyone wass, as my memory of Greek history was not great. However I love how the series slowly introduces each gods or goddesses, and while in some cases they are mentioned in passing there is often some context for the reader to learn more about them. In this book we are introduces to Artemis and her Hunters. I think it is lovely that all her hunters are female, when it is traditionally a male occupation.

This story is where Percy seems to mature. Before this point in the series he has been a boy who is overwhelmed by the things around him and just allows himself to be swept up in the quests that he becomes involved in. in THe Titan’s Curse, Percy starts to realise how his impulsive decisions can impact on others. This is reflected in Percy’s emotional growth during the book seen in the change in his stance on his mother dating.

The way each of these books are written allows the reader to ignore everything around them and just want to carry on with reading. This book in particular makes the reader want to pick up the next one, and the ending is ominous almost insisting that you pick up the next book. I also felt that the key monsters in each book are getting more resilient. This leads to more tension and you wanting to read the book all the more.

One of the key themes in this book is love. It is no accident that this is the first time we meet Aphrodite. While it is not instantly clear to the reader, the Goddess of Love has taken a keen interest in Percy and his current interest in one of the characters. The opposition is also shown from Artemis and the Hunters, who vow to never have anything to do with boys.. This opposition is demonstrated with Aphrodite’s dismissal of the Hunters Percy and Grover are travelling with. However it is demonstrated at the end of the book that while the Hunters do not partake in romantic love this does not mean that they do not love each other familiarly nor does it prevent them from sacrificing themselves when needed.

Another theme I have already addressed which is growing up. It is not something that you will instantly think of but as an adult I have reflected and there was a time when my parents or role model would question everything about each of my decisions. As I got older the adults in my life rather than questioning decided to support my decisions stating that I would be responsible for the consequences of my actions. Which is what occurs to Percy throughout this book.

This book gave me some more mysteries to solve, through reading the next book, which I will be doping as soon as I have finished writing this blog post. The end of the Titan’s Curse is ominous and it is certainly motivating me to read more.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am going to give this book 4 stars, it is a little darker than the previous one and the ominous ending is a great motivator.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters By Rick Riordan

My Reading has picked up over the last few days, since I fully committed to taking part in the Read The Olymipcs 2020 Readathon. I am very pleased about this as I was started to fall behind on my reading challenge. But I started rereading the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan and I managed to read the first two books in three days and I am practically half way through the thirdp below is my book reivew of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.

The plot of this book starts with a strong mystery, why was Percy attacked, who is his newest friend and why Annabeth turned up at Percy’s school, and that is just the first couple of chapters!

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan Book Cover

In this book we are introduced to a friendly Cyclops who is claimed by Percy’s father. This leads to Percy not knowing how he feels, when there was only him, while his cabin was lonely he was also special, but this new sibling means that he doesn’t have either of those any more. As someone who is an older sister I can understand this feeling. While I love my brother I remember what it was like to be an only child and it is true that you feel special, and that is somewhat tainted when you suddenly have an equal.

During this book we learn more about Percy’s powers, as he does. A lot of this book is at sea which allows Percy to start to understand some of the powers that he has. I think one of my favourite gifts that Percy has is knowing exactly his coordinates in the ocean. I have the ability in most places to know where I am in comparison to the car. A skill which is useful is where I am when on holiday, especially before all of our mobile phones had a map on them.

We also learn a little more about Annabeth and her clear discomfort with Cyclops despite being someone that you would expect to be accepting of diversity, she has an understandably rational fear.

I really like the way that Rick Riordan writes. As I stated in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief I am not a fan of books written in first person, I can find it difficult to suspend my disbelief and just sink into the book. This series however moves quick enough that you are swept up in the whirlwind of the story and world building around you.

One of the key themes in this book is friendship. Percy insists that they have to go to rescue Grover. Percy,Annabeth and Tyson, leave the camp without permission to go and save their friend. They come face horrors and difficulties which all gave them a chance to return to camp, but they continued in the face of difficulties due to the bonds of friendship between the characters.

The another key theme in the book is Good vs evil. The book is a little darker than the previous one and allows you to see the growing evil around the demi-gods. An I am excited to see how this continues to develop.

This book made me want to instantly read the next book. As such I will give the book four stars. I am half way through Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I spent an entire day reading this book and while I have not announced a TBR list I am taking part in Read the Olympics which officially started on Sunday 14th June. . It was very relaxing and I started the next book straight away. This is a series that I have read once before. These books are aimed at much younger readers but the sequel series, Heroes of Olympus is amazing and I think this set of books need much more love than they currently get.

The book is based on the premise that the Greek gods are not only still alive but procreating and Percy is the son of one of the gods. During this book \Percy not only finds out his true parentage and why his Dad hadn’t been around and on top of all of that he gets sent on a quest with another demi-god who he has just met.

Book cover ofr Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan — Percy Jackson and the Lighning Theif

Percy is a character who when you first meet him comes across as a child who has been told that he is a ‘troubled’ child, and as he has been told so many times he believes it. He does state that he has been in a new school every year since he started something always seems to happen to him. As the story develops we learn more about Percy and his uncertainty on how to feel about his father.

I really like Grover’s character and while he clearly respects Percy as a friend he still lectures him about the impact humans have been having on the environment. We also meet Annabeth who seems to put a lot of import on the traditional relationships between the gods and this initially comes across in her interactions with Percy. It is lovely to have a female character who is instantly valued for her intelligence and wisdom.

While I usually dislike books written in first person this one is done really well. It instantly drags you in and makes you want to keep reading. The pace of the books is almost perfect and there are items which are foreshadowed which help to raise the tension.

One of the themes in this book is perseverance. The characters face a number of different challenges throughout their journey west, and each time they could have turned back and let the world be battered by a war between the different gods. But they continued and the characters understandably become closer and start to trust each other because of what they have faced.

Another theme in this book is familial love. Percy’s mum, Sally, does everything she can to keep her son with her and safe for as long as possible. Not only did she not tell him who his father was she married a man who was not someone she loved, but someone who could help to protect her vulnerable son. Sally is also Percy’s main motivation to continue on his quest. This familial love is directly opposed to Percy’s relationship with his father, and Annabeth’s complex family relationships.

In places this book makes me feels sad, there are a large number people who can relate to growing up in two separate households, and the challenges that this can cause of your parents each having different expectations which is clear in the book with Anabeth’s challenges. The ending makes me want to pick up the second book and I already have.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I will give this book a good 4 stars out of five. This is most likely due to me not being the target audience for the book.