Tag: Rick Riordan

Marshmallow has already reviewed books 1 and 2 in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series; you might like to check out her review of The Lightning Thief and her review of The Sea of Monsters before reading further.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked some of Rick Riordan’s other books or if you just like Greek mythology, then this might be the book for you. 

Marshmallow’s Summary: Fourteen-year old Percy Jackson is not a normal teenager. He is a demigod, or a half-blood, as they call themselves. In the summer, he attends Camp Half-Blood and trains to survive in the world. (Monsters intent on killing them try to attack the half-bloods so they have to watch out and know how to fight back.)

Percy and his friends, Annabeth Chase and Thalia Grace, go to a boarding school where their friend, Grover Underwood, told them that there were two half-bloods. The school is having a party and they see the two half-bloods, Nico and Bianca de Angelo. They need to take them to Camp Half Blood. They meet the school’s vice principal Dr. Thorn, but when they use the Mist on him (Mist is a magical fog that the half bloods use to fool mortals, humans), he seems like he is still suspicious. While Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover are trying to act normal, Percy notices that the other half-bloods are gone. He goes after them and finds that Dr. Thorn is trying to take them away. When Percy tries to stop him, Dr. Thorn reverts back to his original form, a manticore. He forces Percy and the di Angelos towards a cliff where Dr. Thorn’s allies are approaching with a helicopter to take them away. But then Annabeth attacks Dr. Thorn with the help of her hat, which makes her turn invisible when she puts it on.  As they fight, Dr. Thorn jumps off the cliff with Annabeth on his back, because he knows that he will come back. (Monsters in the books always come back once they are killed, but not necessarily immediately.) As the helicopter draws nearer, Artemis’s Hunters come from the woods and attack it. Once the helicopter is driven away, Thalia is very upset that Percy went to stop Dr. Thorn on his own.

When the friends arrive at the Camp, the Oracle, a mummy of the last Oracle of Delphi, announces a new prophecy.  

“Five shall go west, to the goddess in chains, 
One shall be lost in the land without rain, 
The bane of Olympus shows the trail, 
Campers and Hunters combined prevail, 
The Titan’s curse must one withstand, 
And one shall perish by a parent’s hand.”

When Percy is not picked to go on the mission, he sneaks out on his own to do it anyway, using Annabeth’s invisibility hat. What can go wrong?

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a very good book but it probably could be sad and scary for younger children. Annabeth appears dead at the beginning of the book and a couple other deaths occur in the book. Otherwise, it is a great book for people who liked Rick Riordan’s other books or just people who like reading about Greek mythology.

I think that you can relate with many of the characters in the book. Percy’s sadness after he believes Annabeth is dead makes you feel compassionate towards him. I also felt a lot of sympathy towards Nico because I too have a little brother (hi Caramel!).

This book will not make much sense if you have not read the first two. But if you do go ahead and read all three, you won’t be disappointed. These books are good!

Marshmallow’s rating: 95%.

Caramel’s class was reading the first of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series before schools closed down. So of course the book bunnies decided to read it themselves at home. Today Marshmallow who already finished the whole series is reviewing the first book here: The Lightning Thief.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like Greek mythology, then this might be the book for you. 

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Percy Jackson has been expelled from every single school he has been in. At every school Percy has been stalked by strange people. One time, Percy could have sworn that the man following him only had one eye. Percy hopes that the new school that he is attending will be different.

In his new school, Percy’s only friend is a boy named Grover. One day, his math teacher Mrs. Dodds, who is not his favorite teacher because she hates him, tells him to come talk to her privately. He is in big trouble because she transforms into a monster. (Later he finds out that she is a Fury.) She attacks him and tries to kill him. His Latin teacher tosses him a pen that when uncapped turns into a sword named Riptide. He defeats her and she turns into dust. Afterwards, the day continues as if nothing happened and everyone seems to have forgotten about Mrs. Dodds, as if she never existed.

When Percy and Grover are boarding a bus, they see three creepy and elderly women holding a yarn. One of them takes out a pair of shears and cuts the rope. Grover seems very uneasy as he watches the women. Percy thinks that they look like the Fates, which we learn later that they are. They are cutting someone’s life thread, and that spooks Percy (like it would spook anyone else).

Later, Percy’s mom tries to get him to a mysterious camp that she calls “Camp Half-Blood”. On the way, they are attacked by a minotaur. His mother turns into golden light as she is attacked. Percy and Grover eventually make it to Camp Half-Blood without Percy’s mother.

Later, Grover reveals that he is a satyr. Percy’s whole world turns upside down. The counselors explain that every camper at Camp Half-Blood had been stalked by monsters for their whole lives because they are all demigods. He is astonished to learn that this is the only safe place for half-bloods–that’s what they are called: they are half god and half human. Percy is “undecided”, meaning that his god parent is still unknown. But eventually he is claimed by the god of oceans and seas, Poseidon. 

This is not good news because a prophecy says that a child of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) will either destroy Olympus or save it. But then we learn that someone has stolen Zeus’s lightning bolt and Percy is the prime suspect. It is up to him to clear his name before he is destroyed by Zeus, god of the sky. 

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a very good book, and a great way to learn about Greek mythology. It is funny and it is well-written. Rick Riordan has written a very interesting book that can be enjoyed by all ages. (I know for a fact that Sprinkles agrees.) It is a great initial book to begin the Percy Jackson books that will teach readers to learn about Greek mythology. 

There are some interesting characters (my favorite is Clarisse, a daughter of Ares, though she is quite mean sometimes–she does get much better in the later books), and some are really scary (the Oracle for example). The plot is interesting too and a mystery that the readers need to solve. There are hints that can help you figure things out before the end, but even if you do, you will want to finish the book.

There are movies of the first two books in the series, but apparently the author did not enjoy them.

Marshmallow’s rating: 95%.