I want to start off this interview with a confession... I watched the films before reading the books-don't kill me! Believe me, there is nothing I regret more 😖 I am certain that, had I waited to read the books before watching the films, my reading experience would have been 100X better. Now don't get me wrong- I did like the films (I may be the only person that did- please tell me i'm not alone in this!) but, now that I have read the book I can see how fantastic they are in comparison- there is no competition. I gave the first book in this series a 4.5*/5- I am positive that it would have been a 5* rating had I not watched the films. Saying that, it has still made my favourites.
Before reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, I had read some reviews, (good and bad) one of which compared the series to that of J.K.Rowlings 'Harry Potter'. I can definitely see where she was coming from with the characters. As she said, in both series there is a group of three friends; the main character that was thrown into a world that he had previously brushed off as being fictional (Percy/Harry) the smart and badass female (Annabeth/Hermione) and the loyal and funny, but sometimes goofy sidekick (Grover/Ron). However, I can honestly say that, in my opinion, that is where the similarities end.
This whole book was action packed, and kept me guessing right to the end (despite watching the film) I was really intrigued by the Lotus casino, and I hope we visit it again at some point in the next four books. I would really like to learn more about it, like who owns it? What is the purpose of such a place? I'd also want to see the three friends attempt to save the poor kids- what happened to their parents??
Another aspect I really liked was how most half bloods were diagnosed with ADHD/dyslexia, as I feel like this probably really helped younger readers who are in the same position through their dyslexia, and helped them to feel proud of it, rather than seeing it as a restriction of their abilities. (Please feel free to correct me on this- I have never personally experienced either of these, I just know many people who have, and so I am just going from what they have said)
The book was super easy to read and (at least in my copy) this was emphasised by the font and layout on the page- yeah, a small thing, but these things really can enhance your reading experience when done well. I also loved the length of the chapters, as they were relatively short, again making the book super easy to read.
Throughout the whole thing I was constantly anticipating the next fight, or the next monster encounter- making the book very enjoyable and exciting. This may have been my favourite thing about the book. Being a middle-grade, Rick Riordan had the freedom to go wild with his imagination, with very few restrictions, as I sometimes feel is the problem with books aimed at older readers. This is something I miss about being younger- having the imagination to simply accept the crazy things that could happen in books, without questioning how realistic it really is. Middle grade books are boundless, making them so much more exciting to read because literally anything could happen!
On top of all of this, we have the great characters. The three main protagonists, Percy, Grover and Annabeth were all so likeable, I loved them all right from the beginning! It is rare that in books you instantly like the characters, but this is one of those exceptions (for me, at least). They were all just overall great characters with really distinct personalities, again something that is unfortunately lacking in many other books I have read.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! (SKIP TO PAST THE LINE TO AVOID SPOILERS)
Even the side characters were great. I loved Chiron! He has such a lovely character, and I can see him becoming a kind of father-figure to Percy, in pace of his absent godly father, Poseidon. I even quite liked Hades. When we first meet him, he is seemingly a villain, however you soon see that he does have good intentions. I almost felt sorry for him by the end- he really is the typical misunderstood character. I am really excited to read more about the three's encounters with Hades.
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Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and am planning to start the sea of monsters immediately after writing this review (UPDATE- as I type this written review up, I am currently on the third book!) I was really quite surprised at quite how educational this book was in terms of Greek mythology. Obviously, I knew I would learn a bit due to that being the main focus of the story, however I can now say that I know a LOT more about this subject than I did beforehand.
FAVOURITE QUOTES:
- 'Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?' - Don't ask why I found this so funny- I honestly couldn't tell you 😂
- 'Even from far away I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or' GODS FORBID 'listen to opera music' 😱
- 'I had to become one with the plumbing' - again, no reason why I found this so funny- I feel like it was just the most stupid line in the whole book 😂
ALSO:
In Percy Jackson, ichor= God blood. In The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare ichor= demon blood... suspicious much??? 😕
~ Chey
