I'm very torn on this book. I originally planned for a 3 star but by the end leaving it as a 4 Star. I still think the second one is the strongest of the series so far.
The Negative: For this book is the pacing. I was actually surprised by how long it was considering what happened. At least for me the cameos that came in were not as interesting as in book two. The environments never seemed interesting. I mean we came from Indianapolis to California and I felt like we should go back. Lastly I didn't like how Riordan nerfed Apollo after he was finally getting good in book two. Especially after the finale where he exploded with his light form. I expected him to be get better not worse.
The Positive: Apollo and Meg still grow really nicely as characters. The saving grace I think is how deep the books are going. The villains are a real threat, death happens, people mourn. It really shows a growth in his novels, it's what made me bump it up to a 4 star. It still has its silly charm, dont get me wrong, but he's built this dangerous situation and its refreshing to see consequences from it, even if it is sad. Also even though Apollo lost his powers again he still wasn't much of a hindrance, his thought process and intelligence made him a pleasure to follow.
This next part is more spoiler discussion about what I liked and didn't like specifically.
The people in this book definitely will determine how much you like. I personally dont remember much of Grover since he was all the way back in the original Percy Jackson series, so his appearance didn't immediately win me over. Same with Coach Hedge and honestly Jason was the demi god from the second series I cared the least for.
That last part is actually what made me bump up the score because through out the book it actually made me care more about Jason. So if he could do this for someone I didnt care much about showed some great writing and character building. I definitely felt the pain when they lost him. Surprisingly Crest was also a pretty tragic loss. It was sad to think of this young kid getting stabbed over and over again to finish the mission and save Apollo.
Something I didnt like though was how people kept blaming Apollo. As if these bad emperors wouldnt be an issue without Apollo? Its clearly written so Apollo can build up regret and guilt.
I really thought the book was going to have Camp Jupiter parts as well, which by the end I kinda wish they did, because as I said above this book felt too long for everything that happened in it.
Final grade still a 4 star for the emotional impact and a great set up for book 4 while still satisfying this part of Apollos quest. Im assuming since the ending lines is him saying, no more Lester, "I am Apollo" that means we are going to get a more competent main character.
No comments:
Post a Comment