Thursday, March 8, 2012

Review #157: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief is the first book in the blockbuster Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Goodreads says:

After getting expelled from yet another school for yet another clash with mythological monsters only he can see, twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is taken to Camp Half-Blood, where he finally learns the truth about his unique abilities: He is a demigod, half human, half immortal. Even more stunning: His father is the Greek god Poseidon, ruler of the sea, making Percy one of the most powerful demigods alive. There's little time to process this news. All too soon, a cryptic prophecy from the Oracle sends Percy on his first quest, a mission to the Underworld to prevent a war among the gods of Olympus.

This is my third time re-reading this, and it is still awesome! I loved every single solitary minute of this book. It is action packed, the dialogue is wonderful and well written, and the characters are also very well written with some excellent growth and development. The story is excellent, and I loved Riordan's take on the Greek Gods. Every second is able to suck you in, from the very first sentence you want to know what happened, refusing to leave the book for a mere second. I loved the quest Percy and his friends went on, I loved the interactions with the Gods, just every thing about The Lightning Thief if bleeping amazing.

Percy is possibly one of my all time favorite characters. His voice is pure awesome and I was rooting for him the instant I read the first chapter. He is sweet, smart, funny, and all around wonderful. I know he's 12 in this book, but he is still fabulous. I was rooting for him to find the bolt and rescue his mom. Plus, his relationship with his mom is super sweet. It kind of reminds me of my relationship with my mom, because we're also super close. I also loved his relationship with Annabeth. You can really see their relationship develop from the beginning to the end. Annabeth on her own was fantastic. She was witty, sharp, and could go wit for wit with Percy. I also felt for her due to her past, which broke my heart. She is one of the best female characters I have ever read, and I can definitely liken her to Hermione from Harry Potter. Grover was also fabulous. He was hilarious, making me giggle at times, and I loved it every time Riordan talked about his satyr self. His friendship with Percy is great, and you can really tell they care for each other and would do anything for each other. I adored when they were cracking jokes and went back and forth. Other characters such as Chiron were excellent. Every single character, no matter how much time they had in the book, shone. From Ares to Medusa, you are invested in every single character and enjoy it when you discover someone new. 

Damn, Mr. Riordan is freaking talented. He literally hooks you in from the first page, and doesn't let go until you are finished reading at 4 in the morning. If this is my third time reading this and I'm still this enthralled, you know this book is genius, which it is. He build his world fantastically, making his version of the Gods stand out very well. I honestly love his writing style, which is smooth and brilliant.

I'll next be reviewing Destined by Jessie Harrell.

Until next time, viva la literature!

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