Thursday, September 5, 2019

[Book Review] Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan



Goodreads Synopsis: 

The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan's amazing young readers series. Starring Percy Jackson, a "half blood" whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan's series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment.

In this episode, The Sea of Monsters, Percy sets out to retrieve the Golden Fleece before his summer camp is destroyed, surpassing the first book's drama and setting the stage for more thrills to come.


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This sequel is so good! I may have loved it even more than the first one! I definitely didn't remember anything about the plot of this story from my previous read like six years ago so it felt completely fresh. I did remember a few things, but I think this is where my memory will end because I can't tell you anything that happens past meeting Tyson and some plot points surrounding Tyson in this book. 

 "I told Tantalus to go chase a doughnut."

The characters are what really make this such a fun read. Percy is an amazing main character and I love him. He's incredibly brave and his desire to do good is so rewarding to read about. He makes a new friend, Tyson, and at first he isn't the greatest friend to Tyson. He is embarrassed to be around him and although he doesn't say anything outright to Tyson, but he has not great thoughts about him. Throughout the series the reader watches Percy grow and learn not to be as judgemental and even a bit selfish towards Tyson. I loved seeing his development when it came to accepting Tyson. Percy is also incredibly clever and I think because he's the hero he's assumed to be a bit of a dunce (which he can be, because he's a teenage boy) but both the reader and the other characters are often impressed by his quick witted plans to trick or defeat whatever person/monster they're up against in the moment. 

I also really love his dynamic with Annabeth. They are such good friends and although I'm sure they'll develop into a relationship as the series continues and they grow, I think it will work really well because of the foundation they've set as friends. I am happy we got more background information of what happened with  Annabeth, Luke, Grover, and Thalia. It explained Annabeth's immediate dislike for Tyson. Tyson is my baby and I love him so much. He's so pure and only wants the best for his friends. He continuously puts himself in danger to protect Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. Tyson has had a hard life before we are introduced to him. He also deals with a lot of prejudices because he is a Cyclops, which are seen very negatively as a whole. And despite all of his hardships he is still so warm, enthusiastic, and nice to everyone he meets even if they treat him terribly.

"Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related for better or for worse...and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum."

Once again, like The Lightning Thief, this is a journey type story where the characters have to travel and go on an adventure. The journey aspect is a little shorter in The Sea of Monsters versus The Lightning Thief but I think it really helped us get to know the characters even move but also know the world of monsters, gods, goddesses, and more hidden in our normal world. Which is always fun. I love urban fantasy books where there is this magical/other world inside the world we already know. I really like journey stories, I think if the author is a good writer it can be really well done and I think Rick Riordan is a great writer. 

The writing is really fun and Riordan is so great at witty dialogue. He writes the voices of young character so well and I never feel like it's inauthentic. His writing does not talk down to the young readers but it also has this smart but also sometimes cheesy (in a good way) tone that works really well for the characters and vibe of the story. I cannot wait to continue not only this series but to read the spin-off series because I know Riordan is going to grow more and more as a writer. 

Overall, I highly recommend this series so far for both young and adult readers.This series is an older one, so I suspect most readers have picked it up but if you haven't, I definitely say go for it! The ending of this book made me so excited to continue this series. I am hoping to read it really soon because I am just having such a good time. 



Thanks for reading! 



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