REVIEW + DISCUSSION: the blood of olympus; rick riordan

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
Series: The Heroes of Olympus #5
Published by Disney Hyperion on October 7th 2014
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic, General, Greek & Roman, Legends, Myths, Fables, Retelling, Young Adult
Pages: 528
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
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Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen-all of them-and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood-the blood of Olympus-in order to wake. The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it might be able to stop a war between the two camps.The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea's army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.

if you haven’t read anything by rick riordan.. then what are you waiting for?! the percy jackson series is like my version of the harry potter series. it’s been around since i was in fourth grade and i had to wait for all the books to come out slowly year after year. rick riordan has an amazing way with connecting with readers and staying very “in the know” (using jokes/references from pop culture). the plot follows stories/myths from ancient times, but he makes it modern and relatable. all of rick riordan’s characters are extremely notable and i just.. *heart eye emoji* if you haven’t read anything by rick riordan.. you’re really missing out. put the percy jackson series (not the heroes of olympus. not yet.) on the top of your tbr list. like now.

if you’ve read the percy jackson series, but haven’t read the heroes of olympus.. you should pick the lost hero up, unless, of course, you didn’t like the pjo series (which i beg to differ. no one could dislike the pjo series.. right?) the hoo series isn’t as enjoyable as pjo, but you should still read it. for me, it was hard to get through because i couldn’t accept the new characters. i wanted percy, annabeth, and grover. i wanted to see their adventures, not these annoying new people. but after finishing the last book, i know you’ll like this series as well (if not more). you must read this. the biggest turn-off for me was that it was written in third person pov instead of first person like in pjo, but you’ll learn to like it.

if you’ve read all the previous books in hoo but not this one.. i’m just going to assume you either A) ordered the book online and hasn’t come in the mail yet or B) you need to buy/borrow it from someone or C) you’re not mentally prepared to enter this. (i waited an extra week because i was C.)

anddddd i really can’t say anything without spoiling, so if you haven’t read this book please leave. i really wouldn’t want to spoil anything for you!

[rating-report]

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*WARNING: review/discussion filled with SPOILERS ahead!! do not continue reading unless you’ve finished the book and all previous novels!*

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when i first picked up the book, i skimmed through all the chapters to see who we’d be reading from and there was no percy, no annabeth, no hazel, and no frank. i was really frustrated because it’s the last book and i was hoping we’d get to see things from everyone’s pov. but no. i saw so many jason and piper chapters, it was frustrating. piper was never exceptional in my eyes, and jason was.. well, not percy. (sorry, jason) i was glad to see things from nico (finally! ily nico) but reyna? she creeped me out.

the story starts with jason (why, jason) and he was doing just great.. until he gets stabbed. four chapters in, not even forty pages, and he’s already injured and almost dying. #jasonfail (not that i’m blaming you, jason. i know, it sucks.)

i know i’m being biased against jason as of now, but i actually learn to like him. he definitely get better throughout the book. i think i disliked him from the start – from the moment i found out he was “the new percy” in the lost hero. let’s just establish that no one can replace percy. after jason tried defeating percy in kansas, i was just so done annoyed and aggravated by him. i grew to like jason more throughout this book because i got to realize he’s very different from percy and the two shouldn’t be compared. i was expecting a lot from him since he was a son of zeus, the king of gods. shouldn’t jason be more powerful? but, i guess it doesn’t really matter all that much..

after the fiasco with jason, we see things from reyna’s pov and ohmygoodness i LOVE reyna. in all honesty, i felt like this book was solely dedicated to reyna and nico. i was so done with jason/piper chapters and kept waiting for reyna/nico chapters. i wish we’d heard from her more in the previous books because i didn’t realize until now that she’s one of my favorite characters. i’m not saying this because we find out about her past or see her in battle or whatever (thought that is a plus), but i love her character. her thoughts are so sassy and hilarious. she’s a true leader.

“there are too many of them.” reyna wondered bitterly how many times she’d said that in her demigod career. she should have a button made and wear it around to save time. when she died, the words would probably be written on her tombstone: there were too many of them.”

if that isn’t sass, what is? she’s also incredibly independent, but at the same time, very one with the group (especially since she has that super cool power where she lends others her own power. like what?!). reyna is so amazing and is the best praetor like ever. also, seeing her support and interact with nico i just..

reyna and nico’s relationship in this book. extremely on point(e). at first i was hoping the two of them would be in a relationship, but then i even liked them as friends. their chemistry and everything was just so.. GAH. love it so so much. *squeals* i love how they learn to lean on each other and open up their thoughts and feelings. they’re perfect for each other; they’re basically brother-and-sister (though reyna could never replace bianca). they trust and look out for each other, and honestly, are the best team. by far, one of my favorite friendships in all of book-history.

then, leo, percy, hazel, and jason had that battle with nike! one of my favorite pages in the entire book was when leo accidentally summons the goddess.

“what if we promoted adidas shoes?” percy wondered. “would that make nike mad enough to show up?

leo smiled nervously. maybe he and percy did share something else – a stupid sense of humor. “yeah, i bet that would totally be against her sponsorship deal: THOSE ARE NOT THE OFFICIAL SHOES OF THE OLYMPICS. YOU WILL DIE NOW!”

hazel rolled her eyes, “you’re both impossible.”

behind leo, a thunderous voice shook the ruins: “YOU WILL DIE NOW!”

nike is one of the funniest goddesses we ever encounter. although she’s a little crazy, she’s one of my favorites. (“popcorn! our fatal weakness!”)

after they capture nike, piper and annabeth go off to find the statue in the fear temple! and ohmygoodness another iconic friendship moment! i’ve always admired annabeth for her wisdom, but for once, it wasn’t the winner of this battle. (and my respect for piper increases tenfold) it’s so cool to see two sides of the battle: the logical and the emotional. when they work together and defeat the giant, i’m like

meanwhile, reyna, nico, and coach hedge run into the hunters of artemis and the amazons! THALIAAAAA and reyna’s sister. it makes me so happy to see them because i actually know them. i was there when thalia became a huntress (well, kinda. i read it.) and we meet phoebe and some of the other huntresses as well! they also give reyna a super cool “goodie bag” filled with amazing hunter stuff – including the answer to the question i’ve been wondering for years: how on earth do they move their tent around? turns out, a handkerchief. reyna and hylla have this amazing sister-relationship that i admire and love so much. their pact, along with the hunters of artemis, is the definition of girl power.

there’s also a lot of sorrow during this scene. many of the amazons and hunters die, and nico, reyna, and coach end up escaping. we don’t know what happens to the hunters or hylla, and orion continues to chase them. also, nico is slowly disappearing because he’s shadow traveling too much. (nico, my babyyyyy)

after that, we see how things are going on the argo ii. (honestly, i was more interested in what was going on with reyna and nico.) percy and jason have their moment of bromance. percy meets his sister and jason ends up saving the day. yeah, jason saved percy. weirdest freakin’ thing ever. especially since percy was dying underwater.

anyway, back to nico. we finally see nico use his super-badass-underworld powers! he nearly ripped bryce to shreds (which, bryce deserved) and had no mercy. reyna and coach hedge seemed really creeped, but honestly, i was like

he totally slayed that battle. you tend to forget nico is super powerful, but he is because he’s also a child of “the big three.” we finally see him doing his thang! afterwards he was weak and unconscious for a few days, but it’s alright because the pegasi came to save the day! (blackjack!!) they successfully move the athena parthenos to camp half blood. <3

then, you slowly see leo’s plan of action. i mean, his plan to sacrifice himself. all da ladies love leo, so why did he have to do this? i know it was to get back with calypso, but he could’ve at least told someone! when he handed the trick-of-the-mist version to piper, i was like

piper, annabeth, and percy go underground with the snake people (you go, piper! charmspeak it up.) the giants are there and just when you think everyone’s going to die, the gods come to save the day! i was kind of expecting this because it was said in the prophecy. but it turns out, percy’s nosebleed still woke gaea up. *sighs* good ol’ zeus has to throw the argo ii across the globe to help their friends at camp half blood..

nico, reyna, and coach hedge have successfully gotten to camp half blood! everything’s kind of going great until… octavian. i don’t think there’s a character i resent more in this series. i mean, you’re supposed to hate gaea; she’s the antagonist. but octavian? he was just an annoying side character that blew everything up. he wanted to destroy everyone at camp half blood and well.. that’s not acceptable. things would’ve less of a hassle if not for octavian. he creeped me out from the moment he sliced up teddy bears, and now i still don’t like him. even though he’s dead. (but he did that to himself so..)

reyna’s battle with orion is so epic! her cloak became the aegis! from the athena parthenos!(!!) she got help from two goddesses and killed him for the deaths of the hunters and amazonians. it was so emotional when reyna was convinced she was going to die and personally thanked the athena parthenos. and when athena acknowledged her as a true hero… the tears. when orion finally died, i was honestly like

the two battles: gods/demigods vs giants + leo, jason, and piper vs. gaea.. it felt very anti-climatic. i expected a lot more, since it is the moment we’ve all been waiting for after five books. the battle was too fast and a little too happy since no one really died. (not that i’m actually complaining no one died) the whole ending felt very rushed and quick. i mean, at this point, i don’t think we would mind reading another hundred pages. i wanted to see the gods interact more with their children. the battles were as intense as i’d hoped, but not bad.

the happy endings! i’m so glad rick gave everyone a happy ending. honestly, that’s all i asked for. i knew leo wasn’t going to die because (spoiling myself) i skipped ahead and saw he was the last pov of the book. obviously, a dead person can’t have his own pov! both of the camps teamed up and there’s peace and happiness and

percy and annabeth have their whole (happy) future planned. hazel and frank don’t get a huge role in this book, but we know they’re eternal. piper and jason “started over” and had their kiss under the stars. (which was cute, i guess) but, ohmygods nico and will (SOLANGELO). i’m so happy nico finally has a happy ending (over-using the word happy because i’m just SO HAPPY OVERJOYED.) he finally comes clean with percy and tells him the truth and everything is just perfect and great. nico is no longer in the shadows. also reyna and nico’s teamwork and friendship. everything, i just

also, leo and calypso (CALEO)!! rick still left a lot unresolved, but i’m going to jump to my own conclusions: they both make it back to camp half blood and everything is just splendid! no one dies and if there’s trouble among the gods and goddess, let the other campers deal with it. these heroes have had enough in their lifetime. i’m so incredibly pleased with this ending. (though i do wish he’s just given us one more chapter) some people are complaining it’s too happy or too perfect, but honestly, i’d so much rather have this ending than one that’s similar to allegiant. (but rick, can we please get a novella or something where we see reyna find her love interest? please?? that girl deserves someone spectacular)

in the beginning, i was annoyed with the pov’s in this book. obviously, i wanted more percy and annabeth. now i realize it’s not their story to tell. if i wanted percy and annabeth, i should’ve just read the pjo series again. the hoo series is more focused on jason, piper, leo, frank, hazel, reyna, and nico. yes, there’s loads of percy and annabeth, but i’ve accepted that they’re (kind of?) side characters in this one.

in a nutshell:

 

favorite quote from the book:

“some pain shouldn’t be wished away so easily. it had to be dealt with, even embraced.”

what did you think of the ending? please share your thoughts in the comments below!

(p.s. sorry this post is soooo long. i just had a lot of thoughts and feelings.)

xoxo,

alexandra

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