Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan Series Review

Books in the Series: The Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, & The Last Olympian

The Backstory

Do you ever just have a weird craving to read a book so badly that it’s all you can think about? It’s all consuming and every single book that you pick up is just NOT THAT BOOK? And you’re sitting there, forever crying because you’re just not reading that book AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY BECAUSE YOU HAVE LITERALLY 100 OTHER BOOKS YOU COULD BE READING???

That was me at the very end of November, thinking about how desperately I wanted to get back to Percy Jackson. I’ve seen so many mentions of it through everyone’s various blogs, reminding me how much I enjoyed it as a tween. I needed it back in my life, and I was determined to get it. And I happened to get it in form of the new gorgeous boxed set that had me fangirling all over again.

So, fun fact: I only read 3/5 books the first time around. I knew that I never read the first book because I happened to discover the second book at a school book fair (gosh, I miss those things…and they can never be replicated…in, you know, an actual bookstore or anything). ANYWAY, I saw the second one and it sounded ridiculously cool and I was like, FIRST BOOK. I DON’T NEED NO FIRST BOOK BECAUSE I AM SMART AND I ONLY HAVE MONEY FOR ONE BOOK AND SEA OF MONSTERS JUST SOUNDS SO MUCH COOLER.

So, I bought the second one, and there is this nifty thing called a recap that Riordan just slid in there and I was good. So I read and loved that one. Then I read and loved the other one. And then I read and loved the next one. But then I guess I was feeling my book hipster and thought I was too cool for a middle grade book with this silly boy named Percy Jackson AND I NEVER READ THE LAST BOOK EVEN THOUGH I LEGIT SWORE THAT I DID. As Sha put it, I literally eat the middle part of the Oreo without eating the ends. OOPS.

So, in November – December, I binge read them all and here are my thoughts!

The Favorites

I always knew that the Labyrinth book was my favorite from my memory. I was like, ooh, maze thing, me likey. THAT WILL BE MY FAVORITE. Literally, that was one of the best ones that I could remember out of the series, and it proved fantastic the second time around. If you’re looking for a non-stop action book full of literal and figurative twists and turns, this book is it. I thought the labyrinth was one of the coolest settings ever, and I devoured this book with so much excitement and maze thing passion.

The Labyrinth book is at a total tie with The Titan’s Curse for my actual favorite book of the series. I actually forgot most of this book. It’s always the one that I forget when I was trying to name the books in the series, but it was so much fun. I thought the Hunters were epic (FIERCE FEMALE LEADS, YES PLEASE), and I thought all of the infusion of the Titan mythology was so intriguing. I loved them going all across the country as well. SO SO intriguing.

Having never read the Lighting Thief and only ever watched the movie, I was quite intrigued to see what was going to happen with the actual book. BUT HOW DID I MISS ALL THE EPICNESS THAT IS THIS BOOK??? IT WAS FANTASTIC, AND I WAS SO IMPRESSED AND SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF FOR FAILING ON THIS FIRST BOOK. Perfect way to jump into the series.

The Lesser-Favorites

Okay, I always had a super fondness for Sea of Monsters. It was the book that first introduced me to the series. Of course, it will always have a place in my heart. However, I didn’t feel it as much as I did the other books. The opening was a bit of a struggle for me, and I just kind of wanted to yell at everyone that was mean to Tyson??? BE NICE TO MY LOVE.

With The Last Olympian being action-packed, I expected myself to get so, so into it, but I found at times I would leave the book to the side and not pick it up for a couple days. It did pick up at the end, but for a while, I struggled to get into it.

Both of these were still four crowns, but I just didn’t feel them as much as the others in the series.

Favorite Aspects of the Series

UM, BASICALLY EVERYTHING. THE MYTHOLOGY. THE FUNNIES. GROVERRRRRRRRR. PERCY. THE HUNTERS. ZOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (SERIOUSLY, I LOVE ME SOME ZOE). JUST SO MUCH GOODNESS. Rachel Elizabeth Dareeeeeeeee.

Least Favorite Aspects of the Series

Thalia (ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh). Nico (still enjoyed him, but he was my favorite in the first series, and he kind of failed me on the reread). The romance???? Okay, don’t hate me Annabeth and Percy shippers, but I just didn’t feel it. Like, it was okay, but I never shipped it super hardcore like I thought I would. It was just kind of there at the end and I was like, eh, okay, I’ll go with it. Hopefully I get more into it in the next series? I was thinking maybe it might not have been fully needed.

Conclusion

It was even better than I remembered it as a kid, and I totally see the major love. I’m now so, so ready to dive down the Rick Riordan spiral, and just read everything by that man. JUST SO MUCH LOVE.

What do you think? Did you read Percy as a kid? What are your favorites in the series? Let’s discuss in the comments below! ~ Mandy