Review: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

ISBN: 9780786838653
Source: Purchased
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1
Release Date: March 21, 2006
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     SYNOPSIS:

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

     REVIEW:

I've realized, after re-reading and reviewing the Harry Potter series over the last few months, that it's hard to review books that you've already come to love despite their faults, etc. Percy Jackson is one of those series for me. After re-reading it, I did realize that some of the action scenes lacked a little bit for me and that yes, these books, at their core, are middle grade fiction. They are fun and silly, but for children nonetheless, so just a bit simple at times, too.

The world building is awesome and not only to we get a mythology lesson, we learn about Percy's new world, his new life at Camp Half-Blood. Though simple, the writing is great and easy to understand and fly through. The characters are hysterical, and I love Annabeth and Percy's dynamic and how they help each other grow, as regular kids and as demigods. Its hard not to love a series you can just get lost in... not to mention the fact that I have an unhealthy obsession with Greek Mythology, so that also bumps the entire series up a whole lot (as if it needed a bump).

     RATING: ★★★ 1/2

A fun, clever start to an awesome series! The rating is relative and the book gets a 3.5-4 from me mostly because I know how much better the books get and they are a little a lot juvenile at first. Not to mention it being 5 years since the first time I read them. It doesn't make much sense to say that the later books are better, but rate them all with a 5, right? I especially enjoy the books when Percy and friends mature a bit, so though this is a great start to one of my favorite series, it's definitely not my favorite in the series.

Have any of you read this book (or the whole series) yet? If so, what did you think!? If not.... well, what are you waiting for!? Can't wait to hear from you all!

A.