Book Reviews Archives - Page 109 of 115

Book Review: Pecry Jackson and the Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan

Sep 21, 2013

Published Date: April 1st 2006

Pages: 279 (hardback)

Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books, Penguin Australia

ISBN: 0786856866

Book Depository – Amazon

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.

Book Review

I read Sea of Monsters straight after I finished reading The Lightning Thief and I’m glad I did. I just love the world that Rick built in The Lightning Thief and I love how it continued in Sea of Monsters. It has all this Humour, but then you get those moments when you have to really feel for the characters. I love we get to see all the old characters from The Lightning Thief and I love how we get to see some new characters, especially Tyson. I just can’t stop myself for loving Tyson, he is just so cute and brave and the way he cares about Percy is adorable.

Sea of Monsters is an exceptional book and a perfect and fitting sequel to Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It’s packed with undeniable drama and hilarious adventure, which compels you to never put the book down. Like the first book, it’s fast paced, and excitement on every page that never seems to slow down. The character development thought out the book is simple amazing, but I guess that Rick can do that and does it fantastically, as his characters are so young and they can be built on. I think Rick does this perfectly.

Camp Half Blood is in trouble and it means so much to all the campers but Percy and Annabeth just that much more, and I think their determination to help it survive is demonstrated completely. Thalia’s pine tree was poisoned and the magical borders of the camp are not strong enough to protect the demigod from the monsters and the only thing that cure the tree and that is the Golden Fleece. The Adventure to find the Golden Fleece just makes every Mythological geek and I am one of those, squeal with excitement. If you love Greek Mythology then you will not be disappointed. Percy’s quest somewhat mirrors that of Homer’s Odyssey and the similarities attached with the modern-day setting make for gripping fare.

The way Rick describes the events that happened; you can picture yourself in the scene and fighting the battle or watching. All the complications that came with the quest of finding the Golden Fleece are exciting and unexpected. Rick seems to have so much to play, and just likes to mess with our minds untold prophecies, old rivals, new foes, and unexpected allies.

The way that Rick Riordan can captivate a reader is beyond me, he just seems to draw you in. I just love how he writes Percy. Percy finds out so much about himself thought sea of monsters and I can say this series could be a coming to age novels with that little twist. I also adore the growing relationship between Percy and Annabeth, I think it’s so cute and just adorable, and my heart just aches, I also like that they are not in a relationship, they are still young here, and their feelings are growing and they are starting to notice what these feelings are especially Percy. I recommended everyone read the Percy Jackson books, they just seem to take you to another world, to go on a adventure.

Some of my favourite quotes;

“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.”

“Before I could figure out how to apologize for being such an idiot, she tackled me with a hug, then pulled away just as quickly. “I’m glad you’re not a guinea pig.”“Me, too.” I hoped my face wasn’t as red as it felt.”

I can give The Sea of Monsters nothing else than a 5 out of 5 stars.

Book Review – Hunting Lila (Lila #1) Sarah Alderson

Sep 16, 2013

Synopsis:
The novels follow the story of Lila, a 17-year-old with the power of telekinesis, and Alex, her brother’s best friend and long-time love interest. When a mugging on the streets of South London goes horribly wrong and exposes her unique ability, Lila runs away to Southern California, where Alex and her brother are working for a secret organisation called The Unit and searching for the men who killed Lila’s mother five years before. Lila unwittingly becomes embroiled in the hunt and a suspenseful murder mystery ensues.

Published Date: August 5th 2011
Pages: 306 (Paperback)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
ISBN: 0857071955

My Review

I have wanted to read Hunting Lila for a while now, and I finally was able to pick it up, and I’m very glad that I did. It was an entertaining and very eventful. First the Cover is absolutely gorgeous. The Story that Sarah created was very interesting and different. I haven’t read anything like this before, so I did find it very interesting. The way Sarah Alderson, writes was very intriguing and I was absorbed into the novel as soon as I started reading. I adored the Writing Style of Sarah. I also like that the story was faced paced and didn’t drag on. At the start of the book, we are not to sure what is going on, so from the first moment we start reading the suspense starts. I love Lila our main Character, she was likable, easy to relate to in a way, and ‘normal’. She wasn’t a stuck up Bitch that we sometimes get with our main girl characters. She was easy relate to as she did not seem that popular girl. Yes i know if you have read this book she is not ‘normal’ in a sense but, in a way she is, Sorry if i am confusing you here. Ok Alex, Alex, Alex who can not like Alex, he is just amazing. I love that he is so protective of Lila, just makes him so much more likable. Alex is mysterious and gorgeous. I also love the powers that people had, it was nice and refreshing, from the other books that I have read in the last couple of months. Again the Suspense thought out the whole books was amazing, the last half was, wow, just I didn’t know what was going to happen. I also like the emotions that Sarah brought through Lila, with the lose of her mum, and her brother and Alex leaving her out of the loop on alot of things. She is a very strong character. I also adored the relationships in the novel, firstly between Lila and her bother, she is just so protective of her, and the big brother that I think everyone needs, and ever brothers has their faults. And the Relationship between Lila and Alex, yes I know the clique Older Brothers friend but just come one they are amazing together.

One of my favourite quotes is between this couple

He bent his head and in a voice that Jack couldn’t hear, said, “When you came down the stairs and fell into me, that was the moment.'” Then his lips pressed against mine.

Overall I really did like the whole concept of the whole book, the characters, the writing style.

So I give this book 4 out of 5 stars

Book Review: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan

Aug 31, 2013

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.

My Review

So this was a re-read for me. I read The Lightning Thief a fews years ago and just never got around the reading the rest of the series, and I was in the mood to start reading the series again. So I decide that I would re-read The Lightning Thief before I started Sea of Monsters. And it was just as amazing as the first time I read it, the writing style that Rick Riordan has is marvellous he knows how to pull someone into the story and not let them go to the very last page, then make then want more and more. The one thing i liked about this book was that it is not bases around love, even if there was a little hit of a crush *talking to you here Percy* I love how we are brought into this world. I also like that it is from Percy Perspective getting into a 12 year old’s is not something you do everyday. I loved loved loved camp half blood, wish I was the daughter of a God. I love Mythology, and Greek Mythology with a passion, so this book was just my cup of tea. I love hearing about all the Gods and Myths and just everything. The Characterisation for a first book in a series was really good. Percy development so much from the first couple of chapters to the last few of the book. Annabeth, I just love her, she has her defences up yet she has this little bit of vulnerability to her. Grover is the person everyone wants as her best friend. I loved all the little ‘battle’ scenes. I just loved pretty much everything about it. I like the idea that Rick Riordan to mix Ancient Greek ways of living in honouring the Gods into the modern world. That these Gods are real and they have children in the modern world, that have to be kept in hiding to keep safe, and to train, to be great hero. Well of this is not a great idea, don’t know what is. I just love the God especially Athena. I have always been a fan of Athena, I just think she is pretty amazing Goddess. So being able to read about her in the way Rich Riordan wrote her was pretty epic. I also like how the other Gods were presented. I liked how all different Mythological

Creatures were mentioned. I loved the story line and the concepts that the Lightning Thief came with.

Overall I would give it a 5 stars out of 5.