Review: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Back Cover Blurb:

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena—Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

The movie trailer:



For fans of: D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Since every movie I’ve seen recently has a trailer for the movie version of The Lightning Thief, I thought I’d review the book just to see what the movie would be about. After looking for the Percy Jackson series in the teen section of my local bookstore, I finally broke down and asked for assistance in finding it. Surprisingly, I was directed into the children’s section, which I’m pretty sure I haven’t set foot in for at least ten years. I’m not sure if this qualifies as Young Adult, but I’ll still review it.

Anyway, Percy is a fun character. He suffers from ADHD and dyslexia, which makes it hard for him to live a normal life. When you add the fact that weirdly dangerous things keep happening around him, Percy makes a perfect candidate for a school for troubled youths. When Percy kills his math teacher, who was really a harpy-in-disguise, his mom sends him to Camp Half-Blood, where he finds out that his father is really Poseidon, the God of the Seas. Also, some good news and bad news: he discovers he has cool new powers that have to do with water and he’s suspected of having taken Zeus’s ultra-super-special lightning bolt. The theft of Zeus’s bolt is causing all of the Greek gods to start getting ready for war, so Percy takes on a quest with his friends Grover and Annabeth in order to discover who really stole the lightning bolt and clear Percy’s name. Eventually, Percy grows into the hero he was born to be and discovers a plot that could change the world as we know it.

I really liked The Lightning Thief. I’ve always been a big fan of Greek mythology, and so seeing Rick Riordan take the old myths and put them in a modern setting is fantastic. I also really enjoyed how along Percy’s journey, he encounters scenarios found in the Odyssey and mythological baddies that are pulled straight from a roster of Greek monsters. I was really excited to see how all the myths translated: the three Fates run a fruit stand by the side of the highway where they knit the strands of Fate; Ares and Aphrodite still get it on in secret while Hephaestus tries to capture them mid flagrante delicto on video.

The writing was well-done, and there was an interesting twist at the end that I didn’t see coming, and a couple of twists that I did guess. The traps Percy fell into along the way were a little obvious if you know a lot about Greek mythology, and the head villain was foreshadowed a little too extensively, but other than that, it was a fun read for a children/teen novel. Would I read the next book in the series? Yeah, if I can get it away from my dad first (I got him interested in the series and now we have to fight over the books). Would I re-read this book? Probably.

My Grade: A-

Review: Blood Cross by Faith Hunter

Back Cover Blurb:

Jane Yellowrock is back on the prowl against the children of the night...

The vampire council has hired skinwalker Jane Yellowrock to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred ancient rules-but Jane quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep...

For fans of: Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series,

early Anita Blake series

Prequel: Kits, a free online story, Signatures of the Dead, a short story in the anthology Strange Brew, and Skinwalker, her debut novel.

I read Skinwalker a few months ago and fell in love with Jane Yellowrock, a kick-ass vampire hunter who spends her days as a woman and her nights as a mountain lion with a separate but shared soul called Beast. Jane has a great dry sense of humor and she’s got a ton of secrets. Jane has no memories from before the age of twelve, when she walked out of the woods with no apparent knowledge of any language. Now she’s all grown up and using the supernatural skills Beast gives her to hunt down rogue vampires who murder innocents. For a price, of course. In Skinwalker, the vampire council of New Orleans hires Jane to track down and kill a rogue vampire who is killing other vampires. Jane has to deal with the convoluted political scene of the vampires, the New Orleans police department, the gruesome murders and powerful yet impossible-to-exist murderer, and the romantic interest of three different men: Leo, the magnetic vampire leader, Bruiser, his hot right-hand human, and Rick, a shady character with a lot of charm. By the end of Skinwalker, I was more than ready to read the next installment in the series.

I got Blood Cross the day it came out and sat down with it as soon as I got home. I finished it in record time because I just couldn’t put it down. Leo, who has become unstable from grief (can’t give more away or it’d completely ruin Skinwalker), now wants Jane dead and tries to off her in different, painful ways, ignoring the vampire council’s wishes. The vampire council has re-hired Jane to find out which vampire master is creating new vampires and setting them free before they complete their required ten years of being chained in the basement to regain sanity and control. As the new vampires are nothing more than ravening monsters, Jane has to kill them before they attack any humans and find the master before any more new vamps are made. To complicate matters, Molly, Jane’s best friend and a powerful witch, has come to New Orleans to visit Jane with her two young children in tow. Angelina and Little Evan both have magic, which makes them targets for certain evil magical beings, so now Jane also has to help Molly protect the kids as the danger rises and political unrest threatens the city.

On the plus side, the romance heats up as Bruiser and Rick start trying to woo Jane (read: get in her pants). Bruiser and Rick both seem to genuinely care about Jane. Bruiser is tough and knows the supernatural world as well as Jane does and the fact that he’s Leo’s blood-servant adds an edge of danger that Jane and Beast both like. Not to mention, he’s also a sexy kisser. In Skinwalker, Rick is a player and not the most responsible (or safe) person, but in Blood Cross he grows up a little and gains responsibility. He’s definitely interested in Jane and he doesn’t mind showing it. Jane is now stuck in a love triangle (square?) because, while she’s got the hots for Bruiser and Rick is fun to be with and cute, she can’t help being attracted to Leo (when he has sane moments).

This has to be one of the best urban fantasies I’ve read in a long time. The action was fast-paced and engaging. Everything flowed smoothly and there were no gaping holes in the plot. The hunt progressed in a believable manner and the surprise twist was beautifully done. All the story lines come together by the end to make a cohesive whole. I really enjoy the way Faith Hunter differentiates Jane’s point of view from Beast’s through their character’s voice. Jane speaks in complete sentences and thinks about relationships between events, people, and objects. Beast focuses on her physical senses and speaks in short, choppy sentences. I loved the writing style! I have to recommend this (read: squee like a fangirl and gush about it) to everyone I know; it’s fantastic! My only disappointment was that I read it so quickly (Darn you, my lack of a social life!) and now I have to wait months for the next book. I am definitely going to be reading this again, and I strongly recommend reading it if you like great urban fantasies.

My Grade: A+