Bookworm Blurbs

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of a victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows.

While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate. (source)

Here it is - the last book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series. This series has kept my attention the whole way through, eagerly flipping the pages to find out what will happen next. And this final installment didn't let me down - it was so good!

There was so much that I liked about this book. First, I felt like it wrapped everything up so well. As in most of the other books, there were plot twists that I didn't see coming (such as the spy - had no idea up until the last few pages before the person confessed!), and I liked that even though all of the major issues were wrapped up nicely, Riordan set things up for a spin-off series if he wished to write one (which he did). I also liked that this book felt like the last book. It starts out differently from any of the others, at the end of the summer rather than at the beginning, which suited the book well since it was the end of the series. Riordan also did a good job of showcasing how far Percy has grown from the first book - although Percy did work with his friends quite frequently, he also had more "solo missions" than ever before, which really demonstrates how much he's progressed, from a little twelve year old with no clue about what he was doing. 

That being said, there were a few things about this book that I didn't really like. For one thing, almost the entire book takes place in New York City. In the other books, Percy and his friends go on quests and the books follow their adventures. In this one, Percy (for the most part) stays in Manhattan, defending the island from Kronos and the Titan army. In comparison to the others, this felt a bit slow at times. I also could have done without all the drama between Percy and Annabeth. This was a plotline that had been developing over the last few books, and to me, the whole thing felt forced. While they made good friends, I'm unconvinced that the two would make a good couple, and, to me, at best they come off as a girl with a crush on her best friend, who doesn't know how to respond to her attentions and only falls for her after being rejected by the girl who he was really interested in (who I wasn't super crazy about, either). The romance parts of this series felt forced to me and they didn't seem to fit in well with the rest of the storyline. I'm usually all for romance in books, but in this case, I could have done without. 

Overall, I really liked this series and I would definitely recommend it - mainly to kids, but I think that adults would enjoy it, too, It's a really interesting take on Greek mythology. I think it's hard for authors to take mythology and make it their own, but, in my opinion, Riordan did a great job with this series. I think that he kept enough of the traditional myths, while still coming up with original storylines. If you haven't yet, go read this series!