Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3

Summary:

It’s not every day you find yourself in combat with a half-lion, half-human.

But when you’re the son of a Greek god, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a goddess is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh and guess what. The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive.

In One Word: Exciting

Plot:

While the previous books in this series were really good and entertaining, this one stepped up the action and suspense quite a bit. It had way more surprises and twists than the previous ones and I really enjoyed that about it. Apart from that the author stays very consistent, the writing stays easy to read and humorous and the story stays interesting.

Characters:

There is quite a bit of character growth in this installment. Percy realizes what his fatal flaw is, and also learns to see other people more clearly. I still really like Annabeth and Grover, I think they’re great characters that compliment Percy very well. I did not, however, like Thalia all that much. I’m not sure exactly why, but I kept hoping that she wouldn’t stick around with the main characters. The villians are all pretty scary, but they’re not all completely evil (I think). My favourite part is still the humorous ways of the ‘gods’ (e.g. Apollo’s fascination with Haiku’s ever since he’s gotten back from Japan).

Who should read this:

10+, there’s a little violence, but almost no language and absolutely no sexual content. Again, if you have a problem with the whole mythological aspect of these books then don’t read them. If you enjoyed the previous 2 then I would definitely suggest continuing the series. I don’t think adults would really appreciate this series, but I also feel like older teens can enjoy them.

My rating:

I really enjoyed this book more than the previous ones, but not quite enough to give it 5 stars yet. So 4.5/5.

Quote:

Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."

"He's the sun god," I said.

"That's not what I meant.”

Read my reviews for 'The Lightning Thief' and 'Sea of Monsters'!

Fairest

Gail Carson Levine

Summary:

Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be pretty...

Aza’s singing is the fairest in the all the land, and the most unusual. She can ‘throw’ her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn’t possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She’s hidden in the shadows in her parents’ inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the light – especially when the queen demands a dangerous favor. A magic mirror, a charming prince, a jealous queen, palace intrigue, and and injured king twine into a maze that Aza must penetrate to save herself and her beloved kingdom.

In One Word: Beautiful

Plot:

It’s official: Gail Carson Levine is a genius at fairytale retellings. In this book she manages to capture the essence of Snow White, but put a modern and relatable spin on it. Her stories are a little darker than your average middle-grade book, but that’s what I like about them, and they’ll never fall in the category of average anyway. I enjoyed every second of reading this, I liked that it has a positive message about how you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover and all, without ever becoming preachy, or making it sound easy to accept yourself fully. I loved the writing, simply because I can’t really remember what the writing was like, I was too wrapped up in the story to take much notice.

Characters:

The characters in this book are incredibly complex and interesting. Our main character, Aza, is extremely relatable (I’m pretty sure everyone’s had those days where they look in the mirror and go: ‘I’m possibly half-ogre’...and were serious about it). I really liked how the author handled the character development with her: she doesn’t end up perfect, or perfectly happy, but it’s okay. I also really liked Prince Ijori, who is probably what every girl should hope for in a guy, without being too unrealistic. The antagonist, queen Ivi, is probably the most interesting of the characters. You don’t know whether to hate or sympathize with her. Overall all the characters are great, they go through significant development without it being too unrealistic and the fairytale characters (ogres, elves etc) are very well handled.

Who should read this:

10+, there’s no objectionable content in this book, and I think it will spread a positive message, so I suggest this for any young girl (or boy). If you’ve read Ella Enchanted and liked it, then I definitely suggest this one (some of the characters from it make an appearance!). If you don’t like childrens’ books, or fairytale-retellings, then don’t read this one. However I feel like this book can appeal to all ages and has a universal message.

My rating:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put it down. I also really liked that, while this could’ve been extremely similar to Ella Enchanted, it wasn’t. I only thought about EE when some of the characters made an appearance. 5/5

Quote:

Voices and faces aren’t manifestations of good or bad.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2

Summary: (WARNING: Possible Spoilers of previous book ahead!)

You can’t tell by looking at me that my dad is Poseidon, God of the Sea.

It’s not easy being a half-blood these days. Even a simple game of dodgeball becomes a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants – and that was only the beginning.

Now Camp Half-Blood is under attack and, unless I can get my hands on the Golden Fleece, the whole camp will be invaded by monsters. Big ones...

In One Word: Fun

Plot:

This book drew me in more than its predecessor, maybe because I now know the characters and start caring for them. I couldn’t put this installment down. It was exciting and funny and just a very entertaining read. I really like Riordan’s easy-going writing style and I think this series is everything a good middle-grade series should be.

Characters:

At first Percy annoyed me a little in this book. I felt like he hadn’t learned anything from his previous adventures and he was just as naive as before everything happened. However, this does change as the book progresses and we see him grow. I still really like Annabeth and in this book I felt like the reader gets to see another side to her, which is always good. Grover’s part in this book was just flat-out hilarious, even though he was in a life-threatening situation for most of it... (Possible spoiler: Luke also makes an appearance, and this time he’s even scarier and meaner than before). The new character ‘Tyson’ is also great and you really start caring for the guy. Overall the characters, both old and new, were very entertaining to read about.

Who should read this:

10+, there really aren't any  inappropriate for younger readers, except if you have a problem with the whole mythology aspect of it. If you’re looking for something fun and easy to read or looking for something for a 10-12-year old boy, then I definitely suggest this. I don’t think adults will love this series, but I do think older kids might.

My rating:

Like I said, I couldn’t put this book down, and I couldn’t guess the ending (for a change), so I really enjoyed reading this book. 4/5

Quote:

“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.” 

The Book Thief

Summary:

While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.

Plot:

Since I already read this book, I can’t really say much about the plot. One of the great things about this movie is that it didn’t chánge or add anything in the story, it only left some parts out (which is completely understandable). The movie isn’t extremely fast-paced, and knowing what happens at the end made it a little boring to watch, but that is only because I already knew the story, not because I thought it was a bad movie. I liked that they kept a little of the narration by ‘Death’, which was one of the things I liked best about the book.

Characters:

I loved the acting, especially the younger actors, they were really great and seemed to understand the essence of the characters very well. Rudy was my favourite character in the book, and I really liked his portrayal in the movie as well. Liesel is a wonderful character, and Hans and Rosa are both interesting and funny. Overall the characters weren’t exactly as I imagined them, but they were very well handled.

Cinematography:

Beautiful. The colours and lighting create mood and atmosphere, and there wasn’t one scene where I didn’t notice how gorgeous the overall look of the movie was.

Who should watch this:

PG-13, obviously, since this is a WW2 movie, there is a lot of violence. The violence is not extremely graphic, but it is intense and quite scary. If you enjoyed the book then I suggest watching this. If you haven’t read the book, don’t watch it quite yet...GO READ IT! RIGHT NOW!

My rating:

I was not sure how people could make a movie out of this book, but somehow they managed it. It wasn’t nearly as good as the book, but it was a really great movie. 5/5