Sunday, January 12, 2014

Book Review: House of Hades by Rick Riordan (Heroes of Olympus #4)

Note: Review contains spoilers. So does the synopsis. If you have not read this or Mark of Athena, do not read on!

The House of Hades by Rick RiordanThe House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Heroes of Olympus #4
Book Summary: At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

Liana's Summary: Without Percy and Annabeth, their two main players, the rest of the crew believes they are weakened. However, they cannot let that stop them. They have to stop Gaea and her forces to restore order. With the raging war between the Greeks and the Romans, and the monsters emerging from Tartarus, the plan seems a bit difficult to follow. But in the end, who will prevail?

Rate(1-10): 10

Alas, I am finally done. One word: WOW.

I cannot believe that I have become so attached to all these characters. In the beginning, I was just primarily concerned with Percy and Annabeth and the characters that I'd already met, but after this journey with Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Nico, and Frank, I've become attached to all of them.



the rest of the review contains spoilers

At the end of The Mark of Athena, Percy and Annabeth tumble into Tartarus (an ending that left me screaming), and of course Rick starts the book with Hazel's point of view to build up tension, I guess (WHEN EVERYONE IS DYING TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WITH PERCABETH).

Percy: HE NEVER FAILS TO BE MY HERO. But in this book, he and Annabeth are walking through Tartarus, trying to find their way through the Doors of Death in order to get out. In reading this book, I actually realize how selfless he is, because he was about to sacrifice himself in order for Bob and Annabeth to go up the elevator and see the sky. I think he's always been selfless, but I didn't really get a chance to notice because he was always on top, being the leader and never letting his shine and confidence falter. Being in Tartarus really brought out another side of Percy that I found really interesting. That part with the curses, oh my goodness. He was trying to kill them all, even if it meant landing curse after curse upon himself. And the Annabeth going blind thing, believing Percy left her-- oh my god. That part was truly terrifying. Possibly even more terrifying than the Tartarus coming to human form part near the end.

With Bob, Percy had an inevitable self-searching moment where he thought about how Hera wiped his memory, and compared it with what he did to Bob. His defense was that he was trying to protect himself, which he was, but it didn't make him feel any less guilty. The amount of trust he put in Bob to side with them is really amazing and really expresses the power of friendship and the life or death differences it can make.

Annabeth: Annabeth and Percy's relationship really got to show. It brings "love you to death" to a whole new level. It shows how much they're willing to risk for each other-- there were parts where Annabeth was weaker than Percy was, and Percy helped her, never letting her go, and parts where Percy was weaker and needed her help. The way she calls him "Seaweed Brain" when reminding him that they were never supposed to split brings in a comical and sentimental sort of feeling, despite the whole dangerous situation around them.

Leo: Can we just talk about Ogygia. MAN. At first, I did not ship Leo and Calypso, but then a while passed, and it was the cutest shit ever. The KISS. THE KISS. Ogygia changed him, and his friends knew it. (Hell, he got hotter) Many people view Leo as JUST the "comic relief" but no. He's more than that. I have to say that Leo is my favorite freaking character. There was a point, of course, where I got annoyed at his jokes because he constantly made them about people in the group-- I honestly found it more amusing when he joked about their opponents instead of his own.

AND THE SCREWDRIVER THROWING. OH. MY. GOD.

Frank: I've been sympathizing with Frank a lot more. I feel like that's because we got to hear a lot more from him, and he's become one of the major characters instead of a mediocre one. An added bonus-- the blessing of Mars. HELL. YEAH. Hazel can't stop staring. Now he's all muscly. I feel like my favorite part of Frank's POVs was the part when he slaughtered all the cows. Like, Frank, could you get any more awesome? And then Mars shows up. Ah. And then the part near the end when he leads the army and Jason gives up praetor position-- AH.

Jason: I didn't really like Jason. Through this series I've started to see him as a boring and useless character. I mean, he's had some stupid moments, but still-- now I see that he needed some time to find himself. He was trying so hard to take control and assume the position as leader, but he just never succeeded. But I like how he flies. It saves his ass like, all the time.

Hazel: She's a really strong character, and I can tell how much the relationship between her and Frank has strengthened by a lot. He trusted her with his piece of firewood-- his LIFE. And she never let him get hurt. She was there for him whenever he needed her. And vice versa. Like Percy and Annabeth, they'd risk anything to help each other through anything.

Piper: PIPER AND HER CHARMSPEAK. YAAAAAAAAAAS. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS. Piper is awesome. She saves her somewhat-useless boyfriend all the time. I love Piper. That is all. THAT PART ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH THAT RIDICULOUS FEET GUY. Woooooooooo.

Overall, this was an AMAZING read and I cannot wait for the next book! I'm glad nobody died, but I can sense that someone will die in Blood of Olympus..

Quotes!

"Now Percy pulled her close, hugging her tight as they tumbled through absolute darkness."

UGH THE FEELS


"You're bonkers," he managed.


FREAKING LEO I LOVE LEO OMG


"Jason was already on his feet, stumbling and running into things."


Oh my god -facepalm-


"Hey, I've got a sense of humor," 


Hell yeah you do


"They'd all had experiences with angry wind spirits. Jason was the only one who had much luck fighting them."


LOL WHAT JASON IS USEFUL?


"She was wearing red today-- Leo's favorite color. That was completely irrelevant. She looked really good in red. Also irrelevant."


HEHEHEHEHEEHEHHEHEHEHEHE
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Well, that's it, guys. What do you think of this review?


2 comments:

  1. Amazing! Have read all of Rick Riordan's books and recomend them highly.
    If you like this, you might like The Kane Chronicles, also by Mr. Riordan, about the Egyptian gods and goddesses.
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  2. This is such a good book series. This is shorter and meant for young adults but I even enjoy reading this. I am excited to continue reading this series and the spin off series.

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