The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan | Review

The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: April 1, 2006
Genre: Middle Grade, Greek Mythology, Adventure, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 279
Source: Purchased
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Goodreads Description

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.

My Thoughts

I'm not sure why I waited so long after I read the first book in the series before picking this up. Not really the best decision I made. However when I started this, I fell right back into the story. I already knew what to expect so I was able to just accept the story for what it was and not try over analyze it. I loved being back with Percy and everyone else, along with some new characters. Almost from the beginning of the book Percy is already getting into some trouble. This is also when Tyson is introduced. I love Tyson! He's so sweet, innocent, and even protective at moments.

As to be expected this book contains another epic adventure. They don't go to as many places as they do in The Lightning Thief but more types of creatures in their world were introduced. Family secrets and a hint of where the rest of this series might be going was also revealed.

There were some situations that I felt like could have been avoided. Different characters made some questionable decisions or didn't really take the time to think things through. I think most, if not all, of those moments had something to with Clarisse. Honestly, I couldn't stop myself from laughing at her though while I internally rolled my eyes through those scenes. Those avoidable moments paired with how long I took to read took away some of my enjoyment of this book.

Old friendships and bonds are tested while new ones were formed. Another great installment in the series and I can't wait until I get to the rest of the series!

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

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: June 1, 2005
Genre: Middle Grade, Greek Mythology, Adventure, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 377
Source: Purchased
First Line: "Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood."
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Goodreads Description

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 Thoughts

I'm usually late joining the bandwagon when it comes to popular series and it was no different when it came to Percy Jackson. To be honest, I didn't know about this series until I started watching booktube. If I had known about it I'm 99% sure I would have read this a long time ago because I have been interested in Greek mythology since I first started learning about it. I heard so many good things about the series but I was a little worried about reading it since I'm almost twice Percy's age. I also saw quick reviews from people closer to my age reading the series for the first time and not liking it as much because the writing was for a younger audience, so that had me a little worried as well.

Despite all that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed The Lightning Thief. I wasn't really sure what to expect going into the series but I got everything I wanted. There was humor and adventure, and some serious situations that I wouldn't have expected to be dealt with in a middle grade novel. I really enjoyed the adventure the main characters were on and there were times that I forgot how young they were, especially Percy. Like any other kid at his age, Percy spends the book trying to find out where he fits in but he has to do it on a much broader level than just trying to fit in with friends.

The first book in this series was amazing. I'm looking forward to discovering more about Percy and the world that he belongs to. I hope the series continues as amazing as it started off.

Top Ten Tuesday #5

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish. Each week there is a topic and we list off our top ten items based on that topic.

This week's theme is Top Ten Author Duos You'd LOVE To See Write A Book Together. However I feel like I haven't read enough different authors to come up with some good answer so I decided to switch it up a bit. My them for this week will be:

11 Popular Authors I Really Want to Read

*Links lead to author's website

Sarah J. Maas - I'm cheating a little on this one since I'm currently reading Throne of Glass. Since I haven't actually finished a book by her I figured it was still alright to add her to the list.

J.K. Rowling - Most people have read at least one thing by J.K. Rowling but I never got around to it.

Rainbow Rowell - I have heard nothing but good things about her work. I previously tried to read Eleanor & Park but at the time I was in a reading slump so I couldn't get into it.

V.E. Schwab - The two series I hear about the most are A Darker Shade of Magic and Vicious. These two series are extremely popular and sound like something I would be interested in reading. I can't wait to read them.

Scott Westerfeld - I have always seen the Uglies series in the library but for some reason I never picked them up. I would like to pick up the series someday but I'm more interested in reading some of his newer work, especially Zeros and Afterworlds.

Rick Riordan - Rick Riordan is a bit of a new discovery for me. If I had known about the Percy Jackson series earlier I think I would have really been a fan since I was really interested in Greek mythology when I was learning about it.

Colleen Hoover - I haven't heard a single bad thing about any of her books. When she has a new book, it seems like everyone has to stop everything and read that book before anything else. I would really like to see what that is all about.

Marie Lu - The Legend Series and The Young Elites!

Cassandra Clare - Although I found it a little hard to get into the first Mortal Instruments book, I have always been really interested in it. There are so many people that enjoy her writing and I would at least like to give it a fair chance before saying if I like it or not.

Brandon Sanderson - I have heard some good things about his writing, mainly the Mistborn trilogy.

Patrick Ness - He has come out with so many books that I have been interested in reading. I can't wait to finally start reading his work.

There are so many other authors I would have loved to add to this list but then it would have gone on forever! What are some other authors I should check out?