Review Friday
The Lost Hero
Summary
Jason wakes up not remembering who he is, where he is, or how he got there. Unfortunately, the monsters chasing him aren't very considerate of his amnesia. He and his new friends Piper and Leo are soon drawn into a world of Ancient Greek gods and beasts of legend. They seek refuge at Camp Half Blood where they discover their godly parents and meet others like them. But the oldest and darkest power is rising, and even the heroes of Camp Half Blood won't be enough to fend it off. Could Jason be the key to finding the help they need or will he be the instigator of war?
Overview (No Spoilers)
I LOVED this book! It has a slightly more serious tone than the Percy Jackson series. In some ways I thought of it as American Gods for kids except a whole lot less depressing! This is not just because it's about gods but because it's about how gods need people. There's still plenty of humor, however, and it's just as action-packed as all of Riordan's previous books. My sister likes to say they're about to die on every page, and I'd have to agree with her. I also loved all of the characters almost instantly which is pretty rare for me with any book. For an amnesiac Jason is quite interesting. Probably helps that he has fragmentary memory and that even the reader doesn't know who he was before, so we're not shouting at him the whole time to stop being so stupid. We want to discover his past as much as him and are just as baffled by it.
I also loved both Piper and Leo, which I'll go into more in the spoiler's section. But it's not a spoiler to say that Leo reminded me a bit of Marco, my favorite character from the Animorphs (another excellent YA series). They're both, small, funny, and snarky with troubled pasts that make you just want to hug them, and they're both overshadowed a bit by their best friends, but they still transcend the average role of sidekick to be heroes in their own right. It also helps that the story is told from all three points of view. That's also probably what made it so long but hard to mind the length when it's such a page-turner. The chemistry among the three heroes as also so much fun to read! They're the perfect ensemble.
9/10 Stars * * * * * * * * *
Book Club (Spoilers)
One star deducted because he suggested a love-triangle at the end, and I am firmly team Piper. But the jury's still out on that. Riordan has written one of the few, if not only, tolerable love triangles before. He may yet do it again.
It was great that Leo was actually the only one of the three whose godly parent I guessed before they got to Camp Half Blood. In the Percy Jackson books I could pretty much always guess so he's getting better at being mysterious even if you do know the gods. Even though Jason showed he could fly early on that didn't tip me off that his father was Zeus because Thalia never showed any ability (or inclination) at flight. The lightning didn't tip me off either first because I wasn't even thinking Zeus would have another kid since he'd promised not to. Silly me. I even thought it was possible Jason didn't have a godly parent because of all the Roman stuff which baffled me pretty much until the end of the book and it's all still pretty mysterious. I thought he might be something other than a half-blood but clearly I was wrong about that.
I thought it might be Piper's dad who was the god after all because I couldn't think of anyone who fit her ability to talk people into things except for Hermes. But again I was stunned to find her mother was Aphrodite! Yet it made perfect sense even though Piper's the farthest from what one would expect of a child of Aphrodite. Even her beauty didn't tip me off since it was sch a natural beauty and you do always think about magic causing unnatural beauty (like Barbie girl beauty). I loved what he did with this fact, too, showing an entirely more formidable and admirable side to Aphrodite's powers.
I also loved that she had named her zit Bob.
Riordan's use of actual facts are very satisfying as well. I loved that when I looked up Jack London and Wolf House all the things Riordan said were actually true, or even better, were real life mysteries that are solved in his fantasy world. London, for instance, grew up thinking that a man named William Chaney was his father, but when he wrote to Chaney as an adult, the man vehemently denied the relation. Now, in the real world Chaney's accusation that London's mother slept around was either true or he was a deadbeat (or both). But it's more fun to think that London actually was the son of Mercury.
I didn't quite believe they would leave the burnt ruins of London's house on a national park but that's true too!
I liked the end of this book a lot but, of course, this is going to be a whole series so I'm not sure about the second one. On one hand I hadn't even guessed Percy might be with the Romans until the end which is another one of those impressively obvious things. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to an amnesiac Percy since that could get annoying. But if anyone can do it well, it would be Riordan.
Best Teen Book: Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I think this was easily John Green's best book with both humor and meaning--teaching us the importance of friendship.
Best Young Adult Fantasy Books: I was sure I reviewed I Shall Wear Midnight but cannot seem to find the review anywhere! My favorite Tiffany book is still Wee Free Men, but this is still Pratchett, and thus, still wonderful and Tiffany really becomes a woman and a witch in this book.
The Goblin Gate is another fabulous book I didn't review. I think what happened is I got these both as advanced readers copies at the ALA Conference and didn't feel right reviewing them until they actually came out and other peoople had a chance to read them. But in doing this, I forgot to review them completely! However, I do remember this is a fun, fast paced book with interesting ethical questions about survival. I eagerly await the sequel, The Goblin War.
The Lost Hero was easily the best Rick Riordan book I've read so far, and that's saying a lot because I really loved his other books. I did review this one. Just click title for the link.
Best Adult Book: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Tangled
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
