the blood of olympus by Rick Riordan

62nd book of 2021

Fifth book in the Heroes of Olympus series

Reading period: July 05th 2021 – July 30th 2021

Summary

Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they’re stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake.

The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it “might” be able to stop a war between the two camps.

The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea’s army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.

Rating

Review

How to say that? I am disappointed by this book, and I am sad about it.

I struggle to read the book. It took me nearly the entire month to read it, I wasn’t into it, and I didn’t find it as entertaining as the other books of this series.

The main problem that I had was the construction of the book. It’s the last book of the series, but you don’t have all the pov of the Seven. Two of them are replaced by other characters who are side characters of the prophecy. That’s surprised me a lot; however, in the end, I’m happy to have their side of the story as it was the most entertaining. 

This series wasn’t as quick as the previous one (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), but it didn’t bother until now. I didn’t find that there are a lot of actions regarding the quest. When you start the book, there still are some missing points, and even if the characters search for the solution, it was meh. 

Now, the ending… I didn’t like how the quest finishes; it’s too fast and a little all over the place. This was disturbing as you have a slow pace during the whole book. Then it’s super-fast, like there is not enough time for all the elements hinted throughout the four previous books of the series to take place at the end. The only part that I like was the last chapter. 

Why do I give a three stars rating and not less? Because I was hooked by the quest on the side. I like the characters we are following; I like their encounters and how their quest finishes. If I had a whole book just with that, I would have been happier.

Overall, I can’t believe that I didn’t like this book, but it doesn’t feel like it was a book for the end of a series.

Liz.