Book Nerds Across America: The Lost Hero

Monday, October 14, 2013

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Flo's Review

I opted not to share the Goodreads book summary because it is spoilery for the previous book in the series, The Mark of Athena. This will be my non-spoilery review of the book, and my full review will be on my Goodreads page.

I have been looking forward to The House of Hades from the moment I put down the last book, which ended in a massive cliffhanger. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the this book was Rick's dedication:

How can you not love an author who will do a dedication like this?!

The House of Hades did not disappoint. This book comes in 3 pages shy of 600, and I read the entire thing in one weekend. I love the action and the pacing in Rick's stories, and this one was once again on point. The characters continued to grow in a realistic way. The theme of this book really seemed to me that you CHOOSE your destiny. From Hazel's crossroads, to Jason's decision, the characters were met with the idea that they had to choose what they felt was right in their hearts.

If you have read the other 3 books in the Heroes of Olympus series, you should definitely, definitely pick this one up sooner than later. I laughed, I cried, I got frustrated, I felt the love -- all the feels. And now for my favorite picture:

Look! It's me and Rick!!

Here are my reviews of the other Heroes of Olympus books:

The Lost Hero

The Son of Neptune

The Mark of Athena

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Greek Week: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

I loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians saga. After I finished reading all five of those books, I picked up the first book in author Rick Riordan's lateast series, The Kane Chronicles. And I didn't like it.

So I had no idea what to expect when coming in to The Lost Hero. In fact, it's been sitting on my TBR (to be read) pile for many months now, and I just now got around to it. Boy am I glad I did! It only took a few pages for me to be immediately immersed and invested back into the world I loved so much in Percy Jackson.

In The Lost Hero, we are introduced to Jason, Piper and Leo at the Wilderness School, which is a school for difficult children. Jason, however, has no memory. He does not know who he is or how he got to the school. Soon enough, the three are taken to Camp Half Blood where they are claimed and sent on a quest.

There were several things I loved about this book. As always, Riordan is a master of writing action scenes that leave you holding your breath and characters that make you laugh and want to give them a hug. Jason, Piper and Leo's adventures were fresh and entertaining, and I loved discovering them as they discovered themselves and what they could do.

I also enjoyed seeing Camp Half Blood from a new perspective. In the Percy Jackson series, we were only able to experience it as Percy did. In The Lost Hero, we learn more about the camp and see it through multiple eyes. I love, love the way characters from Percy Jackson are so well integrated into this new saga! Annabeth, Clarisse, Chrion -- and even those demigods who died got mentions.

Running parallel to the the story of the three new demigods' quest is the story that Percy Jackson is missing. Only at the end do we discover how he disappeared and where he is. This revelation sets up the next book in the Heros of Olympus saga, which you can guarantee I will be picking up as soon as it comes out in October.