This is written for children and so, as an adult coming into this series, the writing took a second to get used to. The beginning was quite jarring for me as well, as I didn’t really think it felt natural for a child to be reacting to these traumatic situations as he was. After the novel got going, I do think the writing found its stride.

Turns out, I love retellings of Greek mythology. While I personally found some of the characters a bit stereotypical and bland, many of the characters, especially the ones from Greek mythology, were wonderfully reimagined. I appreciated the attention to detail with the Greek gods and the fact that Riordan wasn’t scared to have fun with how they appeared to the characters, as well as how they had grown throughout the centuries. 

Zeus blaming his brothers for a lost lightning bolt, threatening a young hero, and refusing to help him get the bolt back? Yeah, that’s pretty fun. I would have loved this as a child and honestly kind of dug it as an adult. I did love the appearances and references to various gods and how their stories played into the overarching plot. 

Can’t wait to read the next one.