★★★★★—The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

"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." (Goodreads) (Read Oct. 10-11, 2014. Reviewed Oct. 26 2014.)

My Review

★★★★★

Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson was a huge part of my childhood. I started reading The Lightning Thief in 6th or 7th grade, and loved every minute of it. The Battle of the Labyrinth cover provided centerpieces for my bat mitzvah tables. It was only right to see Percy and the gang through until the end. Blood of Olympus was a very satisfying ending to a wonderful series. I was terrified for it, but then I was relieved when I finally made it to the end. **SPOILER** [I knew Leo survived when Festus blew up. I knew it. That physician's cure wasn't going to go to waste. Rick may have said not all of them would survive, and he was right, but Leo was resurrected which was fantastic and just yay Leo.] I also thought that **SPOILER** [Gaea was beaten WAY too quickly.] I remember in PJATO, Kronos was resurrected at the end of book 4, so they had to spend all of book 5 figuring out a way to beat him. This wasn't the case in BoO, which I found... a bit anticlimactic I guess? And some parts of the book seemed a bit rushed. But those are my only qualms. Otherwise it was such a nice ending. The character development. I loved the character development. Percy: **SPOILER** [FINALLY you say I love you!] Jason: You grew up so nicely, sweetie! Piper: Yeah, honey, you kick ass! Annabeth: Yay girl friendships! Leo: LEO. Frank: Not enough Frank, but he had his growth in the last book. He seems more confident now, so yay! Hazel: Also not enough Hazel kicking ass. But I do love Hazel. Reyna: BACKSTORY. FINALLY. Love that girl. She's just fantastic. I'd read a book from her perspective. Nico: Best for last. NI.CO.DI.AN.GE.LO. I love this child. He's just... He's so burdened and feels so alone and now he's ACCEPTED and I love him to pieces. I want, like, a whole series from his point of view. Please. Thanks. I was happy to see the Seaweed Brain/Wise Girl exchange again. :') I missed that. Percy and Jason calling each other Bro. That made me smile. Asclepius' acronyms. MD. PHD. LOL. DDS. BAMF. Thank you for the years of magic, Rick. I look forward to Magnus Chase.

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