The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
Series: The Heroes of Olympus
Genres: Action/Adventure, Young Adult, Kids (Middle Grade), Fiction
Maturity Level: 3
View on Goodreads
Rating: ⋆⋆⋆⋆
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.
I have mixed feelings about The Blood of Olympus.
Compared to House of Hades I actually found it slightly anti-climactic. Possibly the impossibility bar was set too high by House of Hades, and The Blood of Olympus just couldn’t compete. Possibly the happy-go-lucky everybody-wins ending was a slight let down compared to The Last Olympian‘s touching sacrifices. A little bit of tears makes a happy ending seem sweeter. And, honestly, it didn’t keep me guessing the way Riordan’s books usually do. I could pretty much see one step ahead for most of the book.
But, on the other hand, The Blood of Olympus was a great ending. It really re-captured the more light-hearted style of the rest of the series, even with brooding narrators like Nico. The teamwork theme was heartwarming and uplifting. And it was really nice to see all loose ends tied up.
So while I rated The Blood of Olympus a four, mostly because it was a lot of fun, it was not as strong a five as the other books in the Heroes of Olympus series, or the conclusion of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
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