Ami's Hoard

*~*~*~ WARNING: VERY SPOILER-Y OPINION: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED *~*~*~*

Another warning, this might be a squee session instead of review. And it is long. Apologize in advance.

I consider myself one of the 'lucky' readers when it comes to Rick Riordan's "The Olympians" related series. Why? Because I had only come to it this year. Meaning that I didn't need YEARS to get to this book, which I was certain happened with other readers. Yes, I did read The Lightning Thief back in 2010 after the movie was out, but I didn't read the following books until January this year, when I was in the mood for YA series.

And I was impressed with these characters, more so in Heroes of Olympus and I LOVED each and every one of them. So I devoured those books and waiting for the release of this one, much like other Riordan's fans, and this was one of my most-awaiting books this year.

Was it satisfying?!?

YOU BET MY A$$ IT WAS!! DIDN'T YOU SEE MY FIVE-GLITTERY SHINING STARS THERE?!?!



Okay, so the seven demigods (Jason, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and Leo) aboard their Argo II must conquer enemies (giants, werewolves, their own fears) in order to stop Gaia from rising. Meanwhile, Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge have their own important mission of carrying Athena Parthenos back to Long Island to stop another brewing war between Camp Half-Blood and Camp-Jupiter, which is led by ambitiously insane Octavian. They have 12-days to do so, because the showdown (Gaia’s wake and Octavian leading the Romans to attack the Greeks) which is planned on the Ancient Feast of Hope, on August 1.

Since both missions were equally important, I could understand why this time some of these demigods ended up having their voices in the backseat. We didn’t have any chapters from Percy, Annabeth, Frank, or Hazel in this book. Instead, the spotlight was given to Reyna and Nico as they fight their own mission. While my little heart might be protesting but on the other hand I thought those four demigods (Percy, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel) were probably the MOST stable characters entering this book. After their trial in Tartarus, Percy and Annabeth were stronger and ever. While Frank and Hazel had also embraced their power and role in the team. The four of them were the stronger unit … and in that sense their time to shine was complete.

This book was so full of action … it was fast-paced in the most enjoyable constructed chapters ever, that I couldn’t count on how many times I muttered “f*ck, sh*t, wow!” during my hours of reading. Rick Riordan was a master of developing the plot and the fight and the journey and the internal struggles and the victory for these characters that I was wholeheartedly charmed with it. The story didn’t slow down, even during the tender/friendship moments, and all those 500+ pages felt like it was flying.

In addition to the pace, I thought character development was also amazingly well-written. Thinking back from where the story started, all the way in the beginning when a boy named Jason found himself losing his memory, and the start of this journey between the seven demigods, all of them had been progressively growing WITHOUT losing each of their unique identities. Considering that there was quite an amount of characters (from the seven core demigods involved in the prophecy, then other important characters like Nico, Reyna, Coach Hedge, even the gods like Hades, Apollo, Hera, Aphrodite, AND the enemies) but I felt that their voices were ALWAYS distinct! Like, I knew that Jason would be the one about fairness, Leo would be the one offering humor, Piper would be the one with emotion, Nico would be the one with this deep angst, and so on. Their chapters were never similar and this was truly, absolutely brilliant on Rick Riordan’s part.

Jason: I always felt that he was the most level-headed from all of them. He didn’t impress me much from the previous books (I loved Percy way better), I thought he was rather bland … but then Jason became the keeper of Nico’s secret, and in this book he was able to negotiate his way through when Percy and himself were facing Kymopoleia. I loved his sense of fairness and I thought his new role as Pontifex Maximus to make sure that every gods and goddesses got their share of worship and being remembered by all just fit with him perfectly.

Piper: It was amazing how Piper grew up from lacking of confidence for a daughter of Aphrodite to own her charm-speak power like so. I always thought that if Annabeth was the planner, the brain, the one with rational thinking of the team (since she was the daughter of Athena), Piper was the heart of the team. I loved how she didn’t fight her feeling … and the way she fight her way through the Temple of Fear by depending on her emotional part rather than her rational part.

Leo: GAH LEO! The mechanic, the joker, what would demigods do without him?!? He was FANTASTIC!! I was saving my thoughts for him in the end, when I would be talking about that ending. But yes, Leo completely won me over (I was a bit tired with his antics during the previous book). One thing for sure, Leo kept his promise. Always.

Reyna: I was so happy that she finally had her own chapters in this book. What could I say, my heart went out so badly for Reyna – she had her heart for Jason back in Camp Jupiter, only to realize that Jason didn’t think of her that way, and then of course, he had to fall for a Greek. Not to mention that Reyna kept getting challenges from such like Octavian. It must be hard to be the Roman praetor, having to be responsible for all those Romans. She showed her amazing strength in this book, despite the secret past (I was happy to finally found out what it was) and her fear of not getting someone to love. She was admirable and I thought she was a great leader.

Nico: Oh, my Nico *HUGS THIS HADES KID*. I LOVED HIM SO FRICKIN’ MUCH!! Nico always had this darkness and angst in him, he always felt that he didn’t really belong (being the kid from decades ago, by the way), as the son of Hades. He had endured SO MANY THINGS, including losing his sister (which made me feel so happy for Reyna being all sisterly to Nico in this book), having a deep crush to a man who wouldn’t thought the same way, feeling humiliated when Cupid pressed for this secret… But man, when Nico faced Bryce Lawrence, he was incredible. I LOVED his part with Hades…. AND OMG, HIM AND WILL SOLACE!! I was in total squee moment during the Will and Nico’s interaction. Seriously, can’t it be any more perfect than the son of Apollo and the son of Hades?!? I was just so happy for Nico!

And that ending, Mr. Riordan?!? OMFG!! Yes, I had a sense it would happen. YES, you gave clues and it drove that foreboding sense that Leo would be the one sacrificing himself for the cause because it was NEEDED to be done … and YES, you gave a way out with these demigods finding the physician’s cure, but HECK, I still thought the ending was TRIUMPHANTLY EXECUTED!! Leo was BAMF and then he found his way back to Calypso. AND OMG IT WAS SO GRATIFYING.