Book Review: Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

0 Comments

And I’m back from Rick Riordan’s world of myths and monsters, The Heroes of Olympus series. Well, technically, I was back about two weeks ago, so yeah, this review is a bit late. The holdup, however, is no indication of reluctance to review. Trust me.

Summary: After months of waiting, Annabeth and friends finally arrive at Camp Jupiter, where she reunites with her boyfriend, Percy Jackson. Seaweed Brain at her side, Annabeth hopes to gain the Romans’ support in her quest – and for a while, it seems she may. But because everything has to go wrong, an unfortunate mishap causes a more unfortunate catastrophe, which presents the need for a hasty escape.

It’s a great start on their journey to the ancient lands – the most dangerous place for a demigod – and the various threats hang over her head like the knife on a guillotine. Will the raging Romans get them next? A group of monsters sent by Gaea? Or will they arrive in Rome, one of the ancient lands, only to die by the abnormally large hands of twin giants, Otis and Ephialtes?

As if the gods thought the quest should be a tad more difficult, the other demigods will eventually leave to rescue Nico, son of Hades, the only one who knows the location of the Doors of Death. But Annabeth alone must follow the burning Mark of Athena, even if it leads to her worst nightmare.

Review: 20 billion stars out of 5.

To quote a picture I saw online: “I can’t even... I literally cannot even... I have lost my ability to even... I am so unable to even.”

And that pretty much describes my feelings for this book. Go read it. The end.

But seriously, I cannot begin to describe how awesome The Mark of Athena was. The other books were amazing, no doubt. But this one took “amazing” to an all-new level, a level I didn’t even know existed. The minute I finished, I was dying to read the next. So I’m just glad it’s already out and I don’t have to wait as long as the poor people who attacked The Mark of Athena the second it was in bookstores.

To go into depth though, let’s talk about the plot, which was phenomenal. You’d think an author dealing with five different POVs might slip up once in a while. But not Rick Riordan. The pacing was perfect and the POV changes seamless. I loved how there was life in each and every character; all of them were important and beautifully unique. They each had their own stories to tell and each of them got to in a beyond amazing way.

The character development was one of the areas in which I am still “unable to even.” Thinking back on the Percy Jackson books (which were great, don’t get me wrong), and then seeing how far Annabeth and Percy have come since then... My heart.

It’s just been great to watch as they’ve grown and matured, and you can really see the evidence in this book.

One of my other favorite things was how each character got to “save the day” at least once. And, with the constant action, there were quite a few days to be saved, so I’m glad it was spread around rather than having one character always be perfect and do everything.

The best of all, though, was Annabeth. After six books (seven if you count The Son of Neptune), writing in her POV could’ve turned out disastrous. But it didn’t. I loved finally finding out what was going on in her head, getting that inside glimpse at her insecurities, and all her flaws just made me love her more. Annabeth totally stole the show in this book; the way she comes through at the end is worth reading all by itself. Course, that might be a bit difficult since you wouldn’t understand what was going on...

But anyways.

I could go on and on about the other things I loved: the non-white main characters (I’m not racist but I am black, and ethnic MCs are few and far between, especially in fantasy); the interracial couples (even fewer and farther between); and how much I adore Nico Di Angelo (he’s only actually there for a bit, but man, that poor kid. I just want to wrap him in a heated blanket and give him cookies. I think he’ll be the first in my and my friends’ support group).*

But before I get too carried away, I’ll wrap up the review by saying this: Complete with amazing characters, phenomenal plot twists, and a stunning ending, The Mark of Athena is a must-read for lovers of fantasy (but read the other books first). It’s the best yet from Rick Riordan, and one of the best books I’ve read in a while. I love the way it’s developed, where it’s going, and I seriously cannot wait to get the next one.

If you haven’t read this series, go read it now. Do whatever you have to JUST GET YOUR HANDS ON RICK RIORDAN’S GENIUS!!!

OK, I’mma stop fangirling now. Have you read this series? If not, tell me about the books you’ve read recently.

*See Fact 11 in this post: http://alexaskrywer.blogspot.com/2014/07/liebster-award.html