Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan

2015 Reading Challenge

7. A book that became a movie: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and The Olympians #1)

I've been meaning to start this series of books since I became aware of them, when the movie came. I always like to read the book first so I still haven't seen the movie but now I can since I've finally finished the book. I've loved Greek mythology for a really long time, it's probably a huge reason why I wanted to study archaeology. Though admittedly I never continued with Classics after first year at University. I liked Classics but I couldn't fit it in and I prefer and was better at History. So because of my love of mythology I was really looking forward to some fictional books on it. Especially since I knew they were highly recommended. Helen had the first three books so added them to my pile of books from her. So expect a review for those two soon because I freaking love this series.

The Lightning Thief is based around 12 year old Percy Jackson. He is dyslexic and unintentionally a troublemaker, who has been expelled from six schools. He tries to do his best but things always seem to go wrong. Things get worse when he accidentally vaporises his maths teacher. He then discovers he is a Half-blood, a child of a God and human, which explains all the problems he has at school. Percy is sent to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for Half-blood children to spend their summer. Percy begins to train as a hero but then is thrust into a quest with two of his friends to find Zeus' lightning bolt that was stolen from him to prevent a war between the gods.

I was a little bit surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. I mean it is meant for children aged 9 and up but I loved it. I think it has similar qualities to Harry Potter where it is written for children and young adults but adults can still enjoy it. I also realised I don't usually read books where the protagonist is a male but like Harry Potter I still really loved it. I found Annabeth, Percy's friend to be very similar to Hermione. She is the daughter of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, War and Useful Arts. Annabeth is brilliantly clever and really skilled at fighting like Hermione. But unlike her, Annabeth is really creative and wants to be a architect. I enjoyed their similarities because Hermione is such an awesome character and more people should be like her.

I loved the references in  this book. The mythological references were perfect. Though admittedly, because I'm such a mythology nerd; I found myself correcting it ever so slightly. They may not have been incorrect, I may have just remembered them wrong or they were just interpreted differently. But the small inaccuracies I found, didn't bother me, I still was really pleased with it. I loved the Hilary Duff references because they were hilarious and because I love her. She was one of my idols growing up and still remains one. Though admittedly it is more in a more ironic sense now. I was surprised that there was a Barry Gibb reference. I assume it was put there for the parents or adults who read because I imagine there would be few children who know who he is. But I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The plot was written really well by Riordan. The pace was great, I didn't want to put my book down. Though I felt like Percy was sent on his quest really quickly considering he only just got to the camp but that kept the story moving so I understand why they did it. I found the story really funny too. The only negative I felt was because of my age. I just found it strange that it's normal to send a 12 year out on a dangerous quest, half-blood or not. But that is the way of children and young adults books. I'm just old enough now that it seems a little ridiculous. I'm going to give this book a 4.5 out 5 stars. I highly recommend this book especially to anyone who liked Harry Potter and mythology.

Thanks for reading.

Jenny