Book Review: The Sea of Monsters

Hi everyone! I know this is my second post of the day but it’s because I missed my post yesterday (I had it drafted but don’t use WordPress scheduling and forgot to post it myself /:). I didn’t want to mess up my whole week of posting so… here’s my review for The Sea of Monsters!

Synopsis

The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan’s amazing young readers series. Starring Percy Jackson, a “half blood” whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan’s series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment.

In this episode, The Sea of Monsters, Percy sets out to retrieve the Golden Fleece before his summer camp is destroyed, surpassing the first book’s drama and setting the stage for more thrills to come.

My review

Rating: 4.5 stars

(Some spoilers ahead)

The Sea of Monsters picks up about a little less than a year from when the first book ended. Personally, I hated that so much time had passed (and Percy had miraculously avoided any monster sightings) but I know that Rick Riordan wanted Percy’s age to really jump throughout this series (we’ve got a prophecy to get to people!!). It immediately started off with some excitement, and I was pulled back into the Olympian’s world.

I don’t have a ton to say about this book because it was a super quick read. We got a new character whom I loved (Tyson!!!) but I hated how Percy was so ashamed after he find out that they were brothers. Even before it was revealed that they were both sons of Poseidon, Tyson was a great and loyal friend to Percy. Why suddenly be ashamed of him just because he’s a cyclops? Of course, these are prepubescent kids who haven’t really learned yet that it’s not the appearance that matters, and Percy does change his tune later, so I won’t hold it against him… much.

The plot was great but not quite as fun as the first in my opinion. I mean, it was still super fun, and you’ll notice I only went down .25 stars, so it was still an awesome book. Honestly, reading any type of mythological magical realism is a blast for me. I loved it, just not as much as the first.

It was very quickly paced and if I had to describe it in one word, I think I’d use… adventurous. I can’t imagine being a 13 year old doing what these half-bloods are doing. My mom hardly let me go to the mall with my friends without supervision, much less travel to the Bermuda Triangle and battle a cyclops.

Overall, the best way to describe it is fun. There’s a lot of mythological creatures introduced but besides Tyson, the main cast stays the same (Percy, Grover, and Annabeth). It’ll be an insanely fast read and you’ll be immediately aching to pick up the next!!

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