The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan Review

"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 can't help but compare The Last Olympian to The Blood of Olympus. I can't decide which one is better, but I can tell you that The Blood of Olympus ends on a very high note and I was more than pleased about the ending, the plot, and the book overall. The grief in The Blood of Olympus isn't as strong as The Last Olympian, I'll note.

(Happy ending!)

The allusions, the endless amount of references, to modern society is more humorous. There are the Amazons as the Amazon.com Inc. Of course, we saw them in The Mark of Athena, but I really do enjoy seeing them again. Amazon, Amazon. And Rick Riordan does a great job of referring to things like Medicare (oh, yes, it is pretty hilarious, and I had to stop and put the book down to laugh) to... Well, there are so many good ones that I can't chose between them all.

The Blood of Olympus still has it jokes, but it possesses a darker tone that fits very well. We have two quests. One to send the Athena Parthenos back to the Geeks, I mean, Greeks. The other is to stop Gaia from rising. And yes, I do like it. I never lost track of the plot. I never lost track of the characters. I couldn't stop reading, and I pretty much snapped whenever someone tried to stop me from finishing the chapter. 

I shall point out some of my most favorite characters in this book. Jason, who I also had respect for, is certainly more awesome, though he is no longer quite Roman... A bit complicated, but spoilers, remember? Can't give those away. Leo, the swarny kid, is a bit too trigger happy. I had never seen anyone as eagered to set off grenades as him. (I approve). Plus, we get the more in depth view of Reyna and Nico. Like actual POVs. Yay for that! Finally, I get to see inside those heads and find out what make them tick! 

Plus, I can't decide who is smarter, Annabeth or Piper. 

I love the comedy so much, that I have to mention it again. Poseidon, Athena, Artemis, Apollo... Gods and goddess will always keep on fighting. Even Aphrodite was just... Let's just say that when she fights, she is good and gold.

The book goes by too fast. I was so sorry to see it go until I read the back ad of the book. Gods of Asgard? Seriously, Rick? You've been taking too much interest in mythology and other such stories. However, I do want to see Loki. 

And finally, the happy ending. Yes, it is beautiful. And no, I'm not going to cry. It is tempting, because of how pretty the ending is, but... I really want to see some more Percy Jackson. Oh, well, I guess I might have to settle for fanfic. Percabeth, forever!

Note: I'm definitely a fangirl, because I keep on shipping the weirdest ships. Here are a few examples: Reyna and Orion (where I have no idea where I got that from) and Octavian and the Teddy Bears That No Longer Appear In the Series.

Rating: Five out of Five