From the Bookshelf of Dumbledore's Reading Army…

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)

Rick Riordan

Start date: January 1, 2021

Finish date: January 31, 2021

Why we're reading this: Won the poll for mythology BOTM
[close] Won the poll for mythology BOTM

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Aug 01, 2020 Aarushi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-series

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I finally read the famous Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 1: The Lightning Thief. And now I have some opinions on this.
On one hand, I want to give it four stars. On another hand, I want to give it five stars.
In terms of world-building, I would give it 5 stars purely based on the mythology scenes in the Lightning Thief. Riordan actually did such a wonderful job of incorporating the mythology in this book, and making it interesting not only for adults, but for middle-grade especially, teach I finally read the famous Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 1: The Lightning Thief. And now I have some opinions on this.
On one hand, I want to give it four stars. On another hand, I want to give it five stars.
In terms of world-building, I would give it 5 stars purely based on the mythology scenes in the Lightning Thief. Riordan actually did such a wonderful job of incorporating the mythology in this book, and making it interesting not only for adults, but for middle-grade especially, teaching the younger audience about Greek mythology. I, for one, am not a huge fan of mythology in general in my books, but Riordan put it in so that you want to know more. I can't wait to read the Sea of Monsters and continue reading and going into this world. There's a reason why Rick Riordan is dubbed "the storyteller of the gods".
On another hand, the tropes would get four stars. It's not that this book is uninteresting due to the recycling of tropes like in other middle-grade and YA fiction; it's that it still does recycle tropes but not so much that it sucked because of it. Of course, the mythology and other aspects are really unique in this, but things like the adventure Percy, Annabeth, and Grover went on was very similar to other adventure books. I get, though, that you can't really make a book like this completely different, or else it wouldn't work together.
Now, characters. Did I love the characters? Yes! Percy was a funny, brave, and nice main character to read about. I really enjoyed him, and am excited to continue his story. I loved Annabelle just as much as I loved Percy though: she gave me major Hermione Granger vibes (and as it is, Hermione Granger is my favorite literary character of all time) which really made me happy. Annabelle's awesome, and I'm really excited to read more about her story, just like Percy. The side characters, like Grover and Chiren and Sally Jackson and so on didn't make much of an impact on me, but I'm hoping we get some new Heroes along with Percy and Annabeth in the coming books. The gods were some of my favorite parts of the story, though; they were actually hilarious and I loved both learning and reading about them.
For plot, I would give five stars straightaway. It was interesting and honestly, never boring. I could kind of tell beforehand about some of the plot twists, like Luke being the friend who will betray Percy, but some plot twists I was very shocked about, like Ares being a bad guy. I loved the plot though: it was as interesting as Harry Potter or City of Bones.

I could go on about my opinions about Percy Jackson, but I would say this: I get why it's a middle-grade classic. I honestly did love this book as much, and it definitely lived up to the hype for me. Can't wait to read Sea of Monsters!

5 stars! :) ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2020 Nancy rated it really liked it

Ok overall, an AMAZING book!! However, it was realllly similar to Harry Potter. But I guess that not a bad thing. :)

9 likes · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2020 Carissa rated it it was amazing

These books, just like Harry Potter, will never get old. They will just always be great. And there's no way any one could change my mind. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2019 daylan(its ya boy dayz in the hood) added it

Shelves: book-im-going-to-read-next

it was good
also i encourage yall to read it also

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2020 Yogaa Lakshmi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, greek-mythology

Great book with the right amount of humour, suspense and action. I was not able to stop reading the book until I finished the whole book. You be able to understand that much at first (if you are new to Greek mythology), but as the book goes on, you will be able to understand Greek mythology. Overall, its a great book which I would highly recommend to everyone.

Like · see review