The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) in Dumbledore's *Reading* Army

Aug 09, 2020 Domitylle (can only update books rn. sorry) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology, cyoa-2020-challenge, 5-stars, botms, i-own, favs

(All three ratings: 5 stars)
-Review of the last read:

"I didn't want to be a half-blood"

Best series ever!
You should definitely read this book! It really is worth the hype!

"If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself"

Plot~
Percy Jackson is a young 'troubled' teenager who has been in 6 different school in six years. As he gets kicked out of his school - again -, he is embarked to a new place called Camp Half-Blood, a secret camp which is for people like him. Hyperactive ...more

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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

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Jan 24, 2021 Aleena rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-mg

Read my first Rick Riordan book ever! I think I might have picked this up years ago, around the time the (awful) first movie came out, but don't ever remember finishing it.

The Lightning Thief follows Percy Jackson as he discovers he is a demigod. Someone has implicated him in a crime involving stealing Zeus' lightening bolt and he goes on a quest with his friends Annabeth and Grover to retrieve the bolt.

The strongest aspect was definitely the characters, especially Percy. I've seen this series b ...more

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