The House of Hades
discussion
Serious overuse of romance in this series?

Like... I personally kind of liked it. It kind of added more personality and urgency and just more color to the story. At s..."
Totally agree with you. The Nico thing, as CassJayTuck stated in her HoH review, "was bad character development". Not because of what he supposedly is, but because it totally contradicts his whole entire character. Nico doesn't seem like one to like anybody in that way, and then, what?
Allison wrote: "Brown wrote: "Zanib wrote: "Technically, you didn't specify which books 'talk down'. As for stories such as Alice in wonderland, well, it may not delve in character personality in the way a larger..."
Agreed.
Agreed.
Llyr wrote: "I'm amazed. Percy Jackson fans who aren't obsessed with relationships. Thank you. In the original Percy Jackson series romance wasn't a problem. A few hints with Percy and Annabeth, but not much mo..."
Pretty much agree with everything you said.
Especially in HoH it felt like the characters' personalities were really sacrificed once they were boyfriend and girlfriend. (Mainly Percy and Annabeth).
They don't do much besides adore each other.
It was better to read about them just plain old doing things without having to hear someone else's (mushy) opinions on the things they did. :/
Mushy opinions that we're supposed to take seriously too. Maybe I DON'T think Percy's face or sense of humor is adorable D: Why does the author always have to bombard us with opinions? One reason I'm not usually a fan of first person.
Maybe "that's just what Annabeth was supposed to think," but... ehh. The fact that we're supposed to take her seriously...
Pretty much agree with everything you said.
Especially in HoH it felt like the characters' personalities were really sacrificed once they were boyfriend and girlfriend. (Mainly Percy and Annabeth).
They don't do much besides adore each other.
It was better to read about them just plain old doing things without having to hear someone else's (mushy) opinions on the things they did. :/
Mushy opinions that we're supposed to take seriously too. Maybe I DON'T think Percy's face or sense of humor is adorable D: Why does the author always have to bombard us with opinions? One reason I'm not usually a fan of first person.
Maybe "that's just what Annabeth was supposed to think," but... ehh. The fact that we're supposed to take her seriously...
Kaylasong1 wrote: "I think it was Riordan's attempt at appeasing the fangirls a little bit.
Like... I personally kind of liked it. It kind of added more personality and urgency and just more color to the story. At s..."
Kaylasong1 wrote: "I think it was Riordan's attempt at appeasing the fangirls a little bit.
Like... I personally kind of liked it. It kind of added more personality and urgency and just more color to the story. At s..."
Yeah, I know what you mean.
It's one thing to take Percy and Annabeth with a grain of salt, but he's really pushing his luck. How many more times can he resort to (cheap) romance as a story arc?
The Nico thing was probably the biggest eye-roller of them all. I can't fathom taking that part seriously no matter how I look at it.
Like... I personally kind of liked it. It kind of added more personality and urgency and just more color to the story. At s..."
Kaylasong1 wrote: "I think it was Riordan's attempt at appeasing the fangirls a little bit.
Like... I personally kind of liked it. It kind of added more personality and urgency and just more color to the story. At s..."
Yeah, I know what you mean.
It's one thing to take Percy and Annabeth with a grain of salt, but he's really pushing his luck. How many more times can he resort to (cheap) romance as a story arc?
The Nico thing was probably the biggest eye-roller of them all. I can't fathom taking that part seriously no matter how I look at it.

Rose wrote: "Haters alert here guys you do not have to be so judgemental about percy. He clearly loved her because he fell into tartarus with her so everyone should stop saying stuff like they "use each other l..."
That's not romantic love.
I guess Percy is just the kind of guy who would let his other friends fall into tartatus then?
That's not romantic love.
I guess Percy is just the kind of guy who would let his other friends fall into tartatus then?

Agree. I mean, I'd go into Tatarus for any one of my friends, not just my crushes. Percy is loyal. I bet that he'd fall into the pit for anybody if he got to them first.
I don't know. I guess I just liked the relationship Percy and Annabeth had before they started "dating". The two awkward best friends.
I also don't think that Hazel/Frank was totally important either, mainly because HAZEL IS THIRTEEN. I mean, it's not like a lot of 13 year olds have boyfriends, and I should know. I'm 13. Only the crazy 13 year olds who act like 17 year olds have boyfriends and date.
Allison wrote: "Brown wrote: "Rose wrote: "Haters alert here guys you do not have to be so judgemental about percy. He clearly loved her because he fell into tartarus with her so everyone should stop saying stuff ..."
Yeah, what they've got is just the same friendship with some physical displays of affection tacked on.
That's not what a commitment is about. (Not that they can consider being in a serious one in their positions anyway).
Yeah... It's one thing to try and justify some of the other relationships, but Hazel and Frank is undeniably shallow. That time and energy could have gone into actual character development, etc.
Yeah, what they've got is just the same friendship with some physical displays of affection tacked on.
That's not what a commitment is about. (Not that they can consider being in a serious one in their positions anyway).
Yeah... It's one thing to try and justify some of the other relationships, but Hazel and Frank is undeniably shallow. That time and energy could have gone into actual character development, etc.


You said it better than I could.
Nano wrote: "I think one of the many reasons I like the first series much more than this one is the romance. It was not a pillar of the story it was extra. A little Percy Annabeth crushing, Rachel envy, Thalia ..."
Well said.
Well said.
Carthya wrote: "Rose wrote: "Haters alert here guys you do not have to be so judgemental about percy. He clearly loved her because he fell into tartarus with her so everyone should stop saying stuff like they "use..."
I do hate the mentality behind it.
I do hate the mentality behind it.

I think rr has just wanted to please people. The add on series itself was an indication of that, and now, he wants to please a more mature audience. I think he feels an obligation to waltz in YA, as most of his readers consider him that.
In order to achieve that, he's just upped the stakes, created too many emotional scenes, and added "diversity" to the books.
The way he's started to create unreal or stereotypical characters, "Drew, the Aphrodite cheerleader, who supposedly has charmspeak during pjo, but was never actually used or touched upon.
A new idea out of nowhere.
Nico, the puzzled young kid who thinks it's a game, loses his only family and faces desperation, finds this kinship in a another kid, who Bianca thought was good enough to leave him with.
Why this new angle?
Greek demigods piper and Leo see a purple shirt, something other demigods couldn't. If the mist could cover everything in pjo, how not in this?
And if the mist can be used against monsters, why not use it in that way?
Don't really get me started on rr, I don't know why, but he seems so much more...fangirl appeasing. Even his blog posts, and twitter, it's just become saddening to read.
He's even made this new app on Percy Jackson, excuse, heroes of Olympus to be precise, and after a few levels, you pay MONEY to do things.
IMO, he should stick to his roots, stuck to his guns, and kept actual suspense, instead of drama."like Luke being the prophecy kid, yes, that is a twist no one could contemplate"

I think rr has just wanted to please people. The add on series itself was an indication of that, and now, he wants to please a more mature audience. I thi..."
YES. YES. YES. YES.
Why can everybody but me say what's on my mind?!?!?!?!?!
In my opinion, I must say that I agree that everything is too perfect and a bit pointless. I think that some of the romance is unnecessary and really just poorly written. However, some parts I do enjoy. I think that Percy and Annabeth are a cute couple.
I do have to say though that I loved PJO because there wasn't fake romance. Now there is and that part of the story makes the books drag more than they should. It is so hard to find a good young adult book that has no corny, annoying romance. When I am in the mood, I have found good romance novels but HoO is not one of them. I just hope that the next book is better about it.
I do have to say though that I loved PJO because there wasn't fake romance. Now there is and that part of the story makes the books drag more than they should. It is so hard to find a good young adult book that has no corny, annoying romance. When I am in the mood, I have found good romance novels but HoO is not one of them. I just hope that the next book is better about it.

^^^^^^My point

Blogger wrote: "I feel like they're getting paired up but there's no real romance like in the shadow hunters or the fault in our stars"
How would you define romance?
How would you define romance?

How would you define romance?"
Jesus Christ! you again?! I'll answer this later
Blogger wrote: "Brown wrote: "Blogger wrote: "I feel like they're getting paired up but there's no real romance like in the shadow hunters or the fault in our stars"
How would you define romance?"
Jesus Christ! ..."
Hey, I started the discussion, I get notifications.
Take your time.
How would you define romance?"
Jesus Christ! ..."
Hey, I started the discussion, I get notifications.
Take your time.

But I've heard that Shadowhunters and Fault in our Stars get fairly physical.
Allison ~God's NOT dead~ wrote: "I don't define romance as anything physical. My perfect romance novel is just cute little pick-up lines and really innocent flirting.
But I've heard that Shadowhunters and Fault in our Stars get f..."
Yeah TMI is pretty Twilight-ish in a few ways.
But I've heard that Shadowhunters and Fault in our Stars get f..."
Yeah TMI is pretty Twilight-ish in a few ways.


I have.
On topic, its romance felt not quite as artificial as HoO, but still worse than PJO. There's the Sadie-Walt-Anubis love triangle (keep in mind the… interesting solution and that the age difference between one of the suitors and Sadie is measured in millennia), and of course that said girl is THIRTEEN! Sixteen I can understand, but thirteen? Even though it's kept PG and doesn't progress beyond kissing, I find the waxing lyrical at that age highly implausible, even more than with 16-year olds.

Chaya wrote: "Have any of you read the Kane Chronicles."
That love triangle was the dumbest thing on earth.
I got though the books, but it was painful. (Listened to them on audio, didn't have anything better to do while I was getting some things done).
Honestly I wanted them to be over. PJ/HoO is admittedly enjoyable (if incredibly dumb sometimes), but this was just bad.
That love triangle was the dumbest thing on earth.
I got though the books, but it was painful. (Listened to them on audio, didn't have anything better to do while I was getting some things done).
Honestly I wanted them to be over. PJ/HoO is admittedly enjoyable (if incredibly dumb sometimes), but this was just bad.

The hunger games, which receive so much popularity, had a very weak love triangle, and an obvious end to the love, and genuine relationships. It had a great story, and didn't follow the norms of the "popular" books, which most of us know.
Tmi, as much as it's famous, never reached the state of hunger games and divergent, and only received popularity due to the abnormal expanding of the series.
And that's the problem with HoO. It follows what the people want. PJO, did not do that, it followed the authors story, and that's why it was famous.
As much as I like the new characters, it feel like the gold of PJO has tarnished done to silver or bronze.

How would you define romance?"
I define romance by well....there are different ways to define romance and I guess that has to do with the age group. Anyway, I feel like they shouldn't have been paired up. Quite frankly I would have preferred annabeth and Percy to flirt with each other, but not date, just like in PJO. I know it's messed up since I was totally rooting for them to get together, but the issue here is that there's no tension anymore. It's gotten pretty boring ever since Hazel and Leo stopped giving each other hot looks (ha lol).

He needs to just get off social media and stop hanging around teenage girls or something...

You see, bullies pair people up, and make fun of them, saying they should hang together, and Piper was against that in the 1st books.
But in SoN, we see Hazel and frank coming under the expectations of others and acrually dating

You see, bullies pair people up, and make fun of the..."
I got the impression that they got together in spite of the comments that would arise, aware that the bullying would likely increase if they dated.

Sadie shouldn't be dating Anubis because he is a god. The whole thing is too stupid.

I know right? Percy like, lives under a rock called Camp Half Blood.

Couldn't they just find a cure for Walt? All Sadie liked about Anubis was his looks. I think Rick Riordan just wanted to make the fans happy with pairing Sadie up.


You're heroine doesn't know which boy to choose. What does she do?
She either:
a- Picks the guy she met second. Show her development throughout the series and make it ..."
That made a lot of sense
Cleopatraselene2 wrote: "Chelsea wrote: "Cleopatraselene2 wrote: "Gabriella wrote: "the thing that bothers me about the kane chronicle love trinagle thing is that the two guys freaking merged into one. it was even predicta..."
Look at it this way: In real life if two people got merged into one, would you really feel right about dating them? Ehhh... Kind of a selfish/jerky move in a lot of ways.
Stupid story is stupid.
Look at it this way: In real life if two people got merged into one, would you really feel right about dating them? Ehhh... Kind of a selfish/jerky move in a lot of ways.
Stupid story is stupid.


I'm not touching on Nico's development though because yes, until now, I am still shocked. That and sort of...
"Seriously, Percy? Annabeth, Rachel, Calypso, arguably Reyna, and now Nico?"
I dunno. Feels forced, somehow. But ditto to the ones before me-- Percy does think way too much about marriage and kids.
Kane Chronicles is another story. Good story as always, but forgettable compared to PJO I think. And don't get me started on Sadie. Congrats, Rick-- you gave me the one female protagonist that comes from a series I love I hate with every fiber of my being.
Well she has her good parts.
But the love triangle... I think everyone else has mentioned it. The merging thing was creepy, selfish, and as a while, it just felt like insta-love.

Chelsea wrote: "Do any of you like Zia?"
She was 100% unnecessary.
She was 100% unnecessary.
Randomfreckles wrote: "Honestly, there isn't that much romance in the series which is nice. I think its just fine"
Not much? In comparison to what? That's pretty sad.
Not much? In comparison to what? That's pretty sad.


Yeah; Although Riordan's romance is rather clichéd, it is on the very clean side of the YA spectrum.
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Can you two stop fighting please? I know it may seem like a "civilized debate" to you, but I'm pretty sure for most people, it's getting to be a really big blowout.
Thanks:)