The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have little memory of The Lightning Thief that hit theaters some odd years ago. Maybe it was because I went on Valentine's Day with my two bff's and discovered families with literally nothing else to do on that day packing the theater out so we couldn't sit together. But, for whatever reason, it irked me, so I really didn't enjoy myself. Which is a shame because, having just finished the book for the first time, I LOVE the story!
I struggle with first person writers a lot of the time. Some books take you too deeply into the character's psyche and others don't give you enough. I'd say Rick Riordan gave the audience just enough with his development of Percy Jackson, demi-god. Percy is a mischievous, personable character from the very beginning. He sticks his neck out to defend others which immediately places him in the hero category which, duh, only makes sense since he is a demi-god and they're sort of known as heroes.
In this first book of Riordan's series, the reader follows Percy through his realization that he is a demi-god, to his training at Camp Half-Blood and then through his quest to recover the master bolt that has been stolen from his Uncle Zeus. The adventure is a blast from start to finish. Riordan incorporates classic mythological characters into the modern setting, and he does it flawlessly. Because the book is from Percy's perspective, his quirky sense of humor permeates every word, making Percy's discoveries all that more fun and engaging for the readership.
Now, I haven't been a kid in, oh, quite a long while, although not as long as some. But I still couldn't put the book down! When I had to do something else, like go to work or fix supper, it was killing me to not know what was happening to Percy and his friends. It's a fun read, more fun than I expected, and kids who have already been introduced to magic through the wonderful world of Harry Potter are going to LOVE the stories of Percy Jackson. I'm about ankle-deep in the sequel, The Sea of Monsters and huffed just a little because I had to put it down so I could write this review. Ah, the trials of a ravenous book reader!
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