Book recommendation: Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan

Have you ever heard about a book or series and just knew, instantly, that you’d love it? And yet, afterward, it took you forever to finally get it? It would be on the back of your mind, but you wouldn’t go out of your way for it. You’d watch for it when shopping, ask for it as a gift, but somehow you couldn’t seem to find it or convince anyone to find it for you.

Up until about two months ago, that was my experience with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan. I wanted to read the books, I was sure I would love them, but it took me years to actually get them.

Once I did get my hands on them… well, needless to say, it didn’t take me long to dive in.

Life isn’t easy for a demi-god–especially one like Percy Jackson. As the son of one of the Big Three Greek gods, Percy has a lot to deal with. There’s his introduction to Camp Half-Blood, which doesn’t go nearly as smoothly as anyone would have hoped. There are other Greek gods to deal with, some of whom want to see him dead. Oh, and there’s the prophecy that says the world’s survival sits on his shoulders. All in all, it’s not the life that Percy had been hoping for.

There were a lot of things I liked about the Percy Jackson series. Riordan’s creativity. The character development. The Greek mythology woven through the modern-day plot. All of the sass.

Most of all, though, I loved the Percabeth. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you this: from the first book to the last, I loved their relationship arc. It developed naturally, and there’s not a thing I would have changed about it.

Oh, and the summary below is for the first novel in the series. I’ll let you click on the link above to see the others.

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Goodreads summary (The Lightning Thief)

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena—Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.