Sunday, January 19, 2014

Review: The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Title: The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4)
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: Yes
Finished or ARC: Finished
Source: Bought from Amazon.com

Goodreads: At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

Review
To me, the Percy Jackson series and the Hereoes of Olympus are one of those series that if you love it, you love it. It's not a YA book that we normally think of: one hero, love interest with some forbidden love triangle or something, and one evil villain. Instead, these two series revolve around several characters (and Percy) and different couples and several evil villains. Great series all around. And I happen to be one of the people on the world that love this series. 

This book.........Holy freaking crap. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. One thing I love to point out is that unlike most YA novels, this series has several authors. I don't really like third person POV, but Rick Riordan does a great job using it. I love getting each character's perspective on the story/plot, even if I really wish I could know every character's thoughts on each scene (what a long book that would be). As much as I wish the story was told from only Percy's POV like in the first series, I do like all the characters narrating.

In all of his books that I have read (which is just the ones with Percy in them), Rick Riordan brings his own humor to the story, which makes getting through one of his books without a laugh very hard to do. I was surprised that this book didn't have as much funny jokes and humor as his other ones. Maybe it was because this book was a bit more serious than the others; given that Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus (which was cruel) and Frank, Leo, Jason, and Piper are trying to reach the House of Hades to close the Doors of Death, with Nico's help. As much as seriousness is good for a book with so much suspense, I did miss some of the funniness Riordan brings to his books.

Characters:
I have to say, this is the one book I think most of the characters really revealed their true selves. Frank, we know, has been uncomfortable with himself, not only being the son of Mars, but also in his awkward shape and the fact Leo keeps teasing him. In the HOH, he grows out of all of this and comes to accept himself even more. Leo, who left a little left out given that he is the only one of the seven without a girlfriend, expresses this and I came to the conclusion that he teased Frank and was a joker because he felt that was the only way he would be noticed for something other than his awesome mechanical skills. I was really happy that he met Calypso, but really upset that the gods hadn't let her go yet. 

Frank and Leo are just a few examples of revelations. The biggest one to me was Nico. This is the first time we really see him for him. He lashes out at Cupid, who provokes him into revealing his big secret. It is shocking to learn this secret. I'm not going to say what it is since it is a big spoiler, but I will say this: if you look at the whole series, you wouldn't think of it at all. Many books these days have some of this issue (think of Glee when you are wonder what it is) and oddly, I would have never thought Riordan would have put it in his series. It's not that I think he's against this issue (I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone; I can't think of any other word for it without revealing the secret or sounding really, really rude), but it was just a surprise. But then again, a chapter earlier kind of hinted to it, which I wasn't smart enough to pick up on, but still, it was a shock. But I still love Nico. By far, he is one of the strongest characters of the series; not by strength and brute force, but by character in himself.

Romance:
What I love best about these books is that the love dovy stuff isn't overwhelming stupid and cheesy. It is the love you would expect two teenagers to experience as their first girlfriend/boyfriend. Of course, I love Percabeth all the way, but Jasper (Jason and Piper) and Frazel (Frank and Hazel) are good too. Hopefully Riordan doesn't screw it up and forget about Calypso. I love them together. I think their couple name is Caleo.

Ending:
I'm happy it ending the way it did, but I'm sad that Bob died and that Octavian is a horrible ^@*$^#)@ face. He's too power hungry. I really don't like him. I kinda hope he does get shot out of a cannon by Frank and Reyna. I can't wait for the last book, The Blood of Olympus, which I hope doesn't mean a main character dies. 


Rating & Cover:
The Big Kahuna



Monday, January 13, 2014

Mini Reviews #7: The Clockwork Princess


Title: The Clockwork Princes (The Infernal Devices #3)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Yes
Finish or ARC: finish
Source: Bought
Rating: Big Kahuna (greater than 5 starfish)

Goodreads: Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy – aren't all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. 

A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her. 

Review:

I don't need to tell you how much this book was loved by practically everyone. I don't need to tell you how awesome the plot and the characters are. This book was great period.

Except for one thing.

WHen you come to teh end of a series, it's sad. It's even sadder when one of the main characters dies because of old age. I mean, the ending was so heart-wrenching that I cried-happy and sad tears. Usually I don't cry for much. I don't like to. But my Lord, this author made the ending so emotion that I couldn't help it. I might be exaggerating, but I can't express my feelings any other way.

I'm not sure how I feel about the end though. It was wonderfully sweet, but because I rooted fro Will the whole series, it was a little shocking and I felt the part of me that loved Will go all sad and depressed. I will say one thing though: I want to go to the bridge and have a relationship like Will's and Tessa's. Maybe even one like Jem's and Tessa's too. 

Mini Reviews #6: The Avery Shaw Experiment


Title: The Avery Shaw Experiment
Author: Kelly Oram
Series: No
Finished or ARC: e-book, finished
Source: Bought on Amazon.com
Rating: 5 starfish

Goodreads: When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically. 

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.

Review: 

Funny. That is the first thing you need to know about this book. It is funny. I was laughing through the whole things (except at the part where Aiden was being a jerk!). The concept of the book, trying to get over a broken heart through science, is hilarious and interesting. The seven stages of grief-go through them to cure a broken heart. At first, I thought the idea of stupid given that Avery never had a boyfriend, but after reading about her, it made sense.

The plot itself is great.Only a true nerd would think to use her heartache as a science project. I loved that her partner was a jock, but a fun loving one. Not a mean, "I'm only hear because I'm failing" jock. Avery's and Grayson's relationship through the whole was a comedy but very sweet. While they did this project, both Avery and Grayson learned much about themselves. Avery comes to understand that she doesn't always have to shy away. Grayson learned that he was indeed, very smart and just had to apply himself.

This book is a definite read for anyone looking for a quick and fun read.


The poorest excuse for why I haven't blogged all Winter Break + 1 question


The answer: I'm lazy and not very motivated. I have to say, college takes a lot out of a person. Even though it was most Gen. Eds, my classes were very demanding. So, what do I do when I get home? I SLEEP! A lot.

Yeah, it a stupid excuse. I have at least three reviews that never were posted from last summer, and I just finished one book so I need to review that. I'm so lazy. I have been contemplating on whether or not just to stop blogging and just go back to just reading, but then I thought, nah! Sure, I'm not like the other major blogs that can post everyday and put up giveaway after giveaway, but I'm fine with that. Would I like to be like them? Hell yeah. Will I be? Possibly. Soon? No.

I'm guess is that since most of the big, high powered blogs' bloggers are women/men with a routine schedule, they have a set time to read, blog, read, etc. Me? Not so much. Given that I also procrastinate too much, there is a big doubt that I will ever had a routine schedule. Oh well. Post as I go.

I have one more thing before I post reviews that should have been posted last year. In my bookstore, I've changed the list of what is up for grabs and the price. Instead of paying the for the books, just pay for the shipping. I'll probably repost this again later just to get it out there one more time.

Oh, I here's my question:

Don't you think it's ridiculous that Barnes N' Noble doesn't have a Black Friday/Cyber Monday/After Christmas sale on ALL products? I think it's stupid. Only the ones with a red dot are on sale, but those are the books most people don't really, really want. Seriously! What do you think?