Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Review: The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3)
Title: The Mark of Athena

Series: The Heroes of Olympus #3

Previous books in this series: The Lost Hero (#1) | The Son of Neptune (#2)

Author: Rick Riordan

Publication date: October 2012

Published by: Disney Hyperion

Source: Own Hardcover

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis:

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare...

My rating: ★★★★★

Oh this book... You all know how much I love Greek mythology and that Rick Riordan is one of my most favorite authors ever, right? Well, The Mark of Athena was just as amazing as his other books!

The Mark of Athena is told in the POVs of Piper, Leo (Yay, Leo!), Annabeth, and Percy and it picks up right where The Son of Neptune left off. Jason, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth head over to Camp Jupiter on the Argo II to work out some sort of peace treaty with the Romans in order to fight and defeat Gaea and the giants. Except things don't go quite as expected. Percy and Annabeth are finally reunited (yay!) but things take a turn for the worst from there. After an attack on the camp, Jason, Leo, Piper, Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, and Frank flee on the Argo II and make their way overseas to the ancient lands. There, they have to stop a couple of giants from destroying old Rome and save a fellow demigod from imminent death, all while Annabeth goes on a quest of her own, following the mysterious Mark of Athena. Along the way the run into monsters and gods, some who help, and others who would more than happy to see them dead.

As I said, this book? Pure awesome! Of course, that is no surprise ;) Mr. Riordan really knows how to weave Greek and Roman mythology together and create an amazing story! As always, it was laugh-out-loud funny with a lot of adventure that will keep you hooked until the end. And even then, you'll want more after the end because Rick is amazing at writing those killer cliffhangers (or as I like to call them, "Rickhangers"). And this one was no exception! Percy you crazy demigod you! But the sad thing though, that major thing that happened at the end, yeah I saw it coming. It's actually rare that Rick doesn't surprise me, so I was surprised that I wasn't surprised, if you get what I'm saying.

But anyway, speaking of Percy... Yay! He and Annabeth are back together! :D I actually really missed Annabeth since she wasn't in The Lost Hero all that much. And Percy Jackson is just awesomesauce! I loves him :) But seriously, Annabeth and Percy together are just SO cute! That's right, we even get some romance in this one ;) The book is intended for an MG audience, so it's tame, but it's there!

Besides Percy, my favorite character in this series is Leo AKA "Hot Stuff!" He is just so funny and lovable! One of my favorite scenes in the book is in the beginning with Leo and Narcissus... oh my gods was it hilarious! I am SO Team Leo! ;D

I loved seeing all seven demigods interacting with each other. Percy and Jason were especially interesting to read about since they've both got prominent leadership skills. They actually butted heads quite a lot because of it, and there was some tension with the whole Greek vs. Roman thing... Definitely made things quite interesting, and Gaea made sure to exploit that.

I love, love, LOVE mythology and books like this are the reason why! I absolutely loved the myths Rick used, especially because there were some I didn't know about! I seriously cannot wait to read The House of Hades, especially with that epic Rickhanger at the end of this book!

P.S. You can check out my Reading Progress here, where I mostly talk about how much I love Leo ;)


Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)

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