Review: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan

Title: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

Series: Part of the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Middle Grade, fantasy, Greek mythology

Publication date: January 2014

Published by: Disney Hyperion

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Who could tell the origin stories of the gods of Olympus better than a modern-day demigod? PERCY JACKSON provides an insider's view with plenty of 'tude in this illustrated collection.

A publisher in New York asked me to write down what I know about the Greek gods, and I was like, "Can we do this anonymously? Because I don't need the Olympians mad at me again." But if it helps you to know your Greek gods, and survive an encounter with them if they ever show up in your face, then I guess writing all this down will be my good deed for the week.

So begins Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, in which the son of Poseidon adds his own magic—and sarcastic asides—to the classics. He explains how the world was created, then gives readers his personal take on a who's who of ancients, from Apollo to Zeus. Percy does not hold back. "If you like lots of lying, stealing, backstabbing, and cannibalism, then read on, because it definitely was a Golden Age for all that."

Dramatic full-color illustrations throughout by Caldecott Honoree John Rocco make this volume—a must for home, library, and classroom shelves—as stunning as it is entertaining.

My rating: ★★★★★

This book was so fun! Right from the start, I loved it! Especially because Percy purposefully did NOT start the book off with Zeus 😂 His sassiness is one of my favorite things about him 😂 Anyway, this book talks about some of the major Greek gods, and because this is middle grade, the myths were consumable, even when it came to those darker myths. And the myths were also pretty concise, which I appreciated.

Like I’ve said many times before, I freaking love Percy! He cracks me up! But he also makes for a very good narrator. He just makes learning about myths fun. But also...

Afterward, Kallisto was too ashamed to say anything. She was afraid it was somehow her fault. Pro tip: If you're attacked by a creep, it's never your fault. Tell somebody.

I love him 😭 And he is so right.

I love Greek mythology, as we may all know lol, so I know a little bit about a lot of different myths. So it’s always nice when I learn something new that I’ve never come across before. And this happened a couple times in this book! I love that for me! Lol. And of course, we also got some of the more popular myths like the myth of creation, the Titan war, Persephone’s kidnapping, and the various fun myths involving the very mischievous Hermes. Lol. I love him! I also loved what a huge fanboy Percy is of his dad. It’s so cute. Lol.

This was just SO good! I had so much fun reading this! There was a little bit about all the major gods, all narrated by the ever-sassy Percy Jackson. I swear, his sass is unmatched. Lol. It was just so fun! I enjoyed how seamless the transitions from one god to another were, and I particularly enjoyed the landscape illustrations. They were so pretty!

But overall, I highly recommend this one. Not only if you’re a Percy Jackson fan, but if you’re curious about the myths. This is a good place to start. But maybe I’m biased. (I’m totally biased 😆)

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 link to your review or comment below! 😊