Book Review: The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)

Name: The Blood of Olympus
Author: Rick Riordan
Number of Pages: 528 in Hardcover
Published: October 7, 2014 by Disney-Hyperion
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Mythology, Adventure

““Though the Greek and Roman crew members of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they’re stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake. The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it “might” be able to stop a war between the two camps.
The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea’s army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.”

I can say composing this review is bittersweet. Have you ever felt like that when your favorite series finally ends? Oh I bet we all did. All. The. Time. After a long week of juggling work and reading this book, finally, I’ve finished it and I’m feeling mixed emotions, I feel for the Gods’ schizo mania.

So much for my review’s introduction. Well, I must admit I got a little disappointed when I’ve scanned the chapters and didn’t find Percy and Annabeth’s name on it. I figured Percy Jackson and the Olympians starred Percy and Annabeth and The Heroes of Olympus starred Jason, Piper, Reyna, Nico and Leo. I guess this is giving others a chance for the spotlight, but I’m definitely missing Percy’s POV so that’s a bit sad. We’ll get to the characters part later. Anyway, the book entirely took an action-packed journey in two arcs. One with Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge’s journey to Camp Half-Blood with the Athena Parthenos to help the Greeks and Romans unite against their true enemies and then the seven demigods on the Argo II on their way to Athens to defeat the Giants and Gaia. Uncle Rick didn’t disappoint. The humor that I love from the very start of the series is still there. The suspense is still thrilling and the entire adventure has taken a whole new bad ass level except for the battle with Gaia which was pretty quick as I’ve noticed. I was expecting something major like the demigods at the brink of death, the Earth partially ruin or the like. Yeah. I’m sinister like that, but come one. Who would want a quick ending to a Goddess who made everyone’s lives miserable at any given chance? Perhaps I’ve just expected a lot from the final battle. Other than that, the entire book is so amazing. I still love it. Really adore not only this book, but the entire series from Percy Jackson and the Olympians up until The Heroes of Olympus. Never a dull moment I may say. I just love how Uncle Rick created this series. Brilliant indeed. ♥

Anyhow, going back to the characters. Jason, Piper, Reyna, Nico and Leo took turns on POV. The disappointment I have for not getting a POV from Percy or Annabeth has been somehow overshadowed by how the others were presented on the book. What I did appreciate is the fact that all of them played vital roles for the success of the quest. I admire Jason for being a kick ass Bolt Dude and Piper’s power really shines here that I want to have charmspeak too. That may come in handy. Reyna is super remarkable. She’s so brave and strong-willed. I like her so much while Leo is still his old funny marvelous self. Everything he crafted were brilliant. I got to understand Nico more and I’m really happy for how his life turned out right before my eyes. Nico’s part of the book is a tearjerker for me. On the other hand, Frank and Hazel were also amazing. Percy and Annabeth have their own moments too. Though I can’t get over the fact that Percy and Annabeth seem to be put on the back burner. Like they’re minor characters. BOO. After all, I can’t believe they have gone through a lot and survived them all.. or so I thought. It was a different case with a Demigod at the end though. (This is the best part. I don’t want to spoil it.) Well, obviously, they are heroes. What would I expect? LOL. 😀 I will miss all of them really. I’ll try to reread everything if I will have a chance.

Recommendation? Who would have thought I won’t recommend this? They’re crazy. Of course, I would. If in case, you’re not intending to read this. Be prepared to miss half of your life.

Even if I have certain issues with the book. It still deserves a five star 😀