Book Review: The Blood of Olympus

Book: The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus book #5) by Rich Riordan

Cover Design by Joann Hill
Cover Illustration by John Rocco

Edition: Hardcover

Description:

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.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

The Blood of Olympus is the fifth and final book in The Heroes of Olympus series and the series ended just as spectacular as it started. This fast-paced and exciting story centers around two connecting stories, the first follows the Greek and Roman demigod crew of the Argo II: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Jason Grace and Piper McLean who were in a race against time to get to the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. They were trying to prevent the Greek Goddess Gaea from awakening and if she does, she will destroy humanity and the world.

Despite their travel being filled with danger from constant attacks by Giants, ogres, minor Gods and other monsters and beings, they had a quest that must be completed. Even if it might cost them their lives.

Stopping Gaea was not the only dire situation, because the Roman Camp Jupiter, which was being led by the out of control Roman Augur Octavian, was planning a devastating attack that would destroy the Greek Camp Half-Blood. In hopes of ending the potential war, Roman Praetor Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo and satyr Coach Hedge were taking the grand and legendary Athena Parthenos statue to Camp Half-Blood as a peace offering. However, this is easier said than done since the trio have one of Gaea's most formidable hunters tracking them down.

Although this was nonstop action and adventure, there were quiet moments that gave the story a break to allow the characters time to reflect on either their current situation, to have a heartfelt conversation about something that was on their mind or simply to rest.

I thought this was a wonderful conclusion to the series because you have these courageous characters trying to save the world but they are up against impossible odds. Their quest was certainly not an easy task. Especially considering they were constantly fighting against hordes of Gaea's monstrous army at every point of their quest. Not helping matters was that they would barely receive any help from the Gods who were dealing with a multiple personality disorder that was causing their Greek and Roman identities to become unstable making it impossible for them to focus.

I really enjoyed reading this, as I mentioned before it's action-packed with an exciting story. I like that the story featured Reyna and Nico's point of view (along with Jason, Piper and Leo's) throughout the story and you find out a great deal about them. I like that Nico finally allowed himself to accept who he was as both the son of Hades and in regards to his sexuality. He also learned to let people in and in the process found two Camps that equally appreciated him. I believe he might even have found a possible new love interest. As for Reyna, she's a strong, smart take charge leader but her position as a leader can be lonely as well as it requires her to shoulder a long list of responsibilities. Similar to Nico, she doesn't always let others in but I think working with alongside Nico and Coach Hedge allowed her to build friendships and see a part of herself she didn't know was there.
 
As much as I enjoyed this amazing story, I did have an issue with how the writer seemed to downplay or sideline Annabeth and Percy in order to make Jason and Piper look good in scenes that showed Percy and Annabeth being outwitted and overpowered in situations that they would have easily excelled at. I can't believe Percy was easily taken out of an underwater fight and had to be saved by Jason. How was that even possible?

Regardless, this was a good ending to the series which gives all the heroes the conclusion they deserve with a hint to possibly more stories in the future for these characters.