The Lightning Thief (English Review)

Now that was a fun ride.

I don’t really know how to start this review. I actually never quite   know how to do it but this time I really don’t know. I mean, so much happened in this book… now I’m thinking that could be a good kick-off.

SO MUCH happened in this book.

And all of it was so well crafted and near perfect.

I mean, I had a hard time taking the story seriously through the first chapter or so. For a while, it even got me thinking the world Rick Riordan created wouldn’t get me hooked after all, it was so childish…

Boy, was I WRONG.

Midway through the second chapter, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop reading until the end. And it was mainly because, after only two short chapters, I was already attached to the main character, Percy Jackson.

Percy is not only a loveable and interesting character, but he’s such a good narrator that I even found him to be relatable, even though I couldn’t be less like him. Okay, sometimes he came off as unrealistically brave… but as I do with most of my favorite literary characters, I psychoanalyzed the kid… sort of… okay no, but I came to the conclusion that, since he felt so miserable and isolated leading his old life, he might’ve had an easier time adapting to his new one than many. Anyway, his character didn’t feel forced and that’s what’s important. A good percentage of a good book is a good protagonist, and Rick Riordan got that better than right.

Other than Percy, the only other character I really loved was Annabeth (duh!), but I think that might be due to my not knowing the rest of the characters as well yet. And Grover… well, he gave me some really Ron Weasley vibes (though not in such a loveable way) and sometimes he made me face-palm myself really bad… in spite of that, I still felt sorry and happy for him at the end.

Also, fetus Percabeth is the most adorable thing ever.

Now on to the Gods. I mean, whoa. I’ve read books and thought “this must have taken a lot of research!” but this is a whole other level. Like, I knew next to nothing about Greek mythology before starting this book, and now I’ve learned a lot of things and I’m willing to do some research on it myself. On a sidenote, a friend of mine aced her university test on the Odissey without reading it because she’d read the whole PJ series. Absolutely brilliant, Rick Riordan.

I know this is a book meant for kids, so it’s not meant to be really scary, but it even had some really spooky descriptions, and I loved that. I actually wished there were more scary parts. But was really stood out were the action scenes and the interactions between the characters. The latter could be so funny and/or so touching and… I don’t know. Like, really, it surpassed my highest expectations and if I don’t give it the whole five stars, it’s because it lacked some secondary character-development or something, but that’s technical stuff and I swear, I enjoyed The Lightning Thief SO MUCH I don’t have the slightest idea how I made it through two weeks before being able to put my hands on The Sea of Monsters, I seriously don’t know.

  4.5/5 Stars