The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan | Mini Book Review [Spoilers]

Title: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)
Author: Rick Riordan
Publication Date: June 28, 2005
Age Range: Middle Grade
Genre(s): Fantasy, Mythology
Source: Overdrive
Pages: 377
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Synopsis

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school…again. And that’s the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he’s angered a few of them. Zeus’ master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus’ stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Review:

“It’s funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.”

After rereading Harry Potter, I was craving more Middle-Grade whimsy and was so excited to finally get to rereading this series. I mentioned in one of my videos that I wanted to reread the entire series due to Tower of Nero coming out in September and wanting to refresh my memory with everything that’s happened so far in the Percyverse. Oh and like the Harry Potter reviews, these will definitely be more stream of conscious.

Somehow, this series was off my radar when I was in middle school and high school, but I read them for the first time in 2017 and definitely understood the hype. One of my first posts was actually talking about the differences between the film and the book and I had a mini-review of the book in that post.

This reread was honestly a blast. Getting to revisit these characters is always the best part. I think Percy is such a fun and likable main character. Getting to learn about the world from his perspective helps make the story more approachable for young readers and is great for learning about mythology.

I also like how Riordan is able to incorporate some classic mythology monsters and adventures into this story. Riordan does such a great job of modernizing these tales while keeping the original story alive. I also love how he modernized the gods. A lot of media that uses the greek deities tires to update their appearance, but I think Riordan does a great job of capturing the essence of the gods without falling into some of the usual tropes with these characters.

Also, we stan Annabeth.

Final Thoughts:

For this first book, there’s not a lot to say. It’s a great introduction to the world that Percy is now living in and sets up a really interesting overarching plot for the series. It’s a great place for readers of all ages, but especially younger readers, to get introduced to Greek Mythology.