The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5) by Rick Riordan | Book Review [Spoilers]

Title: The Last Olympian
Author: Rick Riordan
Publication Date: May 5, 2009
Age Range: Middle Grade
Genre(s): Fantasy, Mythology
Source: Overdrive
Pages: 422
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Synopsis

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of a victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows.

While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review:

“The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive.”

Friends, I’m sad. I didn’t love this one as much on the reread as I did the first time. I want to preface this review is going to be a little contradictory in places, since there were some things that I liked in the story, but they also hindered my enjoyment (at least a little bit).

Okay, so why did this finale just fall short for me? I think it’s because we don’t get the quest, which is probably my favorite part of the Percy Jackson books. I do like that there wasn’t any preamble before the big battle, rather, the entire book pretty much was this epic battle. I think Riordan does a great job making sure the stakes felt high during the entire book, while not having the entire book feel bogged down. That being said, I just like quests more than battles (there’s a reason I like the Odyssey more than the Illiad).

I was a little sad we had yet another instance of Nero not being the best, but he was absolved this time around since it was clear that Hades used Nero and Nero wasn’t trying to sellout Percy. I like how Percy is like, dude again? And Nero was like, actually had no clue, sorry. And Percy was like, okay fine, I believe you. That being said, Hades has some good reasons for being pissed at Zeus, especially with his role in Nico’s mom’s death.

I really like how Percy challenged the gods to change their behaviors and not use routine or tradition as an excuse to fall back in their neglectful ways. I remembered the minor gods being subsequent books but forgot that that’s because of the resolution in this book.

I also liked how Rachel gave a new grand prophecy, and Apollo was like “don’t worry, it was 70 years for the prophecy to come true, this one won’t even happen in your lifetime.” Oh, honey.  I’m actually really excited to revisit the Hero of Olympus series. This is the series I remember not liking as much as the PJ series but has been mentioned so much in Trials of Apollo series.

Getting back to talking about this book, I think one thing that I kind of threw me off is that even we were in battle mode for the entire book, the pacing still felt really slow at some parts. Like, I wouldn’t want the book to be ‘go go go’ the entire time, but I just remember this one not holding my attention as much in some places.

Then she laughed for real, and she put her hands
around my neck. “I am never, ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it.”

I did like how the illuded to love-triangle resolved and that we finally got some Percybeth. This is such a well-known endgame couple, sometimes I forget how long it was before they actually got together. That being said, it’s nice seeing them be friends for a substantial period of time before the platonic feelings turned romantic. I also like how Riordan kind of brushes off the whole messy family history bit about demigods/half-bloods dating and why it’s not creepy. I really like that Riordan takes the time to explain so many aspects of his world in text. Too many times, authors are on social media explaining or expanding their world, and while I don’t mind this at all (for the most part), it’s nice to see these explanations in the cannon text.

Final Thoughts:

Ah, I wish I had a better review for this book, but I just have meh feelings. There were some scenes I really enjoyed, some scenes that kind of missed the mark for me, and ultimately a meh conclusion. Rating this final book is weird because the parts I enjoyed, I really enjoyed, but there were also some parts that pulled down the rating, though one rating feels too low and the other feels too high. I think I’m going to go with a slightly lower rating, as this was the first PJ book that I’ve been conflicted at rating, and I know how much I love some of the other books in the greater Percyverse.

Rating: