The Lightning Thief book review

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1
Published by Disney Hyperion Books on March 1, 2006
Pages: 375
Goodreads

Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here
Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

The Lightning Thief was such a wonderfully nostalgic reread for me and I have nothing to blame but TikTok and all the brilliant cosplayers on there. I forgot how much I love this series and the characters, I made the mistake of rewatching the movies and I quickly realised once reading this one how awful they actually were. I think I love the way that this book is set up, it does such a great job of setting everything up and showing you the world that the Half-Bloods find themselves in. I loved learning about the different myths in a completely unique way and from a new character’s perspective.

One of the things I forgot about The Lightning Thief was actually how young all the characters are and how much that actually impacted the story. I loved watching Percy and Annabeth interact with each other, and the little nuances in their relationships that made me smile, like the random hand-holding and the embarrassment, it was just all very cute. I will say I think my favourite character is definitely Annabeth, I loved her way of looking things and how much knowledge she prided herself with. She was giving me major Hermione Granger vibes with the knowledge and is the one that had all the answers. The quest would have fallen apart without her kind of like the Golden Trio without Hermione Granger. I will say I struggled a little with Percy, he is definitely an acquired taste and if I remember correctly he gets better as the series goes on.

The best bit of The Lightning Thief was definitely the inclusion of all the different myths and seeing as I have nearly finished Mythos some of them were pretty familiar sounding and I enjoyed that aspect of it. I loved how the ancient Gods were integrated into the modern-day world and how the different entities’ are located and how much they made sense. Plus the pacing was brilliant and I was hooked all the way through and was fully invested in the story and the ending. I feel like this book has drawn me completely back into the world and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

I don’t know what would count as the worst bit, but to be honest when I thin of The Lightning Thief nothing really comes to mind. I think the only thing that draws red flags for me would be the fact that the kids are only 12 but managed to travel across the entire country without anyone noticing that they were unsupervised and stepping in. It just felt a little easy, especially with everything else that was going on!

This was the easiest recommendation ever. The Lightning Thief is such a great book and such a great beginning to the series. If you haven’t read this series and you love the Greek myths then this would definitely be for you.

Are you a fan of this book? Let me know.