Review: Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

About The Book:
Title: Blood of Olympus
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: Heroes of Olympus
Genre: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology
Age Range: 12+
Publication Date: 7th October 2014 (UK)
Pages: 528 pages (Hardcover)
Publisher: Puffin

Summary:

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.
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:

Review:

It's been five days since I finished this book and my brain still refuses to believe that this is over. I can't possibly comprehend that I will never read a Percy Jackson book again. This could take some time for me to come to terms with.

For the non-spoiler part of my review I am going to say that I didn't love this book with all of my being. In fact if this wasn't as Percy Jackson book and I didn't have a such an emotional connection to it I probably would've given it a lower score of maybe 3.5 stars. But alas! I couldn't do that. I just love the characters and the writing style too much to do that. It had the same exciting feel to it that all the other books did, and there were certain new parts that I loved to death but it didn't feel epic enough to be the last book in the series.

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

And now where I get into the real details.

Number one; Reyna and Nico. They are officially my new brotp of this series. I loved having their POVs in the book too as they might possibly be my favourite characters after Percy and Annabeth. Their personalities meshed really well together and it was really nice that they both found someone they could confide in. Reyna's backstory was super interesting and I kind of wished we had got even some hint at the resolution of her prophecy. 

But with every good thing, there seemed to be a negative. I was pretty annoyed that there was no Percy or Annabeth chapters. The tagline to the book is; Percy Jackson's final battle begins. Yet we didn't get anything from him. Perhaps I'm biased as he is my favourite character but this did ruin it slightly for me. Although the scene in the cave was compensation slightly.

I really enjoyed the scene with Nike and the battle where all the demigods fought with their parents. The dialogue was hilarious, especially the Adidas line. And the whole idea of the seven fighting with their parents was great.

Although I was a little bummed no one died (weird I know, but it just seems unrealistic) and the final battle just seemed too smooth. I did enjoy it and I certainly didn't hate it. All of me just wishes there was more.

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Review: A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow by George R R Martin

About The Book:
Title: A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow
Author: George R R Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Medieval, Adult
Age Range: 16+
Publication Date: 2nd June 2011
Pages: 688 pages (paperback)
Publisher: Harper Collins

Summary:

Winter approaches Westeros like an angry beast. The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud. In the northern wastes, a horde of hungry, savage people steeped in the dark magic of the wilderness is poised to invade the Kingdom of the North where Robb Stark wears his new-forged crown. And Robb’s defences are ranged against the South, the land of the cunning and cruel Lannisters, who have his younger sisters in their power. Throughout Westeros, the war for the Iron Throne rages more fiercely than ever, but if the Wall is breached, no king will live to claim it.

Rating:

Review:

I think epic fantasy is now listed as one of my new favourite genres, purely off the back of this series and even though I probably won't be able to read any other ones without comparing them to A Song of Ice and Fire.
I feel like, honestly, if I compare this book to others on my bookshelf this deserves five stars for sure. But somehow because I already know the plot (okay, okay there are a few deviations, but pretty much!) there is a certain element I don't experience and therefore I can't give it top marks. But in all other respects I adored this so much. I was actually surprised at certain ways they changed this book when they made it into a show.
(SPOILERS AHEAD!) 
Since this book is pretty much all of season 3 I was expecting the Red Wedding in this book, but it became apparent that it wouldn't be. And it was a lot closer to the Purple Wedding than I thought it was, which I think to readers it would've been an even bigger shock factor than watchers of the show.
I particularly enjoyed the introduction of Jaime's POV in this book; he's quickly become one of my favourite characters, his dynamics with everyone are just great and I'm really hoping we get some of his POV when he's interacting with Cersei and Tyrion later on. Arya's storyline in this book was actually really good, especially compared to the show (don't hate me but I think she's only going to get interesting in season 5). But the highlight for me had to be the Queen of Thorns or Olenna Redwyne/Tyrell, although we only really saw her properly in one chapter, she was god damn amazing! I really hope we see a little more of her soon.
For me it was this book where the story really started to pick up and spread out in its many directions and depths. I think for the most part Martin has completed the majority of his world building and can really pull out all the stops in terms of his plot.

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