Review: Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3)

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare...

As you may already know I am a huge fan of the Heroes of Olympus series. That meant that I had big expectations when it came to this book and, thankfully, it lived up to them.

So, what did I like about this book?

• It was easy to read, yet it was complex. I can never explain properly just what I mean by this, yet it is something that I say about all of Rick Riordan's books. It is easy to read in that it flows well, there is never any long descriptions that slow the pace, the words are all fairly easy to read and the sentence structure is great. Yet the plot is complex. There are many themes that run not just right through the book but through the whole series. There are a lot of things going on at once, but it doesn't seem cluttered and you can still keep up with what is going on.
• Another thing I loved was the third perspective aspect of the story. It was nice and refreshing to read the thoughts of the different characters, and really it was the only way that this story was going to work. It was also great to finally get into Annabeth's mind and I have to say it wasn't how I imagined her mind would work. 
• As always the characters are great. With having seven main characters in the book you would think that they could start being similar, yet each were different. I loved the diversity in each of the character's backgrounds, fears and personalities. The new characters added depth to the story and each played an important role in the story, whether it was for character development for the main characters, posing problems or even solving problems. 
• The speed of this book was great. It was fast-paced and action filled, yet there were also times of conversation and deep thinking which was also needed and I think Riordan got that balance just right. 
• I enjoyed the world building. Even though I had been to this world seven times before (including the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series), Riordan was able to build and expand on it. All the new settings where described so well yet the descriptions didn't slow down the book in any way. It was great to imagine each setting that all the events took part on and I must say that I love the Argo II. It would have to be one of my more favourite settings in the series! :)

Now to what I didn't like, and to tell you the truth this isn't a dislike, more just a slight annoyance. It annoyed me that a slight love triangle was introduced, and the fact that it wasn't even the one I was expecting annoyed me a little too. I felt like it didn't really need to be there, there was already enough tension between the characters without adding it. I don't think it will end up being anything to big either so I don't think it will add anything to the series.

I also need to comment on the ending, which I liked (sort of). All I have to say is Riordan sure knows how to write a cliffhanger! Now I eagerly await the release of the next book, The House of Hades, which I think is to be released next October.

Anyway, even with the slight annoyance of a love triangle I rate this book 5/5 stars because it was just that good! :)

Mel.

Up next: December releases I am looking forward to!

Wrap-up of this week and What is to come next week

What happened this week?

Good question. I decided to really get this blog up and running and I am excited for the time ahead. So what I brought you this week was a review of possibly my favourite book of 2012. I gave you my first ever entry of Throwback Thursday, where I looked at two favourite series of mine. I then gave you an outline of what you can expect from me over the coming weeks and, hopefully, months. Saturday saw the start of Seven on Saturday, where you got to see my taste in Book Couples. And then of course there were the challenges that I signed up for. These are the 2013 TBR Pile reading challenge, Short Story Summer challenge, Take Control March 2013 challenge and the Australian Women Writers challenge 2013. Click on the pictures of the challenges to sign up! I will be bringing you the progress of these challenges in this wrap-up post across the weeks. 

What will happen next week?

Monday: Review of The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan

Tuesday: December releases that I am looking forward to

Wednesday: Review of The Golden Door by Emily Rodda

Thursday: Throwback Thursday - Harry Potter

Friday: Review of The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Saturday: Seven on Saturday - Summer Reads

Sunday: Wrap-up/Preview and Challenge updates

I hope you enjoyed this week and I am looking forward to sharing with you next week.

Mel.

Up next: Review of The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan

Seven on Saturday - Favourite Book Couples

Seven on Saturday is where I will put up a list of seven bookish things and explain why each thing is put on the list.

The topic of this Seven on Saturday is my Favourite Book Couples.

1. Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta - Hunger Games

I love these two so much. Their love is so pure and strong. There is no judgement on either part and each seems to be the other's lifeline. Finnick grounds Annie and Annie brings out the best in Finnick. They are just so perfect for each other.

2. Elspeth Gordie and Rushton Seraphim - Obernewtyn Chronicles

I loved watching this relationship grow while reading the books. Rushton helped to ground Elspeth and to help her be less detached from the world. His love for her is so strong, and I loved how at first it scared Elspeth and then she grew to return it. I think the development of this relationship is why they are one of my favourite couples.

3. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks - Harry Potter

Another couple that had quite a few ups and downs. I love Tonks' love for Remus because she loved him no matter what he was. She believed in him when he didn't even believe in herself. I also like that Remus was willing to sacrifice his heart for her safety (even if he was being a prat, the intentions where good enough). 

4. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase - Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Again the reason that I love this couple is because of the development, and the fact that they are so cute together. They have had so many obstacles to overcome before they even became a couple and then they are faced with other obstacles when they become a couple. I find that their relationship is real and believable.

5. Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque - Heroes of Olympus

What can I say? I love these guys together. Frank loves Hazel even with her background, which would cause other people to leave her alone, because he knows her and doesn't judge her. The are both so protective of each others life and despite their differences they love each other, and for that they are awesome.  

6. Gilan and Jenny - Ranger's Apprentice

I wasn't totally convinced that these two should be a couple until I read their short story in the Lost Stories. In that story they are just so cute together and I am glad that Gilan found someone brave and tenacious.

7. Faramir and Eowyn - Lord of the Rings

I love how Faramir grounds Eowyn. She was so focused on war and more in love with the idea of someone and then Faramir came along and showed her what real love feels like. I think that he is what she needs and vice versa.

Anyway they are my seven favourite book couples, it will probably change and I had trouble pinning it down to just seven. Some honorable mentions are Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, James Potter and Lily Evans from Harry Potter and Will and Alyss from Ranger's Apprentice.

Let me know who your favourite seven book couples are by commenting below! :)

What I will be blogging and when?

So this is going to be a short post explaining to you what I will be posting, how often I will be posting and anything else that needs mentioning.

So firstly I will be doing a book review three times a week. This will be done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The books that I will review will mainly be young adult, of which I will try and do a range of sub-genres. I will also occasionally cover adult and middle-grade books, depending on what I feel like reading. I will also on occasions have polls where you can decide what book I shall read next for review. 

On the last Tuesday of every month I will do a post saying what books I am looking forward to being released for the month ahead. For December I will do it this Tuesday to make up for missing it. Otherwise on a Tuesday I will not post at all. However, if there is a topic or question that I want to discuss then I will be posting this on a Tuesday.

On Thursdays I will do Throwback Thursdays, as you may have seen yesterday. This is where I will talk about books that I have previously read and maybe say how I found them, what they mean to me, the parts that i liked/disliked and also maybe give a mini review, depending on where the mood takes me. 

Saturdays will be something that I am going to call Seven on Saturday. This will just be a list of seven things book related. For example this Saturday I am going to cover my seven favourite book couples. I will also give a reason as to why something is on my list. 

Finally Sunday's post will just be a short review of the week and what I will be planning for you next week. I may also answer any questions that have been asked.

Anyway, that is it from me.

Mel.

Up next: Seven on Saturday.

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Guess what? I have decided to participate in another challenge again! :)

This time it is the 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge, and with my TBR being rather large this is really the challenge for me. I am signing up for the Friendly Hug Level (11-20 books) for now. I may end up moving up for now.

For detail of the challenge and to sign up, click the picture! :)

Short Story Summer Challenge

Ok another reading challenge that I have decided to do. This is a mini challenge hosted on Booklover Book Reviews called Short Story Summer (because it is summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere). It is held from the 1st December to the 28th February and the goal is to read four published collection of short stories.

If you want to join up, click the picture! :)

Throwback Thursday - Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus

On Thursday's I will be doing Throwback Thursday. This is where I will talk about previous books, in particular series but I will also do standalone books, that I have read. On a Throwback Thursday I might give a mini-review on each book (but not necessary everytime), tell you what my favourite/least favourite parts were and tell  you how I came by these books. 

So now to my first Throwback Thursday. This week I am going to cover two series because the second leads on from the first, that being Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO) and Heroes of Olympus (HOO). I first came across PJO because of the move, The Lightning Thief. I enjoyed the movie and then saw that it was based on a book, so I went out and bought the box set and read all the books in the series. Then I questioned how that could completely ruin the story line of the first book when they turned it into the movie. After falling in love with Percy and his friends in PJO I found out about HOO and then I read them. 

I recently took to rereading PJO and the books current released of HOO before I read the latest book out, the Mark of Athena. I will do a full review of Mark of Athena when I have finished reading it, but before then I had the idea to share some of my thoughts on each of the books so far. 

Firstly, just a comment about the writing style. In the PJO series the writing is first perspective, with the main voice being Percy (obviously). I am not usually a fan of first perspective writing because I feel like we miss out on other things (for example, The Hunger Games where I feel we miss so much of the action and revolution because it is all written from Katniss' perspective). However, in this series I felt it worked really well because Percy was generally right in the thick of the action and anything else important to the plot that he didn't experience he saw in dreams. In HOO the writing is third perspective and I really like this. It was refreshing to have someone else's point of view and it allowed you to see things important to the story line that the other characters didn't know at that point in time. 

I loved Rick Riordan's writing style. I found it so easy to read, but he put enough complexity into the plot so I wasn't certain of what was to come. I really like books where I have to guess what is coming, and the more wilder my theories the better.

So the first book in the PJO series is the Lightning Thief. One thing to say first, if you haven't read this but have seen the film please do not be put off, the book is different in so many ways to the movie, and heaps better. So what did I like about this book? I think the better question would be what didn't I like about the book, which other than the betrayal, which was needed but I didn't have to like it, the answer to that would be nothing. Probably the best thing I liked about this book was the complexity. I spent a lot of my time guessing why someone would do certain things and wondering how Percy was going to get out of each situation. I also really like the monsters. The descriptions were so vivid and imaginative and they could be fairly witty too.

My favourite part about the second book, the Sea of Monsters, would definitely be the humour. There were so many great mental images that I got from some of the scenes, particularly with Grover and his 'love' and also the Party Ponies (sorry about the vagueness but I am trying not to spoil anything if you haven't read it). The introduction of a couple of new characters was well done, each one having a particular part to play and they weren't unnecessary. Even though I liked the humour, it is a serious story and there are plenty of sad/somber parts. There isn't really anything that I didn't like about this book.

This also applies to the third book, the Titan's Curse. This was a great book, possibly the best. Again there was plenty of humour and again there was plenty of sadness. There was also quite a bit of tension and hostility in parts of this book, particularly between the Hunters of Artemis and the demigod's from Camp Half-Blood. I have to say, and I am a little ashamed to admit this, I absolutely love Apollo. His humour was refreshing, but he also showed that he could be serious, particularly if someone was messing with his family. I am pretty sure he is one god that you wouldn't want to mess with.

There were plenty of times in the fourth book, the Battle of the Labyrinth, that I had no idea how Percy and his friends would survive. There was so much suspicion, tension, spite and many near death experiences. It was really fast paced and action filled, although in saying that there was still humour with my favourite part involving a mortal, a blue plastic hairbrush and the king of the titans. I loved how a lot of the story lines were starting to come together before the final book, even though new questions were also posed.

The fifth and final book of the PJO, the Last Olympian, was probably my favourite of the series. It had me sobbing and laughing at different parts. The ending was brilliant, not what I expected to happen, but it was sad. I loved how at the very end Percy stood up to the gods, and made them accountable for their part in the what had happened. The flashbacks intertwined in this book was well done and gave you enough information that you started to piece together what had happened and what was possibly to come. It really was the best way to wrap up the series.

Then along came the HOO. In the Lost Hero, we met Jason, Piper and Leo, along with most of the regular members of Camp Half-Blood, with one major exception. I loved these three together. They all had their flaws but they all just gelled together. There were some major pieces of news in this story, particularly if you were familiar with PJO, which had me reading into the early hours of the morning, wanting to know what was going to happen next. The mixture of old places and new places and old characters and new characters was handled really well by Riordan and you didn't miss previous characters because you learnt to love the new ones. It was an intriguing and brilliant start to the new series.

In the second book, the Son of Neptune, Percy was joined by Frank and Hazel, as well as quite a few new faces. Again the mixture of new and old was handled brilliantly and I loved having the different perspectives. I felt that it was needed more in this book than the previous one because of the different backgrounds of the characters and the different secrets that each character had. Again, I was constantly wondering how on earth  the characters were going to survive and achieve their goals in time. It was fast paced and left me wanting to know more. One thing I didn't like was Octavian. Every time he was present in the story I wanted to strangle him, and usually I am a non-violent person. He drove me insane, but his character required that and I think it will be very important for the stories to come.

So now it is time for me to read Mark of Athena, which I have been wanting to read since it came out in October. There are so many questions that need answering, but may or may not be answered in this book, and I am pretty sure a ton more will pop up. 

Now my first ever Throwback Thursday is complete and it has been fun. I hope you have enjoyed it and please leave comments bellow on your thoughts about the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series.

Bye for now,

Mel.

Up next: An introduction to what I will be posting and when.

Take Control Challenge - March 2013

I have decided to do the Take Control challenge in March 2013 because my TBR pile is huge and this provides a great opportunity for me to, well, take control of it. Here's hoping that I actually do make inroads on my pile! :)

Australian Women Writers Challenge - 2013

I have decided to do the Australian Women Writers challenge in 2013. As I am Australian, I think that this is a great opportunity to support Australian female writers. It also gives me an excuse to read the books of authors that I love and that I haven't got around to reading the rest of their books. I signed up for the Franklin level of the challenge, which is to read 10 books and review at least six of those books. I will put up a list of the books that I plan to read at a later date. 

If any of you want to sign up for the challenge, click the picture!

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

First thing I have to say is the Australian/UK/New Zealand (on the left) cover to this book is amazing! For once, it is so much better than the American cover (on the right). This wasn't the reason why I bought the book though. I bought it because the blurb intrigued me and it looked like it could be a really interesting book. It lived up to, and beat, all the expectations I had for this book. 

I read this book in 2 days because it was just so addictive! It was one of the best books I have read this year.

The things I liked about this book are:

- The world building. Sarah J. Maas build this fantasy world so well and so descriptively without slowing down the pace of the book and without taking away from the characters.

- The character building. You watch the main character Celaena,who is an assassin, open up and trust other people and learn about her history. It is also really fascinating to see how the other characters change in regards to how they feel about Celaena, particularly Captain Westfall.

- I also loved the balance of action and romance. There was plenty of action in the book which was fast paced and very entertaining but it was tempered with a little romance which worked really well.

- The character relationships were also really good.

The only thing that I didn't really like about the book was the few switches of perspective because it got a little confusing. The first time we saw something from another persons perspective I was a little confused because it was so unexpected. However these still really built on the story, it just took a minute to figure out who's perspective it was being told from.

Overall, I really loved this book. I was surprised by how much I could relate to Celaena and how I really worried about the events. This was one of the main characters that I haven't been annoyed with unlike some of the other books I have read recently.

I would give it 4.5/5 stars.

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