The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus, Book 2) Paperback – July 2, 2013

When I first read the plot I read it super fast because I was so excited that a new book was out and that it had Percy in it. I mean it's Percy. Anyways after I read it the first time I had to stop and go "wait....what is it about?" So I had to reread it again but very slowly. I also tired to think of what maybe Rick was thinking about with each of the three things for the three main characters for this book.For Percy's all I had to do was read the first line and I started to think "oh no! Rick Riordan what did the gods do to Percy know!" As I read further along in the little paragraph I just kept on thinking which god did this to Percy and Annabeth. Then I saw the last sentence and immediately I thought "What! Did Athena and Aphrodite team up on Percy and Annabeth?" I was so unhappy as I thought about that since Percy and Annabeth have been through so much together. For Hazel's I started to think after reading the first sentence "What is she a zombie that Ares brought back for the 'other' camp?" I then saw the next part about her mom being possessed by greed and I started to think didn't one of Hades's forms had a power to do something with jewels being brought up from the ground. But I also wasn't exactly sure if that was right at all. I started to wonder what is Hazel's gift and what did she do with it that could harm the future of the world. With the last sentence I just thought that she could have just liked horses and that she is meant to find the house that is in her dreams. For Frank's when I saw klutz I automatically thought of a medium height person that isn't to his full height and obviously clumsy. Then I saw the next line and I honestly hadn't heard of any myths about people being descended from heroes but then I guess that it could happen. With the next line of him hoping Apollo claims him but not being very good at archery during the war games I can't help but think that maybe he isn't a son of Apollo at all. Since Apollo's kids are always good at archery. The last sentence though is making me wonder what Frank's secret is that he feels like he can trust Hazel with and what did Hazel do to get Frank to trust her with this kind of secret.Now that was just my first thoughts just by reading the plot. I kept those thoughts in my head as I started to read the book. Which I immediately started to feel bad for Percy as he looked in my mind's eye as looking pretty bad after fighting a ton of never dying monsters while trying to find Camp Jupiter. He runs into an old hippie lady that all I can't help but think is either a monster or one of the other goddess's hiding out. Which turns out to be right even though Percy had lost his invulnerability when he crossed into Roman territory which sucks for Percy. But what's good is he makes some new friends, especially with Hazel and Frank, and goes on a quest with his two new friends.We also found out a lot about Hazel and Frank's pasts and with what Frank intrusts with Hazel. Which I'm not telling since that would ruin the book. Well not as much if I told you what the quest is about but I think you can tell what it is if you look at the cover and after you get kind of far into the book. Like once Percy is in camp. The ending is also very good as well.Just like with most of Rick Riordan's books this one is also a good book. I loved everything about it and I am glad though that Percy started to remember stuff from his past faster than Jason. Out of most of the people in this book there is one character I seriously dislike and I guess that is mostly just on him thinking he is this high and mighty sort of prophecy giver from teddy bear stuffing. His name is Octavian and I really don't like him especially with the way he treats Percy, and most of the other campers, since they first met in the book. Plus he doesn't even look that good. I mean Frank looks better than him. But yeah I think that is the only bad thing. Though we did see Nico and him acting like he didn't know Percy when he did is kind of cool. Even though Percy didn't like that when he got his memories back but knew that Nico did the right on acting like he didn't know Percy so that the Roman campers wouldn't gang up against him.If you like this review please go to my blog to read some more of my reviews: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/

PERFECT, my favorite book in the series. I needed it to finish my collection.

Amazing no complaints I recommend and we finally have Percy back!

Obviously, most of the people who will purchase this book have read through the whole Percy Jackson series and the 1st installment of the Heroes of Olympus Series. Taking that into consideration, I will not go through a tiresome plot review as a plethora of other reviewers have already provided, and will undoubtedly provide it after my post.THE BOOKTHE GOOD: The new major characters introduced are very interesting. Both Hazel and Frank have strong back stories with dark undertones. Putting bits of Chinese Mythology was also a surprise, though one cannot shake the feeling that the author might be laying plot elements for a possible tie-up with his other series, The Kane Chronicles (as it always hints on).THE BAD: The plot was fine but not surprising. What shocked me more than the "I've-read-this-somewhere-else" plot twists was an inconsistency that was in the book (so as not to spoil anything, I'll be quite cryptic: How the Giant of the North was defeated / the prerequisites of how to defeat a giant). The Percy Jackson series was tight with the rules of the world set by the author, so it came as a surprise that the spin-off was a bit off.THE UGLY: The author has decided not to reveal new prophecies in full. It made me feel like he was not doing it to excite the reader, but rather, he has not decided what to do in the next book yet so he's keeping his options open.THE E-BOOK STRUCTUREThere are typographical errors everywhere. I have a gut feel the publisher/Amazon will release an edited version sooner as a lot of reviewers complain about the same thing. As of this writing, the version is riddled with unintentional paragraph breaks and missing "spaces" from words that distract the readers from the flow of the story. If you are the type who gets easily sidetracked by these typos, I suggest for you to wait for the release of the updated version (if they will be releasing it).THE SERIES IN GENERALI started out Percy Jackson quite late. I bought the whole series and read through it. Suffice to say, it was OK. It was a far cry from other recent YA series "greats" like Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Hunger Games and Artemis Fowl. But it was a notch higher compared to other mainstream YA hits (which I still do not understand where the hype came from) like The Inheritance Cycle, The Secret Life of Nicholas Flammel, The Lorien Legacies, Twilight and Cirque Du Freak (the better being mentioned first, succeeding, getting worse).What lacked for me in the 1st series was the depth on the characters. Unlike the previous "recent YA greats" I've mentioned, the main characters in the PERCY JACKSON series did not seem to develop any semblance to "maturity". Through all the battles, sacrifices and hardships the main characters have faced, they only seemed to have brief moments of epiphany , then go back to their previous reckless juvenile banters. The author also puts in whimsical imageries that are sometimes too much, leaving the general feel of the whole series being too comical for the reader to take anything from it seriously.The 2nd Series started off with a premise that the author has decided to mature the tone. New characters like Jason Grace, Leo and Pipper had more serious back issues which have been exposed by the author in a great fashion. But as I have mentioned, the author can't seem to decide if he will progress to a much darker feel as he keeps abruptly cutting serious scenes with off-handed juvenile repartees.The Son of Neptune seemed to have continued his try on introducing new characters with profound past experiences. But like in the 1st installment, he hastily cuts dark expositions of the character's soul with random things which becomes a bit tiresome when you reach around half of the book.It is also obvious that unlike in the 1st series where things "just happen" out of plot necessity, the author is trying to inject plot elements he will later use in future installments. Again, his attempts are pretty much noticeable. This includes the "open-ended prophecies" where you feel like the author does not know what to do with the next book yet.All in all, The Heroes of Olympus is still a good read if you want to pass time and if you want to update yourself with the current pop culture. Shall I purchase the succeeding installments? Yes. Will this series become a classic? Yes. Is this a great literary masterpiece? I still have not decided yet.