BLOOD OF OLYMPUS - Initial Reactions/Review (SPOILERS)

Warning! LOTS OF SPOILERS FOR BLOOD OF OLYMPUS!

First off, I just want to quickly apologize for my unplanned 4-month hiatus. I'm really sorry about that. I don't even want to start making excuses, because that was just unforgivable of me. I really am very sorry.

I just finished The Blood of Olympus (a few days ago). I was really impressed with it overall, but at the same time I don't think that I liked it as much as I liked some of the other Heroes books. This whole going to be really crazy and out of order, so forgive me, but I'm REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK, BUT I ALSO FEEL REALLY CONFLICTED. I don't want to be too overly-peppy about this, and I also don't want to be really negative, so I'm just going to alternate between things I liked and things I didn't. 

• Good thing: JASON GRACE.
    For some odd reason, I loved him in this book a lot more than I did in the other books. Maybe it's because I did a full re-read of the other books before I started, and he was pretty flipping awesome throughout all of those too. People seem to forget about his awesomeness between book releases for some reason, and it's usually just him. Jason deserves some love, and not just from Piper. He's so great to everyone: the Greeks, the Romans, his friends, even his enemies like Kym. He's a really cool guy and I love him to pieces. Consider this a Jason Grace appreciation paragraph. I just want to hug him. New favorite character.

• Bad thing: PAGE COUNT.
    WHY SO LOW? This book is around 500 pages, and the other books were at least 550. And this was the last book! Final books are supposed to be longer than the rest, aren't they?

• Good thing: NICO AND REYNA.
   I've got to admit, I think I enjoyed the Nico and Reyna chapters in this book the most. Their perspectives were new and fresh, and I didn't realize before how tortured they were ("tortured" sounds a bit extreme, but you get the point, right?). Reyna's own inner battle about killing her father (but not really) just broke my heart. Nico was much more powerful than I originally thought he was, which was both interesting and scary at the same time. And the brother/sister bond that they formed with each other? That made my heart melt.
  
  
  
• Bad thing: THE LACK OF SALLY. AND BOB. AND DAMASEN.
    I seriously needed Sally Jackson. I understand that Percy is growing up and he doesn't need his mom around as much, but he had been gone for over half of a year. Yes, I know he left her a message and sent her letters, but I very badly wanted to see them reunited, and it didn't happen!
  
    A little bit of closure about how things worked out for Bob and Damasen would have been nice. Yes, Annabeth and Percy mentioned them, but did anyone think to maybe ask one of the super-powerful gods what might have happened to them? No?
  
  
  
• Good thing: MICHAEL VARUS.
    Okay, well maybe his presence wasn't great for Jason, but it's not him in particular that I'm happy about. It's the fact that when Rick Riordan mentions a thing, he USES THE THING LATER. He mentioned Michael Varus in previous books a few times, kind of as what I originally though was just a throwaway backstory for the Roman camp, but OH MY GOSH, he actually showed up. I adore that kind of consistency. I did not realize that he'd actually show up! :o
  
  
  
• Bad thing: BATTLES.
    What happened to the epic final battles that I could always count on from Rick Riordan?
    What happened to the fact that almost the entirety of The Last Olympian was the battle against Kronos?
    What happened to Annabeth's killer battle strategies?
    What happened?
      The fact that the giants were defeated in less than three pages is unacceptable. That's not allowed. THE BATTLE OF MANHATTAN TOOK UP LIKE HALF A BOOK, BUT THE BATTLE IN ATHENS TAKES UP LESS THAN A CHAPTER? eiwoh;taaiwetohgawtoyh The fact that Annabeth had pretty much nothing to do with defeating Gaea in that final battle is unacceptable. Yes, I realize that Leo had a plan, but gods dam it Leo Valdez, if you make a plan then flipping include Annabeth because her mom is the flipping goddess of flipping battle strategy! Leo in general in this book just made me angry, but I don't even want to start on that... Teamwork, Valdez! Teamwork!
  
  
  
  
  
• Good thing: WILL SOLACE AND NICO (and Nico's character development).
  Halfway through the book, I got really scared and I honestly thought that Riordan was going to either (1) let Nico be passive-aggressive and moody for the rest of his life, or (2) kill him off, because it seriously looked that way from the way he was using that Underworld magic. BUT NEITHER OF THOSE HAPPENED SO I'M REALLY HAPPY NOW BECAUSE WILL SOLACE MADE ANOTHER APPEARANCE AND IT WAS EPIC AND NICO MAY HAVE JUST FOUND SOMEBODY! AND EVEN IF HE HASN'T, HE HAS A FRIEND NOW! Nico developed so much in this book alone. He let Reyna hug him, he confessed his former crush to Percy, he decided to join the Greek camp, and he's actually making friends now. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT MAKES ME EXCITED.
  
  BUT SOLANGELO.
  
  

  
• Bad thing: THE POVs.
    Jason, Piper, Leo, Reyna, and Nico.
    WHY?
    Let me clear this up: I love them all. As I previously stated, Jason is my current favorite character. Piper has grown on me since the beginning, Leo and Reyna have always been some of my favorites, and Nico's character development in this book makes me giddy. But these POVs weren't well-chosen in my opinion. The ideal POVs would have been...
  1. Jason, because he was the guy who basically started it all on the Greek side.
  2. Percy, because he was the guy who started everything on the Roman side.
  3. Frank or Hazel or Annabeth, because they were underrepresented in POVs in previous books (they each only had two, as opposed to Piper and Leo's three, without including BoO).
  4. Reyna or Nico, because getting the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half Blood was NOT the main storyline. I really love them and I loved their quest, but it really diverted my attention from the main plot. I found myself wanting a Nico or a Reyna chapter in the middle of say, a Leo chapter.
  
  Also, it would have been nice if each of them had a POV at the end, just to wrap things up and "say goodbye." That way, it could have included Annabeth having a talk with Athena (I mean, come on, isn't Athena going to praise and/or thank Annabeth for rescuing the statue? No?), maybe a bittersweet phonecall from Piper to her dad, a cute Frazel moment, etc. I was waiting for all of this... and then nothing.
  
  

  

  
  
•  Good thing: THE GODS ACTUALLY SHOWED UP.
    Do you have any idea how afraid I was that the gods would just decide to not show up to fight the giants? I could see Zeus just chillin' up in Olympus like, "Eh, these kids've got it. They'll do fine with just Nike trapped in their ship." But fortunately, such wasn't the case. I found it kind of funny that Zeus decided to start playing the blame game when Gaea was just about ready to destroy the world, but then Artemis, Athena, and Jason talked some sense into him and everything was cool. Phew.
  
  

  
• Bad thing: I FREAKED OUT BECAUSE PERCY ALMOST DIED.
  
   I ALSO THOUGHT THAT THALIA WAS DEAD FOR A COUPLE PARAGRAPHS. WHY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS TO ME??????
  
   RIORDAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  
• 
  Good thing: NO ONE DIED PERMANENTLY.
   And by "no one," I mean nobody in the main cast of "good guys." I was expecting to hear some familiar Camp Half-Blood names mentioned when it mentioned Nico helping with the burial procedures, but I guess not. *shrug* But... I didn't have to go through any pain. Octavian? He brought it on himself, although I did feel a tad bit sorry for him. Phoebe and Kinzie? Eh... Not really close to them...
  
  

  
  
  
• 
  
  Bad thing: NO ONE DIED PERMANENTLY (and other matters of suspense build-up followed by lack of closure).
   I have to admit, I'm a bit mad. This is the kind of suspenseful schist they were posting in the weeks leading up to the release........
  
  

  
  
  

  
    NOT COOL! You can't just do that! You can't just make us freak out like that and NOT HAVE ANYONE DIE!!!! The PR people seriously spent so much time and energy building up the "two people must be sacrificed to Gaea" thing, but then she was awakened by Percy the extreme dork's nosebleed. They even sent out boxes of HoO merchandise to a bunch of book reviewers on YouTube and had them make predictions, and then NOTHING HAPPENED. I'm sorry, but Leo came back to life, so that doesn't count. I don't appreciate that, I really don't. I thought that Frank's wood would burn up, or Nico would exert himself too much, or Hazel would be tragically forced to return to death, but nope. Just...
  

  
  

  
   Anyway, as for other matters:
    - Percy's fatal flaw was stressed a lot in the previous books, and there really wasn't anything that made him make a major decision that was affected by it.
    - Frank's stick played pretty much no part in the book (although I guess one could argue that that was taken care of at the end of HoH when Leo made the pouch for him).
   - At least Leo found Ogygia again. BUT, I wish we would have found out what time period that he actually was in when he woke up. I think it would have been cool (but really sad) if he found Camp Half-Blood again with Calypso and it ended up being fifty years in the future, then he had sort of a Captain America moment. Like he and Calypso would get off of Festus's back at Camp and he'd be like:
  
  

   
  wut

Now I will end with a list of good things.

1. Jason got glasses and is gonna be the pontifex maximus.
2. Percy and Annabeth are going to college together in New Rome.
3. Frank is actually legit gonna be co-praetor with Reyna. (!!!!!!)
4. Reyna, Piper, and Annabeth are like BFFs.
5. Coach Hedge named his son after Chuck Norris.
6. Coach Hedge named his son after Chuck Norris.
7. Coach Hedge named his son after Chuck Norris.

  Overall, I really liked the actual content of the book, I just felt that it needed more for it to be a proper conclusion. I liked the parts that we did get, but the problem for me was the timing, the length (or lack thereof), the perspective, and the arrangement. I think that I would have liked a stronger conclusion, but I think that Blood of Olympus definitely had its strengths as well as its weaknesses. 

Summer!

 Hello, fellow half-bloods!

 Before I say anything else, I'd like to acknowledge an amazing blog that I have been meaning to give a shout-out to for a very long time. You should all definitely visit The Multifandom Network, which, as you can probably tell from the title, is a blog that encompasses many different book/fandom-related topics, including Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, the Mortal Instruments, and, of course, Percy Jackson.

 Now, let's talk.

 I'm sure that you can tell by looking at the blog archive that I've been slacking a bit on my posts. The only excuse I can really give you is that I had schoolwork: tests, projects, research papers, homework in general... (I'm actually supposed to be studying for exams right now.)

 But the great thing is, soon I'll be free of that, and soon you'll get me back (if any of you actually stuck around)! My last day of school is this Friday, so after that I'm going to have a ton of free time that I can use to read and blog. Since I'm so excited about it, I've decided to share the premise of some posts that I'll be working on this June. (It helps if I have things written down and published so that I'm actually motivated to do them. So here goes.)

 Some topics I will be covering/posts I'm going to make:

• What You Don't Realize About... Frank
  Frank is seriously under-appreciated in the fandom, and I'm not okay with that. I feel like I have to address this, because it's a major problem. I may also make a "What You Don't Realize About..." post for Hazel, but I'm unsure whether or not I'm going to do that.
• My Feelings About PiperI've had mixed feelings about Piper for quite some time, and I think that it's about time that you hear about them.
• Fun FactsI'm actually looking forward to this a lot. I love learning little tidbits about things, and trying to find them is just as fun for me. (Did I mention that Jeopardy! is one of my favorite shows? Or is it obvious?) But yeah, a Percy Jackson fun fact post will almost definitely be in store.
• The Life of a Well-Loved and Heavily-Read SeriesMy love for Percy Jackson will probably never die, however paperbacks only last so long...
• The Staff of Serapis Discussion/ReviewI meant to post it last month, but it's been sitting in my drafts folder, unfinished, for weeks. At this point, I'll probably have to re-read it to be able to write the post. xD
• The Blood of Olympus: Who will die?I've been thinking about this post for a while, and I've actually started it already. There's been a lot of speculation about deaths in BoO, and I want to put my guesses and the reasoning behind them out there. I have a feeling that this post will be a big one.

 That's all I have in mind for now, and hopefully I'll come up with some more ideas for things to write over the summer. See you then, demigods. :)

My Riordan/Rowling Shelfie

Hi there!! :)

My school had a buy one get one free book fair a few weeks ago, so I decided to fill in some gaps in my Riordan collection. I was very excited to get...

 

Then, I decided to rearrange my book shelf so that they would fit in there somewhere. I ended up putting all of my Rick Riordan and Harry Potter books on one shelf.

 

 

 Unfortunately, I think that I'm going to have to find a new home for the Harry Potter books once I get House of Hades and Blood of Olympus, but that won't be for quite some time. The setup works for now, and I guess if there isn't enough room for everything when the time comes, I'll just have to get a new bookshelf! ;)

The Lightning Thief: The Musical

 A few months ago, a rumor was going around on the internet that The Lightning Thief was going to be made into a Broadway musical. I chose to stay silent on the topic as far as this blog was concerned, because the sources looked a little sketchy, and I didn't hear anything about it "officially".

 Now, it seems that the book is indeed being adapted into a musical. (However it won't be on Broadway.) The best part? It's absolutely free to attend if you're able to make it to New York City! The production is the featured production in Theatreworks USA's annual Free Summer Theater Program. Theatreworks USA is a nonprofit organization which works to provide free entertainment for New York City youth.

 You can watch a preview of the show here. I haven't gotten a chance to watch all of the videos on the playlist, but there are ten different sneak peeks, which is pretty exciting. (The first clip sounds more accurate than all the stuff that happened in the movie...)

 The musical opens on July 24 and closes August 22. It will be at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City. Additional information about the show, its actors, its location, and its showing days/times can be found in the links below.

 This show sounds likes it's going to be a hit, and hopefully there will be some YouTube footage of it by the end of the summer for those of us who can't attend. If anyone does attend, please send me an email at PJOForever@gmail.com and tell me what it's like so that I can share it on the blog. :)

Related links/more information:

• Playbill.com's article about the show
• Additional information about show/show times
• Donation link
• Facebook page for the show

Blog Housekeeping & Internet Rumors

 Hello, fine readers!

 As you may have noticed, I've been gone... for a while. It was kind of unintentional, but I got caught between schoolwork, musical rehearsals, and my own laziness. I'm not going to try to make any more excuses or empty promises, but I will just tell you that I can 97% guarantee that this blog will be more active in the summer months. Final exams and the end of school are approaching in the next few weeks, so I may not have time to post during that time frame, but I will have plenty of time to write blog entries afterwards. Basically, what I'm saying is that you'll be seeing more of me during the summer. :)

 The next topic that I want to address is that of internet rumors. They show up all over social media sites before the release of a book -- Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. Why are people so prone to believing them?

 Personally, I see many theories and lots of speculation, but not a lot of rumors. However, when I do come across one, I never believe it, and I'm urging you to do the same. Let's face it: when has a rumor proven to be true? How many rumors were there that Nico was going to die in the House of Hades, and did that happen? There are very rare circumstances when information or pages of books leak, but they're exactly that: rare. The only definite knowledge that we have about upcoming Riordan books is what the publishers release, or the small bits of information that Uncle Rick uses to troll us on Twitter. So please, don't get yourself worried about rumors, especially if they sound a little bit crazy.

 Oh, and another thing related to that: the things that I post on my blog about upcoming releases are NOT rumors, unless I specifically use the words "I heard a rumor that [fill in the blank with a rumor]". Everything on my blog is either me relaying something that was officially announced, or pure speculation and my own theories. Much of the time, it's a combination of both of those. But please, never take my thoughts and think of them as definite. I like to introduce possibilities, but not definite happenings (because I don't know them... I'm not psychic!). Please, don't take my posts as rumors, because they really aren't.

 In conclusion, I will be back with some hopefully interesting posts about the Blood of Olympus cover, my re-reading of The Lightning Thief, and maybe a couple of blog entries on my BoO theories. And in the mean time, DON'T BELIEVE INTERNET RUMORS! Have a great day, half-bloods! :)

Blood of Olympus Cover!

Warning! May contain House of Hades spoilers!

 Hello, lovely blog readers, if any of you are still around. Yesterday brought excitement, because the Blood of Olympus cover was released! Here it is:

 

 

John Rocco has once again provided this series with some outstanding artwork. In the cover, we can see Jason flying toward some giants (I'm going to assume they're giants, because they look like them...), Hazel riding Arion into battle, and Frank shooting toward the giants with his bow. There is a mysterious crane-tower-thingymajig in the background, and it definitely looks like they're at some kind of ancient Greek site (perhaps the Parthenon?).

 Overall, it looks like a very beautiful cover that I'll be able to glean some hints and speculation out of in a more complete analysis (that I'll most likely write this weekend). Also, don't forget: The Staff of Serapis will be available as an e-single on May 20th, and it will include a SNEAK PEAK OF THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS! :)

 Have a great day, demigods!

The Titan's Curse Movie News

 Hi guys! It's been a while, but there's some breaking news that I absolutely HAVE to bring to you; some may see it as good, others may be disappointed.

 The Percy Jackson movie franchise is officially dead.

 You heard me. The Titan's Curse isn't coming to the big screen. If you don't believe me, Logan Lerman has confirmed it.

 Now, how do I feel about this? Honestly, I don't know. The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters definitely didn't live up to their full potential in movie form, and I honestly don't think The Titan's Curse would have gone much better.

 On the other hand, the movies are something that keep the books alive for us. They may not be 100% accurate (or even 1% accurate), but they still have those little moments which are just worthy of Tumblr gifs. (Can someone say Hermes and Dionysus?)

 This news is kind of bittersweet for me. It's going to take a while to process, but I think all in all it's better that the books' reputation isn't spoiled by something that isn't completely true to them. I was curious to see how it would turn out, but I guess that now my curiosity will never be satisfied.

**Update: This was a slight misunderstanding; Logan Lerman's quote was taken out of context. The project isn't being developed as of now, however if the movie studio would decide to continue, some of the actors, one of which being Logan Lerman, would be contractually obligated to star in them. What Logan Lerman was trying to say was that he found it unlikely that another movie would be happening.

All of the new covers + their spines

 First off, I apologize. I truly do. I was supposed to post this two weeks ago. I am so so so so so so so SO sorry.

 I don't really have a lot to say about them, other than... WHOA!!!!



 They're so pretty!! My personal favorite is probably either The Sea of Monsters or The Last Olympian, and my least favorite has to be The Titan's Curse.

 I can definitely tell that John Rocco put a lot of work into re-imagining these, and I think they turned out to be amazing!! Props to him! :)

 They also recreated the spines. 



:O

Finally, this is what it looks like when you put all of the covers together and remove the titles...



Beautiful!

Now, unfortunately, I have to say goodbye for now. I'll do my best to write another post for next week. Stay awesome, demigods! :)

The Staff of Serapis

 Hey, half-bloods! A follow-up to the Son of Sobek was officially announced last week! It is called "The Staff of Serapis" and will center around Sadie and Annabeth rather than Carter and Percy. The short story will be available in the paperback copy of the Mark of Athena on April 8th, and will be released as an e-single on a later date.

 I am really hoping that Rick Riordan continues this series of crossovers, because that would be pretty darn amazing! I not-so-secretly hope that he makes an entire crossover novel, but that's probably not going to happen (at least not anytime soon). The Staff of Serapis is going to be sixty pages: even longer than Son of Sobek!

You can read an excerpt here. If you would like to read The Son of Sobek, you can buy it as an eBook from Amazon (or most other eBook sellers), or you can find it in the paperback edition of The Serpent's Shadow.

First three new covers!!

DRUMROLL, PLEASE!







They. Are. BEAUTIFUL! And check this out...



 THEY CONNECT! :D In the end, they'll be one big, amazing mural, which I'm really hoping they make a poster or lithograph out of.

 The last two covers come out tomorrow and Friday. I'm very excited to see where this goes. My theory was wrong, but I'm kind of glad that it was. I always love to see new art from John Rocco!

 The Titan's Curse's new cover is kind of disappointing for me, however Sea of Monsters's cover just blew me away. The Lightning Thief's is great too. I still am partial to the original covers since I've been admiring them for years, but I think I can get used to these. :)

New Cover "Previews"

More cover teaser pictures have been released!

   
   

 I have to say, the more I see these cover previews, the more I doubt my original theory of them being the old covers with a twist. I'm actually kind of excited to see these new covers, and I'm not exactly sure what to expect. Looking forward to Monday! :)

New... what?!

 When I found out last week from the official Percy Jackson Facebook page that there would be some "exciting news" this week, I decided to hold off on the weekly post, which I usually try to work on during the weekend, and wait until the information was revealed. Many took to the comments section with their theories: did it have to do with Blood of Olympus? Or was it something to do with the Jackson/Kane followup that Rick Riordan stated he was working on just a few months ago? Would it be something about the Norse series, or maybe about the movies? What could it be?????

 Turns out, it was none of that. Instead, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is getting new covers. 

 You're probably thinking, "Wait... what?" Those were my thoughts exactly when I heard the news this morning. And of course, I was plagued with questions. Why do they need new covers? Is there going to be a new artist, or a different one? WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?!

 As for why this is happening, my best guess is that they want to revamp the covers of the first series to catch the attention of those who may have seen the current covers but never felt driven to them, especially with Blood of Olympus coming out in the fall. It's very possible that a refresh could attract new readers.

 It has been confirmed by Rick Riordan himself that the covers are by John Rocco, the same artist who did the current Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, and Kane Chronicles cover, but NOT the character art. (There was some confusion about that. The official character artist is a different person.) This makes me a bit more excited, because John Rocco's covers are gorgeous.

 The new Lightning Thief cover will be revealed next Monday, February 17th (my birthday! :D). The official Percy Jackson page on Facebook posted the picture below with the caption, "5 days. 5 brand new cover reveals." I'm guessing (and hoping) that this means that we'll get to see a new cover every day for five days in a row.

 One commenter wrote, "I'm excited but I LOVE the original covers so I wonder how this will turn out to be!!" and the page's administrator replied, "I have a feeling you'll like them..." Now, what is that supposed to mean? 

 From the small gap in the picture that allows us to see a piece of the cover, it appears to me that the new cover of The Lightning Thief is just a combination of the old cover and this picture:

 Of course, I could be wrong (it's happened plenty of times before), but the admin's comment leads me to believe that the new covers are simply the old covers with a twist.

 I guess we'll just have to see what happens! Comment what you think they'll be like and whether you like that they're remaking them! I will post pictures of the new covers as they are released. :)

Character Analysis: Clarisse!

Warning! Contains major spoilers for books up to Son of Neptune, and (very) minor spoilers for House of Hades!

 Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, is a pretty amazing demigod. When she is introduced in The Lightning Thief, she is nothing but a bully toward Percy. However, throughout the course of the books, she slowly softens up and becomes his ally and sort-of friend, although they still tend to clash. Clarisse is a character who seems rough around the edges, but has many layers which we get to see throughout the course of the book.

The Lightning Thief

In this book, the only layer of Clarisse that we really get to see is her exterior: a malicious daughter of Ares, the war god. She likes to pick on the other campers, and Percy seems to be one of her main targets. When she tries to put Percy's head in the toilet as his "initiation", Clarisse and her cabinmates get doused with a ginormous wave of toilet water. Percy also manages to break Clarisse's spear during Capture the Flag, which infuriates her. These two events show a key point of her personality: how she reacts to losing a fight. If you ever beat Clarisse at anything, she will storm off and conceal her humiliation with angry threats.

The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters displays a different side of Clarisse. The first direct glimpse of her relationship with her father, Ares, takes place on the C.S.S. Birmingham during her Quest for the Golden Fleece. Clarisse is intimidated by her dad. She strives to live up to her father's expectations, and Ares doesn't believe she is doing well enough. This scene is important, because it reveals the motivation for many of Clarisse's actions. Why was Clarisse always so set on winning and being victorious? That's why. Not just for personal glory, but also to live up to the expectations of dear old dad.

The Titan's Curse

Clarisse is absent from Titan's Curse because she is on a top-secret scouting mission, which we later discover is her journey into the Labyrinth.

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Can I just say how much I love the side of Clarisse that we got to see in this book? 

She and Annabeth are actually getting along really well. She comforts Juniper at Grover's trial at the beginning of the book. Then, we find out that Clarisse found Chris Rodriguez after he had gotten out of the Labyrinth, and he had gone crazy. Clarisse tries to nurse him back to health. She calls the Labyrinth evil, and tells Percy to kill Daedalus when he finds him because anyone who could create something so terrible must be evil. It's apparent that Clarisse has strong feelings about both Chris's and her experiences in the Labyrinth, and those feelings influence her vulnerable side to show.

(Note: Thankfully, at the end, Chris is cured by Mr. D.)

The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian shows several layers of Clarisse's personality. The spat between the Ares and Apollo cabin and her reluctance to compromise show that she is very stubborn and proud. We also see her comfort and stand up for Silena after Charles Beckendorf's death, which reveals her caring and protective side (which we also saw with her relationship with Chris in BotL). Later in the novel, she avenges Silena's death by violently slaying the drakon that killed her (while wearing NO ARMOR AT ALL). So in other words... don't mess with Clarisse or her friends because she will tear you apart.

The Heroes of Olympus

 After Percy Jackson & the Olympians, we don't really see Clarisse. She makes brief appearances in The Lost Hero and The House of Hades, but not anything beyond that and a few mentions of her in passing.

How will she get along with Frank, her Roman brother?

I've thought about this a lot, actually. Hazel and Nico are on a friendly basis (or at least as friendly that Nico can get with anyone), and Jason and Thalia grew up together for a year or two, then reunited in The Lost Hero. But what about Frank and Clarisse? They are two very different characters. I honestly can't see them clashing with each other; it just doesn't work in my mind. I can see them respecting each other and working really well together in battle.

What role will she play in The Blood of Olympus?

Clarisse almost definitely won't be a main character. I think her time as a main character has passed. However, I'm fairly confident that she'll make at least a brief appearance. In The House of Hades, she was leading demigods in preparation for the Roman attack, so she should be there. I really hope to see her interact somehow with Frank, Percy, and Annabeth. Fingers crossed!

Clarisse by Irencia on deviantART

That's all for now. Have a good week, demigods! :)

Top 10 "Children's" Books That Everyone Should Read

 There's one thing that I've noticed about Percy Jackson & The Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus: they're labeled as children's/middle grade books.

 I mean, sure, they're written for the nine to twelve age range, but how many readers are actually nine to twelve? There are so many people older than that, or maybe even younger than that, who read them. I started reading the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series in fifth grade, when I was ten. I'm much older than that now, and I still love them the same, if not even more. There are people who started reading them in their teenage years, like some of my friends. Actually, some of my friends' parents have read them.

 Percy Jackson may be considered a middle grade/children's series, but that doesn't mean that only children can read them; they can be enjoyed by everyone! This thought has inspired me to make a list. So today, my dear demigods, I am sharing with you a list of ten children's books/series that I believe everyone can enjoy and should read, regardless of your age. :)

10. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

This book is a classic, or at least I consider it as one. If you have not read it, shame on you. Go to your library and find this book right now. It's kind of out-there, but that's what defines Roald Dahl's writing. It wouldn't be Roald Dahl without some (or a lot of) craziness mixed in there.

9. Lily B. on the Brink of Cool by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

 Lily B. on the Brink of Cool seems to be labelled as more of a "girl book", if you consider the pink cover and such. However, I didn't really find it to be super-girly. Yes, it is about a girl, but no, there is not a love interest involved. (Thank goodness for that.) It's a fun story about family, boredom, friendship, and deception. I won't say any more, because I might give away the ending.

8. The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer

 Yes, these are written by the guy from Glee. No, there is not any singing involved. I read "The Wishing Spell" in spring of last year and very thoroughly enjoyed it. I must have been reading either some very badly-written books around that time, or just some really depressing books, because I found "The Wishing Spell" to be very refreshing. It's fun and lighthearted, while also having elements of darkness and sadness, but not to the point where it is depressing. The books are centered around Alex and Conner, two twins who find themselves literally falling into the Land of Stories and having to save the day.

7. The Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene

This one was kind of a no-brainer for me, because I've been reading these since I was very small. (They make little kid versions too.) The author, Carolyn Keene, is obviously not one person (it took me a while to figure that out) because these books have been around for many, many years. If you're ever looking for a generic mystery novel, Nancy Drew is the way to go.

6. Holes by Louis Sachar

 I read this book over the summer and I fell in love with it. It is easily one of the funniest, and also cleverest, books I have ever read. The main character, Stanley, goes to a camp for "bad kids" as punishment for a crime that he didn't commit. At the camp, they make the delinquents dig holes all day... but why? I guess you'll have to read it to find out. :)

5. Madonna's Five Books for Children

 Yes, these are indeed written by the Madonna you're probably thinking of: the singer. They are a collection of simple stories with beautiful illustrations and universal themes that everybody can relate to or learn from. The books in the collection are as follows: The English Roses, Mr. Peabody's Apples, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, The Adventures of Abdi, and Lotsa de Casha.

4. From the Mixed of Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

 This book is kind of hit or miss: some people like it, some people don't. I would be considered a part of the former. It is about a young girl who decides that she is running away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art because her family does not appreciate her enough. She brings her little brother and they face many bumps in the road and much adventure.

3. The BFG by Roald Dahl

 Ah, yes. Roald Dahl once again. Most people have heard of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda, which were both books by him which were turned into movies. However, not many people that I've run into have heard of this one, and that's a shame, because it's my favorite of his! Like his other books, it's kind of strange and really silly. You should definitely give it a go.

2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

 Duh.

1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan!!!!

 I feel like it was kind of obvious that I was going to end it this way... such a great series. ;)

 What are YOUR thoughts? What would your Top 10 children's books list look like? Do you agree with mine? Disagree? Is there anything you would add or take away? Leave a comment! Also, f you would like to know more about any of the books/series on this list (I didn't really do very good summaries), you can comment on this post, tweet me (@HotSauceValdez), or email me at PJOForever@gmail.com. 

Have a great day! :)

A Curse from Khione

Warning! May contain Lost Hero Spoilers! 

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 As I said in a previous post, it's my New Year's Resolution to make a new blog post at LEAST once a week, so I'll definitely try my best to hold myself to that.

 In other news, it was REALLY REALLY COLD yesterday! :o School was cancelled for me because the wind chill was -18 degrees (that's Fahrenheit, by the way). It was also cancelled on Friday because we got about six inches of snow.

 Usually, I'm a fan of cold weather, but it wasn't even safe to go outside of the house because there's a risk of frostbite and hypothermia when temperatures drop that low. I felt like I was in a cage. ;~; (I did go outside anyway, but just for a little bit. Shhh!)

 So in other words, Khione has cursed about half of the country, because my area wasn't the only area having these problems. Apparently there's some kind of "polar vortex" that's stretching further south than it should be, and making some places colder than they should be.

  Really Khione? First Festus, now this?! 

 Wherever you are, dear demigods, stay warm! And enjoy this lovely picture of Piper facing Khione that I found on Tumblr! :) (All credit goes to original artist. Who that is, I am not sure.)