Series Review || Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Hello Readers!

So, instead of doing a bunch of separate reviews for each book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, I thought doing mini reviews of each book on one post would A.) Be a lot more fun and B.) Help me get to the other book reviews faster.

So here goes nothing!

**WARNING: THIS IS A FANGIRL FILLED ZONE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION **

 

The Lightning Thief     Rating: 5 Stars

I really really loved The Lightning Thief, okay? Okay.

It was absolutely amazing and I really enjoyed reading it. It was an easy read (obviously) but still amazing none-the-less.

The reason I haven’t read the series until now was because, like the Harry Potter Books, I wasn’t allowed to read them for the longest time. (Sad moment cause both are amazing series that I’m only now just getting to at 18 years old.)

Anywho. This book (despite it being middle grade) is right up my alley. Greek Mythology based stuff is totally my favourite.

I LOVE Percy so much, okay? All the sass and sarcasm is just so dang amazing. And oh my goodness the puns.

 

 

Sea of Monsters    Rating: 4.5 Stars

I really loved this book, but not as much as the first one I must say. I’m loving having Clarisse in this story a little more but the story seems to be going by at a really really fast pace. I mean I like that in a story…but this is too fast…if that makes sense. Basically with Sea of Monsters I read through it as fast as I could because it was really unenjoyable to me. I mean I still loved all the characters and the idea of the story but it was all too fast for my liking.

 

 

The Titans Curse    Rating: 5 Stars

I really enjoyed Zoe in this story…I’m just sayin. I was sad that Annabeth wasnt really in that one… I mean it progressed the plot but I was sad she was absent haha.

By this point I still can’t get over Percy. The narration is on point! Percy is just the best character to have as a narrator of the story and many times I was chuckling to myself about is sassy or sarcastic comments.

One thing I loved about this was that more of my favourite gods made appearances in this book (I LOVE Greek mythology stuff…have loved it ever since I was about 10… Which I find quite strange considering I was allowed to check Greek mythology books out from my library but for the same reason I wasn’t allowed to read the Percy Jackson books sooner… What???)

Anyways. I also really enjoyed Thalia’s character every new character that pops in for one of the novels never disappoints. Not one of them even seems the slightest bit same and that, my friends, is skill.

 

 

The Battle of the Labyrinth    Rating: 3 Stars

I enjoyed this book but definitely not as much as the others so far. It felt a lot slower to me. (The exact opposite of The Sea of Monsters) Despite that I still really enjoyed it! It was just a lot slower than I would have expected (pacing/action wise) considering the pacing of the other books in the series so far.

The reason the slower pacing surprised me was simply due to the mission the characters were on. I guess it was just interesting to see them going on such an important mission and there not being much action…though I guess other elements of the story made up for it though 🙂

As usual I LOVE LOVE LOVE the character okay? ❤ They are all just so amazing :3

 

 

The Last Olympian    Rating: 5 Stars (Or, you know…just ALL the stars)

Okay… Before I start this review, CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE THING THAT IS PERCABETH??? *FLAILS* I LOVE THEM SOOOOOO MUCH!! :3 :3

I ADORED THIS BOOK! A wonderful conclusion to the first series by Rick Riordan! *takes a moment to flail about the last chapter of this book*

I really have no words for this book except for incoherent fangirl gibberish and the fact that all I can say (that other people understand) is THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! I LOVE IT SO FREAKING MUCH ❤

 

 

SO. Thats my review! Have you read the Percy Jackson books? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you lovely people.

 

Until Next Time

Adriana G.

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Descending by Holly Kelly

Hello Readers!

I am FINALLY back on track here and got a book review for you…It was supposed to be a review by the Maze Runner….but this book was sitting there in my Kindle too and I wanted to read it again so yeah…that happened. Forget Harry Potter and the Maze runner haha. Sorry, but in my book ANYTHING to do with mermaids or the like I’m sold and that may or may not take higher priority so…yeah. Let’s get this review started. Though I will say that I finished this book on the 5 hours car trip this weekend to my final destination but I did start Maze Runner on the trip home…but This one is still higher priority…Juuuuuuust sayin!

 

So a while ago, I did a review of the fist book in this series called ‘Rising’ (Which you can get on Kindle for FREE) and you can check out my review of the first book HERE. So, with that said lets get started on this review. *bounces up and down in excitement*

 

Isn’t the cover so pretty?!

 

 

When Xanthus cashes in a long-standing favor, Kyros is faced with doing two things he thought he’d never do—protect a mermaid and live on land. Dagonians loathe mermaids and Sara, Xanthus’s wife, is no exception. Also, a Dagonian standing on human legs? It’s just not natural!

As if being around the vile creatures responsible for polluting his home and killing his sister wasn’t horrible enough, Kyros has to deal with Sara’s troublesome human friend, Gretchen. This spunky human tries his patience and makes him feel things he shouldn’t be feeling—least of all for a land-walker! When Gretchen’s life is threatened, he is forced to become her protector. But there are two problems. First, how can he fight his attraction to her when he must keep her close? And second, when a mermaid wants you dead, no one can be trusted. Not even the ones you love.

 

Plot: So, this is my second time reading this book. (I read it right after I read the first one but I just didn’t review it when it was fresh in my mind..) You all know the reason why I read it again over the other two I planned to read this weekend but I really didn’t care. This book is beautiful. Anyways. Plot. Loved it! With both books the plot has been very unique, engaging and absolutely amazing! Holly Kelly did I great job with it and avoiding cliches (which can easily happen in books including mermaids or more common fantasy creatures.) But this was brilliantly done and unique! Absolutely loved it!

So much action, adventure and romance *giggles like a little school girl*

 

Genre: Most definitely Fantasy and Romance…Even better the best part about it is that the romance is clean too! *resists urge to happy dance* It is so hard to find things that are clean in fiction over all but especially when it comes to romance 😛 So yeah…

 

Characters: Wooh! This is my favourite part of the review! We once again see Sara and Xanthus in this novel but on top of those two characters (who I LOVE) We have a cast of new, main characters, who are absolutely amazing…and can we talk about these amazingly awesome guys in this book….First I loved Xanthus and now Kyros? Oh my goodness… *dies* why are they so amazing? How can one fall so hard for book characters? Like what…? (I still don’t understand the fangirl life I live sometimes…) Anyways, Besides that, I was also so glad to see Gretchen playing a more main role in this novel too!

 

Gretchen: So, as I just said, I was so excited to have her in more of a main role in this novel 🙂 I loved her character in Rising so seeing her take a main role in this one. Super exciting! I love Gretchen. She’s got quite a temper, she’s sassy, sarcastic, driven and rather stubborn. Her stubborness makes things a little difficult at points but that, my friends, is the fun of it! Gretchen is definitely awesome and one of my favourites thats for sure 🙂

 

Aella: Meet the mermaid baddie of the novel. (and unlike with Rising I actually remembered the antagonists name…) She’s cruel, violent, a murderer and just all around evil…Oh! Did I mention she’s got a few thousand years of killing people under her belt.. So yeah, all around evil and a psychopath, y’all. A psychopath who is out to kill Gretchen *dramatic music*

 

Kyros: Kyros is Xanthus’s Dagonian friend who, along with 3 others, is assigned with the task of protecting Gretchen…On land. Kyros started out as very cold, standoffish and just plain old grumpy to be honest. I loved his character (and the relationship between he and Gretchen *squeals* ) and even though he started off really grumpy and a little harsh, his grouchy protectiveness kinda grows on ya. Like a lot…Don’t say I didn’t warn you that you may (its very likely) get a fictional crush on this guy!

 

Okay. Pausing the Character section of the review for a moment…well kind of. Before I move on to the last couple characters, I wanna point out something I found amusing. There were multiple times Gretchen and/or Sara would go out, escorted by multiple Dagonians and the author showed how basically everyone kind of just stared at these girls beings escorted by these giant men…and while reading this, in my head I’m just going: #mylife (okay maybe take away the hashtag but you get what I mean) *cough cough* My Dad is 6’4″, My Uncle is 6’8″ and my two cousins are both really tall dudes…(about 6’4″ to 6’5″ ish..) and my other uncle is like 6’5″ ish so you get my point… Some of my friends are even scared/intimidated by my Dad and Uncle (The one who is 6’8″) and I’m totally cool with it. But yeah…reading those scenes made me giggle just a bit 😛 (I mean the author never specified how tall these guys were in the novel so they could be taller than Six foot something but yeah… anyways. Back to the review of the characters!

 

Okay so, these last two characters we don’t see much of. (one of them is just a little child) but I am hoping that in the next novel (which I am almost dying waiting for) they will make a return and maybe be mentioned more.

First is Thane: Son of Thanatos (who is Death himself)** and a very important character of significance to this story! What is said significance? Well….

I tried to resist the urge of using a GIF but I couldn’t!

If you want to find out this characters significance, go read this book 😉 All I’m saying is that I hope to see more of this character later!

 

Donovan: Now this is the character who is just a baby…I mean it literally. But I feel like SOOOOOO many things could happen here with this little character thrown into the cast here. You hardly see any of this character except in the last couple chapters but I’m guessing here that this character could be significant later! (If not, whatever.. but still! I’m just so excited and making assumptions and guesses all over the place here!)

 

Now that that is done its time for my overall thoughts and rating of this book!

*drumroll*

…….

 

…….

 

…….

 

 

And 5 stars for me! I absolutely loved this novel to itty bitty little pieces! Such a well done book and an amazing read! Absolutely love it and cannot wait for the next book! ( I also REALLY want a movie series made of this book series. Like, you have NO idea how badly I want it!)

 

And that is it for my review of this wonderful book! Have you read this novel before? or Rising? Do you plan on reading them? (if you don’t I suggest you change your mind 😉 ) Is there any other novels you find amazing that have to do with mermaids and/or other fantasy creatures? 

Talk to me below my lovely readers! I love hearing from you! (and I reply to all comment 😉 )

Until Next Time!

Adriana Gabrielle

** like mentioned above these novels are linked with Greek Gods and many others hence Thane being the son of Death so…yeah 😛

 

Book Review- Rising by Holly Kelly

Hello Fellow Readers,

Do you know what time it is?

More book review time!!!! YAY!!!!

This is so far one of my new favourite series of books. LOVE it so much…as you will see as the post goes on.

That said…ON WITH THE POST!

In a war between the humans and the inhabitants of the sea—humans will lose. Xanthus Dimitriou—the most lethal Dagonian to rise from the ocean—is on a mission to save mankind from annihilation. But first there’s one small thing he needs to do… kill a beautiful young woman in a wheelchair.

Killing her doesn’t start out as part of his plan. He entrenches himself deep in the human world. Aligning himself with his enemies, he prepares to send them to Triton to face their punishment. Then Sara Taylor rolls onto the scene. Xanthus knows at once she’s a criminal. And her crime? Being born. She’s a human/Dagonian half-breed, an abomination. Killing her should be an easy job. All he has to do is break into her apartment, slit her throat, and feed her body to the sharks. Simple, right? Wrong. If only she weren’t so beautiful, so innocent, so sweet…

Saving the world may have to wait. It appears Xanthus has a woman to save. But protecting her may cost him his own life.

Plot: Oh my gosh. Where do I start?? I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOOVED this whole novel and the plot was REALLY well written. Tons of plot twists and its own uniqueness. You’re probably thinking something like:

‘As if. It’s a mermaid story. So overdone.’

I was thinking the same thing when I looked at the synopsis on amazon but I got it for these 3 reasons.

1.) I LOVE Mermaids. End of story. So I automatically decided that even if it was the usual, cliche, mermaid story I was gonna read it.

2.) It was free on Amazon. Why not?

3.) I LOVE MERMAIDS…..Okay I already said that but seriously…and I guess the main characters aren’t ‘mermaids’ per say… They’re actually a relative of the mermaids called ‘Dagonians’ but either way.

Anyways. The plot was amazing, really unique, well written, and overall just awesome

Genre: Fantasy.

Well, as you all know by now I LOVE all things Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I really do. LOVE IT to itty-bitty pieces.

I also love the whole mythical creature aspect to Fantasy novels. My top 3 favourite fantasy creatures are:

1.) Mermaids/Sirens
2.) Centaurs
and 3.)Fauns/Saytrs

If the fantasy story has either one of these fantasy creatures I’m sold.

I would also maybe put it down as a Romance too?? Maybe…Okay, yeah. Probably XD Well….I don’t know. Lets just go with this:

It’s a Fantasy novel with Romance.

Done. Okay.

Moving on. 😛

Characters: Oh my goshness. We could be here a REALLY long time if I fangirl too much. So, I will try to keep it short.
Sara: Sara is the FMC of the story. Part of the story is told from her POV. (The other half from Xanthus’s) Sara is a tough cookie and I like her a lot. She keeps to herself most of the time and tends to stay home, doing her work from there. I mean, getting around in a wheelchair, by yourself is rather hard….and dangerous considering the area where she lives. She lives in the poor area of town where there are a lot of bad people hiding around every corner waiting to hurt you in some way. Anyways. Sara is one of my favourites. She has is a tough cookie when the situation calls for it (Hello, she used pepper spray on Xanthus XD ) but yet she’s not one of those leading female rolls that are always like: ‘I’m so awesome I don’t need anyones help’

Sara is a little like that at one point, though. She keeps claiming she doesn’t need help where, in quite a few ways, she does. No matter how much she denys it, she needs some help.

Anyways. I like her because she is a strong lead character but not one of those strong ‘I don’t need anyones help because I’m better than all of you’ characters.

Xanthus: Tee-hee-hee. Extreme fangirl time. *GRIN* I LOVE LOVE LOVED Xanthus as a character. He’s smart, caring, and very protective of Sara. (Like REALLY protective)

Xanthus is a Dragonian who was given the ability to turn human, by the sea god Triton, when on land so he could complete the mission given to him…Stop the humans, in any way possible, from polluting the water which is resulting in the death of millions of Dagonians.

Anyways….I LOVE Xanthus! One of my favourites. (I have a few new favourite charries in the second book too but yeah…)
Gretchen: Gretchen is Sara’s best friend. (who is playing a more major role in the second book of the series) She cares for her friend and tries to help her where she can. Gretchen is the kind of person you don’t want to tick off cause she can get quite angry and a little loud. I just loved her character a lot. She was one of my favourites. She is quite sassy and sarcastic and I love it!
Other Dagonian Dude Who’s Name I Currently Forget: Okay, okay. I know. Not helpful and terribly unprofessional. At all. But I can’t remember his name and he has made no appearance in the second novel (so far) so I am not reminded of it.

Anyways. this guy. (We’re just gonna call him ‘Guy’) is the antagonist of the story….and I hate him. Total stick in the mud, creepy and yeah..don’t like him.

Yucky.

Setting: Most of the story took place in Hawaii (where I have never been) and in the ocean, obviously… XD Anyways. I LOVED how well the setting was described. Everything was described so well that it felt like I was everywhere the characters were. It was awesome and really well done.

Other: This story is heavily influenced by Greek mythology (obviously) so if you don’t like the whole Greek God’s and Goddesses and stuff then I wouldn’t really suggest it.

Also, Some of the Dragonians say ‘Hades’ quite a bit. Considering that Hades is the God of the Underworld I think it is supposed to be used instead of ‘Hell’ (though there is a slight chance I’m wrong.)

Overall: Overall I LOVED this book. Both this book and ‘Decsending’ (book 2) were AMAZING and I was totally sucked into these stories. (Trust me. I was so into these novels that, multiple times, it would take my mom a couple minutes to get my attention 😛 )

Anyways. Overall I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. It was exactly what I expected and even more so. AMAZING book. LOVED it.

So thats it for this book review. I’ll post the link again HERE (in case you missed it above) where you can get the first book FREE.

Until Next Time!

Adriana Gabrielle