Reading Responses at 2am – SPOILER ALERT!
My spoiler saturated thoughts on the books I read
I’m on such a big Percy Jackson kick right now it isn’t even funny. Like I ran into a kid that was going through Heros of Olympus right now and wanted to fan girl with her, even though I am super old.
This book was just fun. It’s like fanfic written by the author just with these random little stories – which I guess isn’t completely random as they come into play in the later books. But they just have that FEEL about them.
(smiles) I love these books.
DAUGH! This is the SECOND time Goodreads has done this where I’ll be halfway through a review on my phone and then the app quits for no reason!
Ok, taking a deep breath here. I like writing on my laptop better anyways. Flow of consciousness and everything because I can type pretty close to how fast I can think. Ok NO ONE can type that fast, but you get what I mean. (Side note my 11 year old son said that he can type as good as me now so he doesn’t need to do the typing program I found for him anymore. I told him to step aside and let me sit down. I may have flexed a little and blown him away which how fast I can go. And not to go to hell or anything but man it felt good.)
OK! BOOK! I loved it. After a few chapters I asked my husband who has a freaking Ph.D in Astrobiology (That’s LIFE in SPACE for all you kids at home) what he thought about all this. He said that he was the person who told me to read it. I poked him a little more asking about the science stuff and he said it’s fine, that it’s book but it isn’t saying the Earth is flat or something. So there, an official scientist who ate and breathed this stuff for six years has spoken, which honestly made what I was reading even more interesting.
Now THOUGHTS! I was worried it was going to be Mark all over again, but it wasn’t. Were they similar? Sure, but this guy was all his own. And where Mark was all brave and kind of a “Let’s do this YAH!” kind of guy Grace clearly wasn’t, which was made punch in your face clear when he got that last memory back where he clearly said he did NOT want to go and they had to DRUG him and tie him down in a spaceship. I wanted to talk to someone about it so bad, but my husband was at work and the friend I went walking with hand’t read it. It was torture waiting for him to get home. I wonder if Grace ever came clean to Rocky about that.
Can we talk about Rocky for a minute? I’ve mentioned before that my husband has an amazing ability to drop big spoilers, we call it the “talking dog phenomenon” going back to the great incident when he said there was a talking dog in one of the Mystborn books. He’s done it a couple of times since, and he did it this time being all “Oh so you’ve met the friendly alien?” when all I had seen was the kill sun mold. Sigh.
Rocky was so awesome, I just loved him and ate up his scenes and dialogue. He was so smart and supportive and snarky, and I love how they figured out how to communicate with each other. Though when he mentioned Fourier Transforms my heart began to beat fast and not in a good way. I have a bad relationship with them. On the one hand they are beautiful and amazing and I love them to death, but they were cruel and didn’t love me back. They were determined to break my little engineering spirit and did a pretty bang up job at it. But he wasn’t coding them by hand, he was probably using the command “FFT” or Fast Fourier Transform. Oh my gosh you could do all sorts of cool things if you don’t have to do any of the behind the scenes. Yay for black boxes!
Back to Rocky! It made me smile so big when Grace went back for him. (I honestly was confused when they said good bye because it was a weak scene for how momentous of a moment narratively that was supposed to be. I thought the author had messed up, but no! It wasn’t the end!) Then I smiled again when you find out Rocky’s mate had waited for him. And then when Grace got to live there and spend the rest of his life with his friend. 🙂 It was not the ending I expected, but it was a good ending that I’m glad happened. And when you find out they did save Earth, and that last scene when you find out he gets to do what he really loves again, which is teach.
This was such a good book. I don’t think it is better than The Martian I just think it is different. It felt like there was less numbers or hard science, but maybe my mind was working better than the last time I read The Martian or it was a lot more straightforward. The thing is I don’t really care which it is, because it’s not going to change how I feel about it. It was kind of hard to read and when I was sick, though, I had to put it aside because I knew that it was a long line of “what broke now?” and “what’s going to kill us today.” It’s fun how they figure out how to not be dead and find the answer to save bazzilions of life forms, but the stress isn’t good when you feel like you’re dying. (I got my covid booster, see reviews of Dash and Lily books).
This review is all over the place. I just had so many thoughts while reading it and nothing is really in any sort of order.
Oh well.
Yay books! Yay reading! Yay reading another book my husband told me to read!
Now what will I pick next…. The Hero’s of Olympus books are weeeeeeeeks away (I’m on such a bad Percy Jackson kick right now it isn’t even funny), and I’ve already read everything I own multiple times. Austinland? Murderbot? The Lost Metal which has been sitting by my bed since last December with an inch of dust? Yeah. I guess I should actually finish that series. If I don’t do it soon I’ll get my Sanderson fanclub membership card taken away.
Everything he writes is golden, to the point where I love these characters even though they aren’t Percy.
It’s just… this is the first time I’m reading it since reading Apollo…
And my heart just wasn’t in it. All of it, is just ruined. I’m going to keep reading the rest of them but I’ll be crying on the inside the whole time.
I can’t believe how good this book was.
Everything, from character development to world building (in and out of OASIS) to the ebb and flow of the plot – it was perfect.
It also helped that my parents prepared me for this day by having me watch a ton of ’80’s movies so I was able to get a lot of the references. And for all of you out there, “Ladyhawk” is the best!
Spoiler Alert: HE LIVES!
This is such a good book. Like I don’t mind telling people that they should read it. Sure there is MATH (cue scary sounds) but it is still relatable with him giving commentary about what those numbers actually mean.
The way he tackles each problem individually and is able to focus instead of getting overwhelmed by the whole “how do I not DIE?!” and see “how do I not die TODAY.” Not saying he didn’t do some hardcore long-term planning (his farm is proof that he is thinking that way) but I can learn a lot from him about taking a breath and seeing what needs to be done today instead of freaking out. It’s like the saying goes “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
His overall personality is also awesome. Like I’m a pretty conservative person (not politically *shudders*) but the swearing didn’t bother me. Like his first line, I think being stranded on a desert planet is a perfectly acceptable time to use the F-word. The fact that he didn’t censor himself at all (I laughed out loud when he made the “that’s what she said” joke) made this all seem more real. That everything is thrown out the window because this is NOT a normal mission.
I actually really loved it when they switched to what was happening on Earth. Like there wasn’t a part of this book that I was like “aww man this perspective again? When can I get back to his blog entries!?” Nope it was just as interesting as what was going on on Mars.
Though I wonder… My father-in-law is a top so and so person at NASA (not with missions and stuff), and I kind of want to ask him if there is that much swearing from the people in charge of everything.
You know what else is awesome about this book? I usually fall apart when looking at NASA and missions and stuff because of some junk in my past (see my review of Calculating Stars), but I didn’t feel any of that while reading this book. Maybe it’s because of his personality. I don’t know, and I’m not going to psychoanalyze myself.
This was a great book that is a fun read and I recommend it to everyone. 🙂
I read this all in one day, and it wasn’t just because I was stuck in bed, it really is that good. This one is easily my favorite, and the title MATTERS. How home really is the whole point of it all. Like this entire series matters, like in a Stormlight Archive way. It’s about epic battles between good and evil and figuring out how you fit into all it. And it all boils down to choices. Like Annabeth’s choice to not give up, and Percy’s choice to cede control. Because of who they are they were enough to save the world. How is that not something to idolize?
Something that hit me this time was even after how many times I’ve read it I still cry. The scene that got me the most was when Aphrodite’s daughter dies, like I was really holding myself back. And when Luke dies and the gods show up, Percy is just in so much shock when he asks for a burial shroud for a son of Hermes. They do so much and fought so hard (these fight scenes with Percy are some of the best in the whole series) but in the end they were just teenagers trying their hardest to save the world.
Sigh.
Happy stuff, Percy and Annebeth are together! Yay! They had been so awkward for so long, it was a relief when they can just openly talk about how much they matter to each other. And that underwater kiss? 🙂
I just got Lost Hero from the library, but the other ones are weeks away. I think I’ll tackle The Martian next, you know, completely shift gears. While I was in the middle of reading this one there was an online conclave for the Emma M. Lion books I love, and man, it was like whiplash going from “all western civilization is hanging in the balance” to “will she end up with the guy I’m rooting for?” It’s such a small story, if she died the world would not end. Her failure doesn’t affect anyone else besides herself. I feel like The Martian will be a good middle ground, where the stakes are high but nothing bad is going to happen to humanity if he fails. Which of course he doesn’t, and makes me smile along the way.
I love these books.
These books aren’t just fun, they are really well-written too. There are several reasons why they are so popular and successful. And I know this might sound cheesy, but they are important. At least to me, and to a bunch of other people.
I’m in my thirties, and I’m identifying with a middle school book series.
Gosh I’m tired. I got sick last night and am just hanging out in bed with Gatorade and trying to articulate my thoughts for these reviews that no one reads. Let’s just say that the idea of what makes a hero has been on my mind lately, and the fight between good and evil and how it can be so obvious and so messy at the same time. To wonder why you don’t just give up when faced with impossible odds.
Annabeth kisses Percy in this book, and all the little things adding up that make you smile at how dumb he is. I’ve been reading a lot of fanfic snitbits lately and a favorite one is that Percy is a trophy wife. There are lots of other quotes from Heros of Olympus from when the two of them are actually dating. I love these two kids. Percy may be a handsome killing machine but he’s still a stupid teenage boy when it comes to girls.
This next one is my favorite of the whole series. Good thing my stomach cleared my schedule today.
This one has always been my least favorite (which still means that it is an amazing book) and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because Annabeth isn’t there, or how they call San Fran “Cisoc” (jk). Or how I just didn’t jive with Thalia.
Who cares. I still loved it.
I think I have mentioned how much I love these books, how they are on my to read every years list, how I MAY have some fan art and love reading the little fanfic snip bits people write. Maybe I’ve written some of my own.
So when I heard that they were making a tv show I got really excited. The movies STUNK. The community hated them and Rick pretended they never happened. But these ones, the kid actually looked 12 and Rick was going to be working with them and hopefully keeping everything on track. Maybe the new Percy would actually know about blue candy this time.
So I was weirded out a little when I saw the cast. I mean, Percy is blond. BLOND. Everyone knows that he has black hair. And then Annabeth wasn’t blond at all.
My husband asked if Annabeth being white is actually 100% necessary for her character and the answer is no. But I still felt, still feel, uneasy. I’m being honest. Maybe that is me being white, maybe it is me being more “what am I going to do with my fan art”, I don’t know. I’m still processing and working it out.
What did make me feel better was finding an article where they interviewed Rick about it. It boiled down to “I wrote the books. I signed off on her. Trust me.”
Trust me.
Ok Mr. Riordan. I’ll trust you.
Next book!
I love these books so much. I just smile the whole way through.
And they are such a great way to teach and introduce Greek Mythology! Like kids would probably learn a lot more if they got to read these instead of some boring old textbook.
There are some parts that stuck out to me. Annabeth and the sirens, that scene broke my heart. To have who you are laid bare in front of you… What would I see? What would matter so much to me that I would gladly walk to my death?
And talk about heartbreak, the scenes with Luke. Yeah, right now he’s being a total jerk (understatement) but knowing what is ahead for him, just makes these scenes painful to read with how wrong and twisted up he is. Because that is really what has happened, what evil guy has done to him, what he is doing to each demigod they meet. Like what Luke is saying makes a lot of sense, the gods don’t care which makes them bad which means we need a change. It. honestly is the story of any great revolution. Except Luke’s plan is just plain evil, because it meant bringing down EVERYTHING. Even the innocent. He plays off of every insecurity and bitter thought Percy has ever had. And maybe if it was just Luke and demigods it would have gotten to him, but Percy can see the big picture and how teaming up with monsters who eat people is maybe not a good idea. Like that is part of what makes him so compelling as a protagonist, that he has these hard bitter thoughts but still has a good enough compass to choose the right. Maybe it’s because of his mother and the example she set of a good person. If he was raised differently who knows how he would have fallen.
Fallen like Luke. Man there is a reason book five makes you cry. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Other big thoughts: Circe. I read this book about her a while ago that I think everyone should read in high school instead of the Iliad and junk. It’s from the perspective of a villain and you find out that she wasn’t actually that bad. By the end you just want her to have a happy ending. But that is not how she is in this book. I love the spin on guinea pigs, but the woman in this book is not the woman in the other book. Which is ok. The gods aren’t the same either. Same names, same premise, different characters.
I’m excited to read the next one, even though this one is going to hurt.
I love these books. It’s been years since I read them but my husband gave them to me for Christmas one year (the nice hardcover box set) and I put them on my “to read every year” list.
I know this sounds crazy but I LIKE how angry Percy is. How he struggles to figure out how he actually feels about his dad.
And his mom? Talk about goals – if I could be half the mom she was then I’ll know I made it. To make sure that my kids know I love them so strong that being around me makes their day better.
I heard once someone complain about these books because the whole premise is about the Gods sleeping around and having kids, but that isn’t what they are about. It’s about kids figuring out who they are with a parent who is so completely absent from their lives- just like a lot of kids. And the dyslexia and ADHD stuff? I have both so that made me feel better too.
That maybe I’m hero material too.
I’m excited to read the rest of them.
Reading Responses at 2am - SPOILER ALERT!