The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)
byRick Riordan

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

With cover art from the major motion picture, this first installment of Rick Riordan's best-selling series is a non-stop thrill-ride and a classic of mythic proportions.

“If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.”
― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

 I am going to be completely honest and admit that I saw the movie before I read this book and I liked it. Now, I know  many people who would happily flog me (yes flog) for liking the movie adaptation, but I always feel the need to remind them that when I first saw it, I had not read the book and therefore had nothing to compare it to. Upon completing the book, I can admit I see what people were so angry about; the book and movie are completely different. And I understand the anger. But just to clear the air, I still like the movie...now, let me elaborate. When looking at the movie from the perspective of it being based on a book, then yes, I agree it is a pretty poor adaptation. But, if one were to look at the movie itself, without comparing it to anything, then in my opinion, it is pretty awesome.

So now that that is out of the way, let's talk about the book!

I feel like such a complete fool for not reading this book earlier, espeically when I was around the age group the book it targeted for. I admit, it was weird for awhile reading a book about a twelve year old after so many years in YA now, but after a while, the weirdness faded.

I have always loved mythology; especially Greek. In school, I enjoyed the lessons about all the different gods and what they all stood for. So naturally, I was excited going into this book. Also, one of my best friends kept pushing it on me.

The characters had personality, depth, and most importantly, grew as the story continued. At the beginning, Percy changed so much from the beginning of the book to the end. He had much more confidence towards the end of the book, which is always great to see in a character. Grover also grew as a character. He was always sort of stuttering around, and seemed just a tad cowardly, but was a loyal, trustworthy friend. Percy and Annabeth could count on him when he was needed most. Annabeth I will admit, I found a bit annoying at first. She was sort of rude and irritating, but I found myself liking her a lot more as the story unfolded.

The plot of the story had me interested the whole time. However, it was a bit predictable at times. The action was fun and exciting.

I really liked this book, but I didn't LOVE it, hence the 4 out of 5 stars. Overall, it was a fun read. I wasn't expecting it to be the best book ever, and I wasn't too hard on it because I knew it was aimmed at the younger audiences. Though, I feel as though everyone, no matter what age, should read this book at some point in their lives just because it's a fun read for any age. Planning on reading the next book soon. I actually borrowed it from my friend but left it at my house when I came back to school from break. So I'll just have to wait until my next visit, or get it from the library. :)

Below, I am posting the trailer for the movie (with the amazing Logan Lerman ;) lol)