The Lightning Thief ~ Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)
★★★★☆
This book was what made me a voracious reader. It was recommended to me by a friend at the Scholastic book fair of 2010 (who rightfully told me to read the books before watching the movie). I devoured the books and read them twice (possibly more but it was so long ago). A friend of mine and I were discussing them because I was reading the Harry Potter series for the first time and we decided to start a IRL book club. And so for the first time in 8 years, I re-read The Lightning Thief.
I was so nostalgic reading this. I felt 11 again, in love with Percy and giggling at the little comments. However, I wouldn't be honest if I said that there were some things that I hadn't noticed the first few times around that really stood out now. A lot of the situations were silly to the point of unbelievability, and sometimes even stupidly unrealistic.
I know, I know, this is blasphemy! But, come on, that ending with Medusa's head is...unsettling in its implications.
I found the narrative voice to be very juvenile, but not actually that of a 12-year-old. He felt pretty solidly 14 or 15 based on his own actions and the actions of his peers and authority figures towards him. It felt like an old guy trying to sound like a 12-year-old.
However! I still loved it. It will always hold the biggest spot in my heart and I'll always think of it fondly. It's middle grade (very obviously so) and so I will excuse some of the more...disconcerting aspects.
Note: Since it's fresh in my brain, I can say with some authority that Percy Jackson is not a rip-off of Harry Potter unless J.K. Rowling holds the copyright on black hair, green eyes, urban fantasy, chosen ones, and boy-girl friend trios, which she does not.
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