Hello! This is the fourth review of the Half-Blood Readalong of Percy Jackson series hosted by Alex @ A Geek with Books and Arvenig @ Arvenig.it. If you want more information on our readalong, you can check out our announcement post. Join the Goodreads group for a free entry to our Percy Jackson-themed goody bag giveaway, and you can enter here.

We’re going to do a different kind of review. Obviously, it’s going to be from both of us, but it’s also in a Q&A format! (Tell me what you think of this because I really like it!)

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

• Genre: YA, fantasy, fiction
  
• Published March 6th 2008 by Disney Hyperion Books
• Pages: 361
• Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Book Four)
• Average Goodreads Rating: 4.38 out of 5 stars
• My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
• Alex’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

• Plot: Percy Jackson isn’t expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse. In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos’s army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth – a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.

REVIEW

What were your thoughts before reading?

Alex: I didn’t really know what to think going into this because I didn’t remember much from the first time I read it. Basically, I remembered the outcome, but I didn’t remember how they got there!

Arvenig: I was excited to start to the fourth book since the third was pretty amazing!

What are your final thoughts after reading the book?

Alex: Whenever something happened I almost always went, “I remember this now!” Though there were several times when I honestly didn’t remember something happening at all. I’m not sure why I didn’t remember this book as much as I remembered the other ones. Also, NICO. AHH. It’s so weird going back and seeing tiny Nico who’s so sad and cute. I just want to give the guy a hug.

Arvenig: I loved the fact that there is Daedalus because he’s one of my top favorite people of Greek mythology, mainly for his story. I find it funny because Alex said the same thing as me (I remember this!!) but for different reasons during this book XD. I love Nico and Tyson they’re so so cute :3. They’re are really different; Tyson is cute and squishy because he’s childish, so he’s happy and everything, and Nico has been going through a lot of things, ecc.

What did you think of the plot/storyline?

Alex: I love the fact that Annabeth gets her own quest. IT’S ABOUT TIME. I also love that we get to see Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson all together! I feel like this book includes so many things that I’ve been waiting to happen: Kronos, Percabeth..but, ahem, no spoilers. 🙂

Arvenig: Same thing as always: battle, Camp Half-Blood, the Prophecy, and a quest. I like it, but I find it interesting the fact that it is the same thing in all the books. As I said before, I loved seeing them together as well, and there are always new characters as Quintus (that is an important part of the book:)).

What do you think of Nico’s character?

What do you think of Nico's character?

Alex: I love love love love Nico’s character, and he only gets BETTER! (I’m trying not to spoiler it, okay?) Seriously though, I’ve loved him from the beginning. What can I say? He was adorable playing Mythomagic, and he’s adorable raising the dead. I can’t stop reading fanfiction okay I’m sorry. (I don’t know how I got through this without spoiling bits in The Heroes of Olympus.)

Arvenig: I agree with Alex so so much! He’s so adorable. We saw him the first time in the third book and he just gets better and better. I don’t really know how to explain this, but I hope there will be more about him!

What are your top 5 favorite quotes?

Alex:

1. “People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can’t be fixed.”
2. “You deal with mythological stuff for a few years, you learn that paradises are usually places where you get killed.”
3. “‘I thought maybe, at first, he was seeing another tree.’
4. ‘No,’ Annabeth said, as Juniper started crying. ‘I’m sure that’s not it.’‘He had a crush on a blueberry bush once,’ Juniper said miserably.”
5. “I tried to talk to him in my mind. I can do that with most horses.
   Hi, I told him. I’m going to clean your stables. Won’t that be great?
   Yes! The horse said. Come inside! Eat you! Tasty half-blood!
   But I’m Poseidon’s son, I protested. He created horses.
   Usually this gets me VIP treatment in the equestrian world, not this time.
   Yes! The horse agreed enthusiastically. Poseidon can come in, too! We will eat you both! Seafood!
   Seafood! The other horses chimed in as they waded through the field.”
   “Poseidon raised his eyebrows as they shook hands. ‘Blowfish, did you say?’
   ‘Ah, no. Blofis, actually.’
   ‘Oh, I see,’ Poseidon said. ‘A shame. I quite like blowfish.’”

Arvenig:

1. “You’re a half-blood, too?
   Shhh! Just announce it to the world, how about?
   Okay. Hey, everybody! These two aren’t human! They’re half Greek god!…They don’t seem to care.”
2. Don’t feel bad, I’m usually about to die.
3. But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword.
4. “He just raised the dead with coke and cheeseburgers”
5. “A: ‘Are you guys busy?’
   B: Well, we’re in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we’re trying not to die.
   C: We’re not busy.”

What’s your rating for this book and why?

Alex: My rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars. The Battle of the Labyrinth, while not my favorite book in the series, is still an amazing book. The Percy Jackson series really takes off from The Titan’s Curse and never backs down. (*cough*let’s ignore The Blood of Olympus for the time being*cough*).

Arvenig: My rating is 4 out of 5 stars. Again I really liked it, but there weren’t enough feels for a 5 out of 5 stars. I think I don’t have much preference between this and the third book too: in the third there’s Artemis and some very little and weird Percabeth; in this one there are Percabeth scenes and there are Nico and Tyson

The Twitter Chat Winner

We currently have a giveaway where you can win a bookmark made by Alex! It’s still open, so head over to Alex’s Twitter to enter.

Don’t forget: We’re having a Twitter chat at the end of our readalong Friday, August 12th at 12 PM EDT.

Our Twitters:

Alex’s Twitter

Arvenig’s Twitter

What was your favourite part of the book?

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Thanks for reading,