Hello! This is the second 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 Sea Of Monsters by Rick Riordan

• Genre: YA, fantasy, fiction
  
• Published April 1st 2006 by Disney Hyperion Books
• Pages: 279
• Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
• Average Goodreads Rating: 4.22/5 stars
• My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
• Alex’s rating: 3 out of 5 stars
• Plot: The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan’s amazing young readers series…

• …Starring Percy Jackson, a “half blood” whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan’s series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment. In this episode, The Sea of Monsters, Percy sets out to retrieve the Golden Fleece before his summer camp is destroyed, surpassing the first book’s drama and setting the stage for more thrills to come.

REVIEW

What were your thoughts before reading?

Alex: Honestly, this book has always been my least favorite, but they only get better from here, so I kind of see this book as a bridge book to the last three. By itself, it’s still good, but I’m definitely comparing it to the rest, which are significantly better.

Arvenig: I was excited to continue the Percy Jackson series. I didn’t have many thoughts about it, I guess.

What are your final thoughts after reading the book?

Alex: I enjoyed it because it’s Rick Riordan, but I’m still unimpressed with this book compared to the rest of the series. The foreshawdowing was a little weird since, well, I already know what happens (probably not Rick Riordan’s fault), but at the same time it was kind of funny. It’s strange and awesome to know exactly what’s going to happen to these characters, and it’s hard to not spoil it for Arvenig. (Especially regarding that cliffhanger XD.)

Arvenig: This time Rick Riordan left us a big question at the end (don’t worry no spoilers) and this time I need to know what’s going to happen in next!
And when I read THAT cliffhanger I turned the page but the next page was blank and I said WHAT!? out loud, I was in a train and some people looked at me like I was nuts… (at the same way Annabeth looked at percy “like he was nuts” when he said Mizzenmast).

What did you think of the plot/storyline?

Alex: I’ve always seen this book as a little less cool and creative compared to the rest of the books. I get annoyed with Percy over the whole Tyson thing. I miss Grover. Annabeth doesn’t seem nearly as smart, or, you know, smart at all. I get angry to the point of putting the book down for awhile several times. I basically find unfair treatment of characters impossible to read, and this one has a lot of that.

Arvenig: In this book the story has a main subject: a quest (again).I liked the fact that the books skip the school year (until something happens); it’s original. Last but not least during the book Percy always explained things we learned in the first book again (ex. Chiron is a centaur, Grover is a satyr and it is a friend of Percy and Annabeth) I don’t know if I liked that or not…

What did you think of Percy’s new friend (Tyson)?

Alex: I like Tyson, but not as much as Percy’s other friends, Annabeth and Grover. At the same time, I’m pretty defensive of him when Percy starts being mean and childish. He’s occasionally amusing, but it’s not as good the second time around.

Arvenig: I like this character, he’s still a child (SPOILER: since for Cyclops he’d be 8 years old or something like that) and I loved his love for ponies (fish ponies, ect.). I was pretty defensive as well when Percy didn’t want him for a brother.

What are your top 5 favorite quotes?

Alex:

1. ‘You weren’t able to talk sense into him?’
   ‘Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death.’
   ‘I see. You tried the diplomatic approach.’
2. Ever come home and found your room messed up? Like some helpful person (hi, Mom) has tried to ‘clean’ it, and suddenly you can’t find anything? And even if nothing is missing, you get that creepy feeling like somebody’s been looking through your private stuff and dusting everything with lemon furniture polish?
3. ‘The moral?’ Hermes asked. ‘Goodness, you act like it’s a fable. It’s a true story. Does truth have a moral?’
4. Young people don’t always do what they’re told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. (I live by this.)
5. ‘Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that’s not important.’
   ‘It was probably important to her.’

Arvenig:

1. The only bad thing about Meriwether was that the teachers always looked on the bright side of things, and the kids weren’t always…. well, bright.
2. I pressed play and started up Chiron’s favourite – The All Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin. Suddendly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in italian
3. ‘Um…’ I said ‘would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?’
   Nobody answered.
   ‘Right’ I muttered ‘just checking’.
4. If Annabeth and Tyson were actually agreeing about something, I figured I’d better listen.
5. ‘When you’re at sea, you have perfect bearings. That is so cool’ I wasn’t sure about that. I didn’t want to be a human GPS unit

What’s your rating for this book and why?

Alex: I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. For the reasons mentioned above, it’s never been my favorite book. I see it as a bridge to the next books. It’s still a good book by itself, but when you’ve seen how well Rick Riordan can construct a story, this one is just lacking. On the bright side, it’s short.

Arvenig: I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I found it a little bit repetitive, but I quite enjoyed reading it. I gave this rating probably because it didn’t get me so much.

The Twitter Chat Winner

We had a twitter chat on Friday where we discussed The Sea of Monsters. We also had a giveaway! And nobody answered sooo if you want to win a bookmark go to my twitter and answer the trivia! (@Arvenig_Blog  &  @AGeekWithBooks)

Don’t forget: We’re having another Twitter chat for each book in the series! The one for the next book, The Titan’s Curse, is on Friday, July 15, at 12 PM EDT. We hope! to see you there!

Our Twitters:

Alex’s Twitter

Arvenig’s Twitter

What was your favourite part of the book?

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