Hello! This is the third 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 Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

• Genre: YA, fantasy, fiction
  
• Published May 5th 2007 by Disney Hyperion Books
• Pages: 320
• Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
• Average Goodreads Rating: 4.32 out of 5 stars
• My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
• Alex’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars

• Plot:IT’S NOT EVERYDAY YOU FIND YOURSELF IN COMBAT WITH A HALF-LION, HALF-HUMAN.

But when you’re the son of a Greek god, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a goddess is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh, and guess what? The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive…

REVIEW

What were your thoughts before reading?

Alex: I was super excited going into this book because it was my favorite book the first time around. There several characters (Zoe Nightshade, Nico di Angelo, and Rachel Elizabeth Dare in particular) that I was really looking forward to being introduced again.

Arvenig: I was excited since in the last review Alex said the other three books were going to be better! And I really wanted to start the third book because the second, well, ended with a very strange event! (Sorry I just don’t want to spoil anything :)).

What are your final thoughts after reading the book?

Alex: I think this is the first book that I actually liked as much as I did the first time I read them. There are just so many lovable parts of this installment. The new characters, the early Percabth feels, the fact that this is the only book in this series that actually makes me cry. It’s just great.

Arvenig: I was surprised because I admit I didn’t expect much! I love Artemis, and I obviously loved when she was around with her Hunters! I really enjoyed the fact that we met many gods and goddesses. I really found it interesting and fun! The book didn’t make me cry (I think I wasn’t in the mood), but Nico……

What did you think of the plot/storyline?

Alex: Obviously, this book has the same quest format as all of them do (that’s kind of a fantasy thing, honestly), but I really love the slow reveal of the new characters backstories, even if I did already know what happens. This book in particular does an amazing job of giving you just enough clues to confuse you, but not enough that there’s no big reveal at the end. Oh, and that big reveal at the end was still pretty great. Nico is so cute…

Arvenig: Same format, but this time I really enjoyed it! As I said before there are many more gods Percy “interacts” with, and I find that really cool. I really liked that this time other than the quest there were backstories, links to other events, etc.

Who was your favorite new character introduced in this book?

Alex: My favorite character in this book is Zoe Nightshade. I don’t know what it is about her. I just really love her character. She really has that “independent heroine” thing going for her, and she’s a really good role model, honestly. I keep hoping Rick Riordan will announce a spin-off with Zoe’s backstory, but that doesn’t seem to be happening any time soon…I can still dream.

Arvenig: I agree with Alex I really liked the independence of Zoe and her personality and I think that the spin-off with Zoe’s backstory would be awesome!.
But I find Thalia very interesting character, and I also liked her personality! Sometimes I really could understand her. At the beginning you think she would be the kind of girl you don’t want to mess up with, but in the end she has a sweet side as well. I admit that from the description of Thalia I thought she was going to be into emo or punk and when I got to know her better I think she had “only” a difficult life and she was just building a wall to seem stronger.

(By the way these are my thoughts if you don’t agree I’d love to hear about it in the comments but please don’t hate)

What are your top 5 favorite quotes?

Alex:

1. “‘Let us find the dam snack bar,’ Zoe said. ‘We should eat while we can.’
   Grover cracked a smile. ‘The dam snack bar?’
   Zoe blinked. ‘Yes. What is funny?’
   ‘Nothing,’ Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. ‘I could use some dam french fries.’
   Even Thalia smiled at that. ‘And I need to use the dam restroom.’
   …
   I started cracking up, and Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at me. ‘I do not understand.’
   ‘I want to use the dam water fountain,’ Grover said.
   ‘And…’ Thalia tried to catch her breath. ‘I want to buy a dam t-shirt.’”
2. “‘Do you always try to kill people when they blow their nose?’”
3. **SPOILER ALERT**“‘Stars,’ she whispered. ‘I can see the stars again, my lady.’
   A tear trickled down Artemis’s cheek. ‘Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight.’
   ‘Stars,’ Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.” **END OF SPOILER**
   
4. “‘Look, I need to tell you something,’ I continued. The words came stumbling out of me. ‘I couldnt stand it if…I dont want you to—‘
   ‘Percy?’ she said. ‘You look like you’re going to be sick.’
   And that’s how I felt.”
5. “‘That’s us,’ he said. ‘Those five nuts right there.’
   ‘Which one is me?’ I asked.
   ‘The little deformed one,’ Zoe suggested.”

Arvenig:

1. “She looked a little hurt, and I was sorry about that, but I was ready to be out of the car, If my mom told one more story about how cute I looked in the bath when I was three years old, I was going to burrow into the snow and freeze myself to death.”
2. “‘You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search.’”
3. “There is always a way out for those who are clever enough to find it.”
4. “I looked at Thalia and Zoe and I decided it wouldn’t be the worstthing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.”
5. “Even the bravest can fall”

What’s your rating for this book and why?

Alex: I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. As I said before, it’s one of my favorite books in this series. This is this book where the series really takes off and becomes the series so many people are obsessed with (me). It’s the first book that really gives me all of the feels, and it just makes me really excited to continue. I have no complaints.

Arvenig: I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. Lots of feels, adventure and new people! There are some great quotes and lots of fun things.

The Twitter Chat Winner

We had a twitter giveaway yesterday where we gave away a bookmark made by Alex! We also (finally) had a winner for our giveaway a couple weeks ago!

The winners of the giveaway were… Caiichi Michelle (@MimiUnicornRain) and Liz Lima (@lizlima05)!

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?

And remember to enter the giveaway!!!

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Thanks for reading,