Book Review: The Lightning Thief

Title: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Rating: 5/5
Summary: "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 has angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning blot 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."
                                             (I got this from the back of the book)


I first heard about Percy Jackson in my online biology class, at first I thought it was some weird Harry Potter thing. Then a year latter I am at the library and I see The Lightning Thief and think "why not half my class was crazy over it. If I don't like it I will stop reading it." So I checked it out. I read it and I really really REALLY liked it. I told my sisters they had to read it and they did, they read it and really really REALLY liked it. I will admit that I was intrigued by the whole idea that the Greek Gods where real and still around. I thought it was a brilliant basis for a story, so brilliant that I am surprised no one had thought of it before.

The story was a fascinating. It was hard to put the book down. I really enjoyed Percy's humors telling of the story. Rick Riordan is a talented writer, though I will admit that after having read some of his other works, he does improve as he writes more. But this is a great debut novel and I really enjoyed it.

Having read this book(and the rest of the series) has greatly increased my knowledge of Greek mythology. Sister #2 is really great at researching things, and she did quite a bit for Greek mythology to see how much of what Rick Riordan was putting in his books was true. I have always enjoyed the stories from Greek mythology and Percy Jackson has brought them to life for me. I am one who is all for bringing history to life. It is why I love historical fiction. Greek mythology is part of history.

So one thing that would make some one uncomfortable is the gods part. I did read some were thought that if that was taken out it would kind of mess up the story and plot line, since they are a big part of the book. Actually kind of at the center of the story.

I found it interesting how Rick Riordan has a kid who is dyslexic and ADHD the hero of the story. I was really pleased about that. The way the family life worked was is interesting too. How much Percy loved his mom was great to see in the book, he didn't say anything rude about her, yeah there were thing about his mom that annoyed him, but we all get annoyed with other people it is normal,parents or not. We live with them, that does not mean we can be rude though. I liked how Riordan handled Percy's relationship with his father. I don't know how to describe it, I just liked it.

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone. It is a great easy read, and lots of fun. There are times when you will want to laugh out loud, not many books make me giggle out loud. :)
Blessings
~Elizabeth