Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Titan's Curse (Book 3)

I love the first two books so I immediately bought this third one even though I'm not yet done with the second book. The book was in blue (my favorite color) and the cover seemed dark (my type) and it had a pegasus (loves horses). How could this go wrong?! Haha! I have a feeling that this would be my favorite volume in the series because the exterior already screams so . . .

Then when I've finally started reading it . . . unlike the previous volumes . . . I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!!!! Hehehe. . . . I was so entertained and pleased with it that I finished it as soon as I can~


Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Titan's Curse (Book 3)
by Rick Riordan

When Percy Jackson gets an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he will need his powerful demigod allies at his side, his trusty bronze sword Riptide, and . . . a ride from his mom.
The demigods rush to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that’s not all that awaits them. The titan lord Kronos has devised his most treacherous plot yet, and the young heroes have just fallen prey.
They’re not the only ones in danger. An ancient monster has arisen — one rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus — and Artemis, the only goddess who might know how to track it, is missing. Now Percy and his friends, along with the Hunters of Artemis, have only a week to find the kidnapped goddess and solve the mystery of the monster she was hunting.
Along the way, they must face their most dangerous challenge yet: the chilling prophecy of the titan’s curse.

=== What I Did Not Like:
No matter how much I love a certain book, I don't think it could ever be perfect. These are my non-biased complains to this one:

• The empathy link between Percy and Grover doesn't seem to have much consistency. In the previous book it only occurs through Percy's dream, and now Grover can communicate with him even while Percy's awake. And it seems to be one way, because Grover didn't say any confirmation of hearing Percy calling him when Percy tried it. This is sooo confusing.
• Percy's dreams are becoming TOO convenient, to be honest. They had always been accurate, and it had something to do with his loved one or an event really crucual/significant in his quest.
• When Percy escaped from camp in this book, he was tracked and caught by a school official. But that didn't happen in the previous book. Why? Is this plot convenience again?

=== What I Liked:

I have so many to mention under here . . . but I'll dump most of that under the "favoritism/fangurling" section, haha!

• I like it that even mortals can do something fantastic in this series. I don't remember a Muggle in Harry Potter doing something spectacular. I really like it when even ordinary people can do great things in a fantasy series. It honestly doesn't happen often (they're always: the ones with magic/power are the cool ones. Ugh)
• As far as I know, this is the book that had introduced a lot more new characters compare to the previous two. Nevertheless, you won't feel strange with them because their personality and background had been presented well (no matter how brief). I felt really happy for that because I just read a book that didn't really have that much characters yet they lack background and stuff. It felt like I don't know anything else about them aside from their name and role in the story. Their personality and stuff had been so questionable. With this book it hadn't, though I have to admit that the mythological characters they're based on had helped a lot on that. But honestly, you don't need to have background on mythology to understand these characters~
• Some consider Percy's situation here as the "Chosen One" thing, but I think otherwise. It's because the prophecy didn't exactly choose him among the candidates. It just so happened that he chose to be the one while the other candidate chose not to be. It's their choice, not some divine being or high official or whatever. Believe me, I've read a lot of stories with "chose one" stuff, and Percy hadn't exactly been like that, in my opinion.

=== Fangurling:
Different types of new characters showed up: demigods, gods, immortals, monsters, etc. And many of them are so awesome and lovable! There had also been siblings moments that I adore so much~ There are so many parts that I find very hilarious too! Oh this will be so many to enumerate . . . I'll try to minimize to my top favorites:

===== Demigods:

• Nico - He's soooooooooo ADORABLE!!! He is so crazy about this mythological card games. He's SO GEEKY!!!!

Annabeth: A manticore!
Nico: A manticore? He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!

It was also fun when he was driving Percy crazy:

Nico: Are you really the son of Poseidon?
Percy: Well, yeah.
Nico: You can surf really well, then?
Percy: . . . Jeez, Nico, I've never really tried.

Nico had sort of changed by the end of the book but he's still MY FAVORITE!!!! I spoiled myself on what he could do in later books, AND IT'S SO AWESOME!!! And I love him even more for his undying love for his sister~

• Percy - I could no longer count how many times Percy made me laugh in his narration. But what made me chuckle the most is . . . you see, his brother has this cute way of naming creatures: "Ranbow". While Percy has a more hilarious naming tastes. He just gave a name to a new creature: "Bessie". Bwahahaha! It even made his father frown. Wahahahaha!
• Thalia - She listens to GREEN DAY!!! Awesome! We have the same taste in music!!! Hahahahaha!
• Luke - I knew it; he still cares about Annabeth and Thalia. He may hurt them, but he doesn't want them dead. But he almost killed Annabeth in one of the previous books . . . perhaps he has no plans of really killing her.

===== Gods and Godesses:

• Artemis - I love celestial/divine beings associated with the moon~ Artemis is definitely one of them~ She is also into this virginity thing, and her mercy especially towards maidens . . .oh Artemis~ I also like it that even if she's against to having a romantic relationships, she's not 100% biased to boys, for she can acknowledge a guy's goodness, and she may not admit it but I believe she relies on her brother~
• Apollo - As Thalia has said, he's HOT! Literally and figuratively~ He appears to be some goodlooking guy with the cool cars and stuff~ He causually flirts with females but at least he's not the disgusting type. He's also so relaxed. He's also the type who wants to get close to his sister but she goes away from him because she thinks he's annoying. Oh, the "one-sided" sibling love~ What I like best about him is that . . .HE'S HILARIOUS!!! Especially his temporary addictions, like the haiku recitations in this book:

Apollo: Green grass breaks through snow.
Artemis pleads for my help.
I am so cool.
Artemis: The last line was only four syllables.
Apollo: Was it?
Artemis: Yes. What about I am so big-headed.
Apollo: No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm...I've got it! I am so awesome. That's five syllables!

Apollo, you are so right about yourself~ Haha!

• Aphrodite - Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty, so of course she has to be really beautiful. But she's also the goddess of love, and I am so amused on how it's presented in this book: SHE'S A SHIPPER. She's like a crazy fan girl who was lucky enough to be included in the series and actually has the power to do something about how things will happen. Haha! And she's really doing it. I find it so amusing that she sees Percy and Annabeth as some stars in a soap-opera. Bwahahaha!

Percy: Annabeth is in trouble.
Aphrodite: Exactly!
Percy: I have to help her. I've been having these dreams.
Aphrodite: Ah, you even dream about her! That's so cute!
Percy: No, I mean . . . that's not what I meant.

I am not a huge fan of Percy x Annabeth, but I am so amused on how Aphrodite ships them. Hahahaha! And I agree with her that Percy's so cute~

• Athena - she's my favorite goddess along with Artemis (before reading this series). I like her representation in this book. When it comes to judgments she doesn't want to be biased as much as possible. I like her taste in men (haha!), and she's very nice yet could be really frightening if she becomes an enemy. That's so awesome~
• Hermes - He . . .WINKED! That alone amused me to no end! Hahahahhaa!

===== Other Characters:

• Dr. Chase - he's a war nerd that plays with toy soldiers!!!! Hahahaha! I love this guy! And I love what he said when he first saw a pegasus:

Dr. Chase: Fascinating. Such maneuverability!How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder?
Blackjack (pegasus): *in horse language* Whaaaat?

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!! That was so geeky! I love it!!! Most awesome father in the series so far! Hahaha!

• Blackjack - he's a black pegasus that calls Percy his "boss". That alone already made me love him a lot~ Hehe.
• Zoe Nighshade - For some reason I am very fond of characters who speak in old english (the one with the "thy", "thee", etc. whatever is the appropriate term for that kind of english). She's gorgeous and awesome (she can drive! 12 year old driver!). She may be too serious, but that's what makes her funny at times~ I love kind and loyal characters~

===== Brother/Sister Love:

• Nico loves his sister very very very much~ Bianca loves him as well, but it hadn't been that obvious after some decision that he made early in the story. But later, I was right, that she does still care for him greatly. I am an older sister to a baby brother as well . . .

Monster: Silence, you insufferable girl.
Nico: Don't talk to my sister that way!

• Apollo loves his twin sister Artemis very much as well (to the point that he had helped out in rescuing her even if it's against the rules) but Artemis finds him annoying. Though she is irritated with him, she still asks for his help~

Apollo: Nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody.

Both sibling pairs are so . . . DAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW~

===== Favorite Joke:
So many hilarious stuff in this series, but this one is my favorite~ It has something to do with my favorite twins~ Some popular beliefs had been based on them, like the thinking of Santa Claus on a sleigh is actually from Artemis' own ride (that is based on the book okay). As for the explanation of what we know as the sun:

Nico: This is so cool! Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?
Apollo: Downsizing. The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car.
Nico: But how does it work? I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!
Apollo: That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas.

My humor is probably so lame, but I was soooooo amused to this part. Hahahaha! The scientific explanation began from an insult to an annoying guy. Bwahahahaha!

=== Overall Thoughts:
I love the first two books, but I'm MADLY IN LOVE with this one~ This is defintiely my favorite Percy Jackson book so far~ It also had similar flaws with the previous books, but as usual, the good stuff had made up for those. It's also MUCH MORE EXCITING AND ENTERTAINING! The new characters had been really great! It made me so thrilled and amused! I enjoyed this very very very much!

=== Next Books Initial Thoughts:
I think the third book will still be my top favorite even after I read the fourth and last one . . .
I've been spoiled. Future events seem really intense and interesting~

=== Verdict:
Rating: A- (OH MY GOD! Amazing, fantastic, oh really wonderful!)
Favoritism: 5 out of 5 Hearts (OBSESSION )