lcmarie19's reviews
2173 reviews

I just love this series! I'm so glad that I was finally turned on to it. Percabeth is as adorable as always. Tyson was fantastic. Clarisse didn't annoy me and the action was just enthralling. As for the ending, all I can say is -- I saw it coming. I KNEW that ending was going to happen. It only made sense, especially with Kronos trying to stay ahead of the game. He needed to throw another monkey wrench in to mix things up.

Onto Book Three!

Another great book in the series! It was awesome to see more Gods and half-bloods. I especially enjoyed Percy's interactions with Thalia and Zoë! There was a LOT of new information revealed in this story, especially in regards to the prophecy.

There was more sad moments in this book than in the previous two stories, I wasn't expecting to feel as sad as I did.

My favorite part of the book is towards the end when all of the Gods came together in Olympus. I was picturing that scene in my head and it was almost mind-boggling. I think Percy needed to have that personal interaction with his dad, especially with the prophecy looming over everyone's heads.

It was an interesting twist to not only discover who Bianca and Nico's father was, but how different they're experience was to that of Percy & Thalia.

Excited for Book 4, especially now that Percy had deemed himself a true target.

AHHHH, I'm DONE! And I don't know what to do with myself! This book was so dang good! I can officially say that PJ & the Olympians is my FAVORITE series ever! (after The Mortal Instruments).

I can't believe the emotional journey this book took me on! Percabeth! So much Percabeth! I could NOT stop smiling by the end of this story.

I just absolutely LOVED every single moment of this book. There is nothing that I would changed... except I wanted MORE Percabeth.

Hades is my favorite Olympian (don't ask why... I just love the guy)... but Hermes and Poseidon are favorites as well. I just want to sit back and pick apart the brain of Rick Riordan. HOW did he come up with this world?! Genius.

This book is my second favorite book in the series, right behind The Battle of the Labyrinth. It started in a good spot and ended very well.

Onto The Heroes of Olympus. I am PUMPED!

This was a really good book. I thought it was going to be boring at first. But then, it quickly turned around.

The story is about Reena (Serena) Montero and her life as a single-teenager mother. She was brought up in a Catholic household, so the story details some of that as well. But the real plot of the story involved her dealings with her baby's father, Sawyer LeGrande.

I have mixed feelings about Sawyer, but that's only because old Sawyer was a dick and new and improved Sawyer is seeking redemption. He was a messed up kid who fell in with the wrong crowd and did the wrong things. His decisions, unfortunately, hurt his relationship with Reena. By the end of the book, though, I am a Sawyer fan because I could see that he was really trying to make up for his mistakes and be a part of Reena's (and his daughter's) lives.

Reena's character was a bit of a bore for me, most of the time. It seemed like she didn't really have a mind of her own, always doing what Allie, Sawyer, or whomever wanted. I couldn't really connect with her because I kept feeling like I wasn't seeing her. I don't know if that was Cotugno's intention, but I would like to think that it was because Sawyer (and a few other characters) mentions how Reena seems to close herself off a lot. What finally turns my opinion for Reena into a positive one is when Reena & Sawyer's families are having dinner together, after Sawyer's return, and she explodes from pent up frustration. I had mad respect for her from that point on. Because that took a lot of guts. Granted, the aftermath wasn't great, but she needed to have that outburst.

Now Reena's father, whose name I cannot recall, was a strict Catholic man. I knew immediate how he would be portrayed in this book, especially when it came to his daughter having sex and getting pregnant. So his reactions to and interactions with Reena weren't a shock to me at all. It was upsetting to see how he treated her, but he was true textbook description of my experience with experience (not personal) Catholic fathers.

Allie, one of Reena's best friends, was someone whom I didn't really like to begin with. She seemed like an underhanded person, who would stoop quite low to get what she wanted. And she does. Quite a bit in this book. I wrote her off within a few chapters.

Shelby, Reena's other best friend, was a good character. She was honest, direct, and didn't put up with Reena's BS. I admired that. Of all characters throughout this book, she is definitely in my top two for favorites.

Cotugno's writing was very easily to understand and painted a great story, while I understand the need for the alternating "Before Sawyer Left" and "After Sawyer Returns" chapters, it was a little annoying to have to toggle back and forth. Especially if a section in one of the "after" chapters got really good. Switching to a "before" segment, frustrated me a little.

Overall, solid debut effort. It was a nice read and told a great story. I especially enjoyed the ending. It was a nice ambiguous, but pleasing close to a hopefully happily ever after.

LOVED this book. A great sequel to a great story. I really loved the first book, and this book ignited that love even more! It was great to see Aria and Perry again, as well as Roar and the Tides.

In this book, we get more insight into Perry and his life as the leader of the Tides, which I found to be really interesting. I enjoyed watching him run the tribe. The issues came when Aria returned to him, after the end of Book One (with her mother dying). The Tides reaction to Aria was expected because they deemed her to be an outsider, but after a while, when they could clearly see that she was not a threat (the threat came later), they still were so rude to her.

Aria ends up making a decision that affects Perry, as well as Roar. Things are starting to go up in flames, within the Tides and for Perry. The Aether storms are getting worse, so they all have different ideas of how to handle the situation. Which is how Perry’s leadership is drawn into question. Some of the Tides don’t take too kindly to how Perry chooses to run things, which causes a rift.

Meanwhile, Aria and Roar have an adventure of their own that involves the reappearance of a specific character that has a huge impact on both Roar and Perry. Soren also makes a reappearance, and I will say — he wasn’t that bad. His father, though? An asshole. Truly. We get to see Talon and his storyline pans out a bit more. And then there is an introduction to someone(s) that “infiltrate” — this is my word choice — The Tides. And I really wish that Perry would have listened to his instincts when they initially appeared. It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble.

The character growth in Roar and in Perry were the most impressive for me, Aria stayed pretty much the same, which is not a bad thing at all. I don’t feel that this was her story, as much as the first book was. While the POVs still remained focused on both Aria and Perry, I personally felt that I got more out of Perry’s perspective than I did Aria’s. Again, not a bad thing.

My beloved Cinder gets himself into a bit of trouble in the book and we find out just how important he is to the Still Blue. Which I wasn’t at all surprised about, especially after seeing how powerful he was in the first book.

Knowing that this is the second book in a trilogy, I was nervous about how this book would end. Would it be a huge cliffhanger? Would I be left wanting more? Would I be upset? Actually, I was very pleased with the ending; because it wasn’t an ending. I felt that there was slight closure to a certain subplot, while initiating the invitation to stick around for the grand finale in the third book.

Rossi stayed true to what she does best — tell a great story. I didn’t feel a shift in writing style or approach from book one to book two. As opposed to the first book, I felt that this book started off very strongly and didn’t leave me uninterested for a moment. I wasn’t confused, I wasn’t questioning what was going on at all. It was nicely paced, and fantastically written. I think Rossi had more room to explore emotions and interpersonal relationships amongst characters. While the Still Blue was important, relationships were a bit more of a priority in this book.

If anything, I am more excited than ever for the final book. I want to know what happens with Perry and Aria. With Roar. With Cinder. With The Tides. Will they get to the Still Blue? What will happen when they get there?

So many questions! But I cannot wait for that final book!

Absolutely IN LOVE with this book. I don't think I've cried so much (and laughed) in a while… Stephen Chbosky has such a way with words and emoting with those words. I really liked the style he decided to us (the note/letters from Charlie). For me, it personalized the reading experience and I really did feel like Charlie was talking to me. Telling me his deepest and darkest secrets.

Prior to reading this book, I had a friend of mine tell me that this book changed his life. And the first thing I thought was "Yeah, right. I'm sure it will do nothing like that for me." I should probably just shut up from now on. There are things that happened in this story that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I mean, I personally didn't go through any of the things that Charlie and his friends went through, but I can sympathize with their experiences.

Charlie, who I will forever picture as a young Logan Lerman, was such an adorably naive teenager. He just had so much to learn about life, school, women, everything. And this book walked me through his interpretation of it all. You could definitely tell that he lived quite the sheltered life, with having most the attention in his household be on his older brother and sister. Especially the older brother, who went on to be a college football player. Charlie easily slid under the radar because he was such a good kid.

The book takes us through his first year of high school and how he acclimates, or tries to, to the changes. He meets Sam and Patrick, who ended up having some of the biggest influence in Charlie's life. Some negative, some positive. But all of it, necessary.

I won't spoil any of the book because this is honestly one of those books where even a single spoiler is doing the reader a HUGE disservice. It would ruin the purity of emotion to spoil it. But I will say that there are so many relevant social issues throughout this tale. From mental health, to sexual abuse, to drug use, to LGBT, to alcoholism. Stephen Chbosky was in a beautiful state of mind when he crafted this story.

Definitely, without a doubt, one of the best books I've ever read.

Excellent story. The ONLY thing that is stopping me from giving this book 5 stars is the crappy beginning. I didn't start caring about anything until about 100-115 pages in. And that's not good. The only reason I kept going is because people kept encouraging me to. Saying it was a fantastic trilogy.

Better review to come soon.

Another great story. I'm enjoying the angst that the characters are experiencing. Because it seems genuine. It isn't rushed. Onto Book 3!

This book was more like a 3.85 for me… I think it's my own fault, though. The expectations were too high and it fell flat. I will write a thorough review later, but just know that I did enjoy the book, but I shot myself in the foot with my expectations.

Decent ending. MUCH better than Allegiant, but it still had its weak points. Prodigy was my favorite of the series. But this one is definitely second.