Nov 20, 2014 4 min read

“The Blood of Olympus” by Rick Riordan is the fifth and final installment in the “Heroes of Olympus” series.

WARNING: This book review contains spoilers!

First, I’m going to talk about the main things I disliked, kind of like giving the bad news before the good.

Let’s start with how rushed the book felt. Every other chapter, it was either the next day or three days later. I did read the book in three days, so that could have been an issue, but people who read it in a few weeks said it felt rushed, as well.

Next, I want to talk about how out of character the characters seemed. Percy just grabbing Annabeth and making out with her in front of Piper then saying “I love you” … what? They never were a lovey couple. Also, did they seem to get over Tartarus a bit quickly or was that just me? The fact that Leo was mad at Percy for meeting Calypso? What was there to be mad about, besides nothing? Where was the huge sacrifice were were all expecting? I mean, Gaea awakened from Annabeth cutting her leg and Percy getting a nosebleed? Then, to lull her back to sleep, they just hold her down and have Piper tell her to go back to sleep. I’m pretty sure none of us expected that.

Okay, so the gods are going through a personality switch because of Greek and Roman, but then suddenly everything is fine and they fight side by side with their kids.

Lastly, Leo letting everyone thinking he is dead so he could be with Calypso. How did he find her exactly? We may never know.

Now that my rant about the bad things is over, let’s get to the good stuff.

I loved that we got to know Reyna better, that we got to understand some things in her life that created her cold exterior. The relationship she now has with Nico after neither of them got close to others is perfect. Nico was always cold and isolated, then he sees Reyna upset and comforts her.

I loved the battle with Nike, goddess of victory. I mean, Hazel with her powers was epic. Leo getting over his anger and fighting with Percy instead of against him and Frank morphing into animal after animal was a good combination.

Also, Piper and Annabeth going off by themselves was great. We always see this tough side of Annabeth and Piper, but instead we got to see Annabeth break down and let her feelings out and Piper comforting her. Also, Piper taking charge and Annabeth holding back was an interesting switch in roles. Isn’t Athena always suppose to have a plan?

I loved Reyna getting her own battle. We get to see how powerful she truly is. She defeated Orion, with the help of the Athena Parthenos.

Lastly, Nico admitting to Percy that he had a crush on him. Key word being “had,” now with Will Solace in the picture. I found it funny that even though Percy and Annabeth are a couple, Percy was offended when Nico said he isn’t his type, and Annabeth finds the whole thing amusing. Now, Nico just has to tell everyone else.

Overall, I found good and bad things in the book. We all had expectations for this book, which Riordan normally lives up to. Maybe readers just expected too much this time. Honestly, for this being the end, I feel like it was rushed and had barely any detail. I mean, I was expecting to be sad that it ended, but love the way it ended. Instead, I’m disappointed in the way Riordan ended the book. It wasn’t the same as the others. At least we have Annabeth’s cousin in Boston to look forward to next year, as well as the Greek heroes book next summer.

This may be the end of the “Heroes of Olympus” series, but it’s not the end for the characters or for Riordan.