book review of percy jackson and the titan's curse

The Pen Not The Sword

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Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse

Third book in the series done! The best thing about this series is that the writing and the story don’t deteriorate in any way. I usually find that with some series, the books get worse the further on in the series you get. This isn’t the case. Riordan is just amazing. The main quest isn’t repetitive and doesn’t remind you of the previous two books. I couldn’t put it down and thoroughly enjoyed delving deeper into the world of Greek mythology and half-bloods that Riordan creates.

“Wow,” Thalia muttered. “Apollo is hot.”

“He’s the sun god,” I said.

“That’s not what I meant.”

The character development that is visible is truly remarkable, with the feelings of inadequacy, especially in relation to the tasks they have to perform as half-bloods, as well as the focus on the different feelings and emotions each character deals with at this next level of their lives, is interesting and relatable to the reader, with the feelings of denial just so dang cute it hurts!

Thalia: “You want some, Seaweed Brain?”

Percy: “Bring it on, Pinecone Face!”

Aphrodite: “I have some wonderful things in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait.”

Percy: “That’s really okay,” I told her. “Don’t go to any trouble.”

I loved the new characters and plotlines that were introduced throughout this book, and these were integrated with the pre-existing characters and the pre-established plotlines without certain plots and characters being neglected. It is really interesting seeing how things set up during The Lightning Thief are playing out further on in the series. Also, what a way to end the book! No spoilers but damn, what a cliffhanger! I cannot wait to see how things pan out in the next book! This book was great, and I would definitely rate Titan’s Curse as a 4 out of 5.

“The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation,” she said. “Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed.”

I’m super behind on all of my reviews but I’m slowly catching up!

How is your March reading going?

Charlotte x

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Published by Charlotte Armstrong

Hi everyone! My name is Charlotte and I blog under the pen name The Pen not The Sword! I am an avid book reader, buyer and lover. I feel like I loved reading before I could even walk! I completed undergraduate degree in English Language and English Literature, and a research Masters specialising in Victorian Literary Studies. I am a data analyst by day and a book blogger by night! I work with a number of amazing tour companies, namely Love Books Tours, Random Things Tours and The Write Reads Tours, however I also accept review requests whilst I attempt to cut down my never-ending and always increasing TBR pile! I am always looking to make new book friends, find new book recommendations and find new book events so always feel free to get in contact, either through my blog or through my Instagram or Twitter accounts! View all posts by Charlotte Armstrong

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THE TITAN’S CURSE

From the percy jackson and the olympians series , vol. 3.

by Rick Riordan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2007

The stirring of monsters has begun. Monsters not seen for thousands of years threaten to unleash death and destruction on an unprecedented scale and destroy Olympus, and it’s up to Percy Jackson and his friends Grover, Annabeth and Thalia to stop them, though Percy is embarrassed to have to depend on his mother to drive him to his battles. Percy, Annabeth and Thalia are demigods, Grover is a satyr and their quest is to find the missing Artemis and the monster she was hunting. This third in the Olympians series makes the Greek myths come alive in a way no dreary classroom unit can. Apollo driving his Maserati Spyder sun chariot, attacks by skeletal zombie soldiers, dragons and a 20-foot-tall metal warrior and the contests between the gods will have readers wondering how literature can be this fun. This can stand alone, though newcomers to the series will race back to the first two volumes and eagerly await a fourth installment. (Fantasy. 10 & up)

Pub Date: May 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-4231-0145-1

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES

From the impossible creatures series , vol. 1.

by Katherine Rundell ; illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2024

An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters.

Two young people save the world and all the magic in it in this series opener.

When tall, dark-haired, white-skinned Christopher Forrester goes to stay with his grandfather in Scotland, he ventures to the top of a forbidden hill and discovers astonishing magical creatures. His grandfather explains that Christopher’s family are guardians of the “way through” to the Archipelago, where the Glimourie Tree grows—the source of glimourie, or the world’s magic. Black-haired, olive-skinned Mal Arvorian, a girl from the Archipelago, is being pursued by a murderer, and she asks Christopher for help, launching them both on a wild, dangerous journey to discover why the glimourie is disappearing and how to stop it. Together with a part-nereid woman, a ratatoska, a dragon, and a Berserker, they face an odyssey of dangerous tasks to find the Immortal, the only one who can reverse the draining of magic. Like Lyra and Will from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Mal and Christopher sacrifice their innocence for experience, meeting every challenge with depthless courage until they finally reach the maze at the heart of it all. Rundell throws myriad obstacles in her characters’ way, but she gives them tools both tangible (a casapasaran, which always points the way home, and the glamry blade, which cuts through anything) and intangible (the desire “to protect something worth protecting” and an “insistence that the world is worth loving”). Final art not seen.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024

ISBN: 9780593809860

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024

CHILDREN'S DRAGONS & MYTHICAL CREATURES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE TERRIFYING RETURN OF TIPPY TINKLETROUSERS

From the captain underpants series , vol. 9.

by Dav Pilkey & illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2012

Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.

Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.

Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…

Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION

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Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson: Book 3)

In the third installment of the Percy Jackson series the pace slows down as backstories are revealed and a dark evil rises.

It's the last Friday before the winter holidays but Percy Jackson isn't at school: he's battling the fearsome Manticore (half human, half lion), which in itself isn't ideal… But with Annabeth missing and the goddess of the hunt held captive, things get a whole lot more serious…

At times the story can feel like it is dragging a little and some younger readers' attention may waiver but the payback is worth it as Rick Riordan takes the story and the characters to a whole new depth and level that is fresh to the Olympian series.

There is a similar start to the second book as Percy Jackson receives an urgent distress call from Grover and brings his demigod friends Annabeth, Thalia and his mother along for the ride. After confronting several monsters they discover two new demi-gods with a mysterious past but with no clue as to who they are descended from. After a narrow escape they discover the Hunters Of Artemis and that the goddess herself is missing, stolen by a monster so evil it threatens the very existence of Olympus. And if that wasn’t enough they've also taken Annabeth, just to make the hunt more personal. Along the way they must face their fears and shady pasts come back to haunt some of Olympus’s favourite characters.

Titan’s Curse is the “Prisoner of Azkaban” type novel in the Olympian series, the game changer, the story where everything starts to weave together and you can see deeper into the characters. This is particularly true with Percy, who previously made rash and unjustified decisions without considering the consequences. In Titan's Curse we see a more mature Percy who considers how his actions will affect others in his group and Kronos’s attempt to bring down Olympus. The back story of Mr D (Dionysus) provides incredible insight into why he is so negative and indifferent to the camp and breeding new heroes and although this addition does add to some pacing issues story wise it certainly does add to the overall character development. Annabeth and Percy both confront and acknowledge their feelings for each other and this is a great lead in for the rest of their relationship in the future books of the series.

Apart from telling a great story we also get to meet some new gods (and goddesses) up close and personal. This time with Aphrodite, Apollo and of course Artemis. The combination of Greek mythology and Riordan’s superb storytelling once again come together to create a compelling and welcome addition to the Percy Jackson series. And adding layers of character development and incorporating back stories has helped to make the Olympus saga a perfect middle of the series story.

• Buy on Amazon

Review by Alaisdair Dewar

8 positive reader review(s) for Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

Rick Riordan biography

Percy Jackson

• The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson: Book 1)
• Percy Jackson and the Sea Of Monsters (Percy Jackson: Book 2)
• Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson: Book 3)

Giselle from US

I love these series! they are so exciting!!!

Martin from Bulgaria

My favourite book of all the five from the series "Percy Jackson and the Gods of Olympus " is the third - "Percy Jackson and the Titan's curse". In my opinion this is the best one, love it!

Razdan from UK

This is the best book I have read. I love the Percy Jackson series and I am already on the next series.

Anonymous from Canada

This book had so many turns and was action packed, I enjoyed every part. They're were sad moments and jokes along the way. I recommend this book to young readers who love action packed books with adventures! This book is a 10/10.

Amelia from America

It was awesome. I loved it.

Anon from UK

Percy Jackson, half-mortal and half-Greek god, has known his demi-god (or "hero") status for several years. As the son of Poseidon, the sea god, he's already gone on several quests to aid and rescue gods or other half-bloods. He spends his summers at Camp Half-Blood, where he and other heroes find magical protection from monsters and learn how to cope with — perhaps even embrace — their unusual heritage. The titans curse gives the reader a great story to read also providing new gods and goddesses this time Aphrodite, Apollo, and Artemis. The Greek mythology and Rock riodan’s amazing story telling call for once again an amazing book causing this book to be my second favorite book in the series, having many twist and turns through out the book. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a book of adventure and suspenseful moments or someone looking for a book to love and read for a long time.

jahking da santo silva junior from Brazil

Love the book wish they could make more Percy Jackson books.

Jacob from Canada

This is one of the best books I have ever read and I love all of the twist and turns of this story. If you want a good book this book will not dissipoint you one bit.

Wow Man from United States

Great. Loved it. Amazing WOW! WOW! WOW!

9.9 /10 from 10 reviews

All Rick Riordan Reviews

• The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus)
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (graphic novel)

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The Titan’s Curse Book Review

• Author Rick Riordan
• Publisher Hyperion Books
• Published 5/01/2007

Hello everyone! Today, I wanted to continue the Percy Jackson and the Olympians reviewing series, in celebration that Percy Jackson is coming to Disney plus! This is really exciting because we actually get a, hopefully, good adaptation! Each season will cover each book, so I really hope Disney doesn’t mess this up!

Anyway, today I will be reviewing, The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan, the third book in the PJO series! This is a very emotional book, so stay tuned!

If you haven’t read this book, please do, and before you listen to this week’s episode, I would recommend taking a listen to episode #18: The Lightning Thief and #23: The Sea of Monsters. If you already have, great! Let’s get into the review!

The Book Review Podcast

In the third installment of the PJO, The Titans Curse, we start out with Annabeth, our new friend, Thalia, and Percy seeing what Grovers distress call was all about! Turns out, Grover has found two new demigods, Nico and Bianca Di Angelo.

Nico being 10 and Bianca being 12. Though with demigods, comes a monster. After Percy tries to save the Di Angelos from the manticore, which will make sense when you read the book, some stuff happens and opps! Annabeth fell off a cliff. Of course, Percy is devastated.

We also meet the Hunters of Artemis, along with Apollo. We learn more about who they are and a fellow hunter, Zoe Nightshade. New problem, Artemis is missing as well. As the five, Zoe, Percy, Thalia, Bianca, and Grover travel to find the goddess, Percy also looking for Annabeth, they encounter many questionable things.

And there are some.. emotional things as well. This book is funny, adventurous, and the book that really makes you excited for the series to continue

Author Praise

Rick Riordan did it again! I really enjoyed this book, and wow! That’s really the word to describe it. I mean, I was crying, I was happy, and it was such I fun read!

Basic Facts

• 320 pages in the book
• There are 20 chapters
• I don’t believe this book has won any awards
• The author is Rick Riordan
• The publishing brand is scholastic

What’s My Rating?

Wow! Ok time to rate! I would obviously rate this a 5, it’s so good! Now, compared to the other books I’ve reviewed this might be my favorite so far? I don’t know. They’re all so good. The emotional impact this book gave was really nice, we met a character you grow to love, if you’ve read the book, you know who I’m talking about. Some plot twists, deaths, and some funny inside jokes.

Would I Recommend?

For someone who has read the previous two? Oh yes! This book really sets you into the Percy Jackson world and how amazing it is. We meet amazing new characters and we really get to experience Rick giving us an emotional feeling towards new and old characters.

And Percy and Annabeth’s friendship, possible relationship, and it’s a fun time! So, if you haven’t read it, please do!

Highlights Segment

Here’s the highlights segment! (Spoilers ahead)

• The deaths. I have to get this over with. When Bianca dies, I did cry a little, but it’s not when her younger brother, Nico, finds out. After reading the series, this really changes him forever. As happy-go-lucky he is when she is alive, he really gets sad and even depressed when she died. This made me even more emotional with Bianca’s death. Zoe Nightshade. At first, I didn’t like her, but once we really got to learn more about her, you start to like her! And then she dies? Wow, I cried a lot. Her last words, the stars, a connection to the House of Hadesssss wow.
• Percy and Annabeth. Ok! When Annabeth falls, we get to see how much Percy cares for Annabeth, doing whatever he can to get her back. This is the start of Annabeth and Percy growing more then a friendship, but I’ll let you read about that
• If I’m talking about the Titans Curse, I have to mention the Dam Snackbar inside joke. When they go to the Hoover Dam, which reasons I won’t really state, because I don’t wanna spoil EVERYTHING, Zoe makes this quote “Let us go to the dam snack bar, we should eat while we can.” And the others start making so many jokes about it. And boom! That’s how it started, and it was fun to read

Character Thoughts

Here we go, first off, we meet Nico Di Angelo! This book really shows how he was when we was young, he talked about Mythomagic, he was energetic, in the next books?

He’s so much different! You just gotta love him though. Percy is as funny and sarcastic as ever and amazing as always, along with Thalia, she’s a fun character and she’s a child of the big three as well, so she’s also powerful.

We also made a brief intro to a very important character, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. So far, she seems pretty cool and all, but trust me, you will definitely learn more about her in the next books.

Zoe is a very interesting character as well, she’s a bit more.. formal and she talks more old fashion using words like thee, thou, etc. and, I can’t forget Percy’s sassy pegasus, Blackjack!

Thank You for Listening!

This week’s episode was fun to make and I hope everyone enjoyed it! I’m stoked for the new adaptation. Have a great day everyone, and here is our official Readability ending

About Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Kane Chronicles, and the Heroes of Olympus. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults. For fifteen years, Rick taught English and history at public and private middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. In 2002, Saint Mary's Hall honored him with the school's first Master Teacher Award. While teaching full time, Riordan began writing mystery novels for grownups. His Tres Navarre series went on to win the top three national awards in the mystery genre - the Edgar, the Anthony and the Shamus. Riordan turned to children's fiction when he started The Lightning Thief as a bedtime story for his oldest son. Today over 35 million copies of his Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus books are in print in the United States, and rights have been sold into more than 35 countries. Rick is also the author of The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, another #1 New York Times bestseller. Rick Riordan now writes full-time. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons.

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Book Review

The titan’s curse — “percy jackson and the olympians” series.

• Rick Riordan
• Adventure , Fantasy

• Miramax Books, a division of Hyperion Books for Children
• BookSense Top Ten Summer Pick, 2007

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine . It is the third book in “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series.

Plot Summary

Percy Jackson, half-mortal and half-Greek god, has known his demi-god (or “hero”) status for several years. As the son of Poseidon, the sea god, he’s already gone on several quests to aid and rescue gods or other half-bloods. He spends his summers at Camp Half-Blood, where he and other heroes find magical protection from monsters and learn how to cope with — perhaps even embrace — their unusual heritage.

In The Titan’s Curse , Percy and his half-blood friends Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Annabeth, daughter of Athena, respond to a distress call from their satyr friend, Grover. Grover has found a pair of half-blood siblings, Nico and Bianca, at the school where he pretends to be a student. He fears a monster, a manticore posing as a teacher, has discovered them as well. As the heroes try to rescue the kids, the manticore tells Percy that the Great Stirring (of monsters) is underway. One monster will even cause the downfall of Olympus, he says. The goddess Artemis and her Hunters arrive to assist the heroes, and they recruit Bianca to join their sisterhood. The manticore captures Annabeth and disappears. When Percy tells Artemis about the manticore’s prophecy, she puts her second in command, Zoe, in charge and leaves to hunt the monster.

The heroes and Hunters return to Camp Half-Blood. They know the stirring of monsters means Titan King Kronos, hated father of the gods whom the gods cut into many pieces long ago, is regenerating and regaining strength. He’s using Luke, a former camper and friend of Thalia and Annabeth, to draw as many half-bloods as possible to his team. Zoe and Percy both have dreams leading them to believe that Annabeth is alive and that Artemis has been kidnapped. The Oracle of Delphi, a mummy who lives in an attic at the camp, issues a prophecy and the camp leaders send Zoe, Bianca, another Hunter named Phoebe, Thalia and Grover to find Artemis. Percy secretly follows them and is discovered when he saves them from the attacking Nemean Lion.

Percy and the others go to New Mexico, where they fight evil skeletons. Pan sends them a wild boar (the Erymanthian Boar) that takes them on its back to the junkyard of the gods in Arizona. When Bianca removes something from the junk heap, a monster appears and takes her. Fearing that Bianca is dead, the group sadly moves on to the Hoover Dam, where the skeletons attack again and statues come to life to fly them to San Francisco. There, they find a sea cow called the Ophiotaurus, which, according to prophesy, will bring great power to whomever sacrifices it. The manticore appears and tells Thalia that since she’s a child of one of the Big Three gods (Zeus, Hades and Poseidon) and is about to turn 16, she can sacrifice the sea cow, bring an end to Olympus, and have great power if she chooses. Thalia is momentarily tempted, but Percy helps her escape while Grover takes the Ophiotaurus to safety.

Percy, Zoe and Thalia find Artemis and Annabeth being held captive by the Titan forces. Atlas, the head Titan general, is also Zoe’s father. He’s forcing Artemis to hold up the weight of the world, which is the Titan’s Curse. Percy temporarily takes it from her so she can battle Atlas. Luke appears and urges Thalia to join him in overthrowing Olympus. After a battle, Zoe dies at her father’s hand, Luke vanishes and the weight of the world is returned to Atlas’ shoulders. Thalia and Percy, having rescued Artemis and Annabeth, meet with the gods. Grover is already there with the Ophiotaurus, which the gods agree to keep in protective custody. The heroes attend a lavish party.

Christian Beliefs

Other belief systems.

The premise of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series is that the gods of mythology exist today and control world events with their magical powers. For example, Percy and his friends receive help from Apollo who drives the sun across the sky each day. Apollo tells Percy the sun is made up of human dreams and man’s perceptions of its power. As in the ancient myths, the gods and goddesses still have affairs with humans. Their children, such as Percy, are powerful demi-gods.

Percy and other half-bloods frequently pray to the gods, especially their own fathers or mothers, for help or direction. As the centers of power have moved throughout history, so have the gods, who now live in, above and below America. The monsters that pursue them are primal forces without souls so they cannot die, only re-form themselves. Many demi-gods attend Camp Half-Blood because life in the real world proves difficult. The camp has magic borders that monsters are unable to penetrate. A magical tree, which used to draw its power from Thalia, still protects the camp. The Oracle of Delphi provides prophesies concerning what the demi-gods will or must do. The oracle has given Chiron prophesies indicating that one of the half-blood children of the Big Three gods (Zeus, Hades and Poseidon) will face a monumental challenge on his or her 16th birthday.

Girls who choose to follow Artemis and become one of her Hunters must pledge themselves to her, as well as pledge to turn their backs on the company of men. Demi-gods can send Iris-messages, which allow them to speak to others far away, by offering ancient Greek coins to Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Chiron makes a claw-like gesture over his heart, an ancient symbol used to ward off evil. Grover performs a tracking spell to help find Artemis.

Grover and Percy are empathic, so they can read each other’s emotions. The pegasi (winged horses that transport Percy periodically) speak into Percy’s mind rather than talking aloud. Percy says Luke deserves to die, and that he couldn’t still be alive because that wouldn’t be fair. Tourists at the Hoover Dam rub the toes of statues called the guardians because they think the action will bring good luck. Bianca says Annabeth is lucky to have a friend like Percy, and Percy says he and Thalia won the prize for bad luck when a boar charges them. Thalia suggests that Percy’s prayer to Poseidon concerning the safety of the Ophiotaurus is so big that it requires some kind of sacrifice.

Nico collects figurines and trading cards of the gods for his game, Mythomagic. He hopes that, as a hero, he can die and be resurrected and just keep fighting. Zoe says she senses the presence of the god Pan, Lord of the Wild, and Grover says the arrival of the boar is a gift from Pan. Thalia can mesmerize people by snapping her fingers and creating a Mist, as can many of the demi-gods. As the heroes try to resuscitate the wounded Zoe, Artemis tells them life is fragile and that if the Fates want to cut the string, there’s little she can do to help.

Atlas says the sky and the earth long to embrace each other, so someone must hold them apart or the sky would crash down on the earth.

Authority Roles

Chiron, the centaur and assistant camp director, cares about his campers. He is shaken by Annabeth’s disappearance, since Percy says Chiron had practically raised her when she was a full-time camper. Percy’s mother drives him and his hero friends to Grover’s school after the satyr’s S.O.S. call. She demonstrates concern for Percy but, knowing who and what he is, tries not to be overprotective. Thalia’s mother was killed in a crash after one of her many drinking binges. Zoe’s father, Atlas, cares only about overthrowing Olympus and isn’t upset about destroying his own daughter. Poseidon and other gods and goddesses show some pride in their children’s activities, but primarily remain distant observers rather than acting in a parental capacity.

Profanity & Violence

Percy and his friends use phrases like oh my gods, thank the gods, may the gods be with you and Holy Zeus. A few uses of the words butt, heck, darn, and fart appear. A mortal uses the Lord’s name in vain once or twice. A few characters curse each other (saying, “Curse you”). While at the Hoover Dam, Percy, Grover and Thalia amuse themselves by talking about the “dam snack bar,” wanting to buy some “dam T-shirts,” etc.

Sexual Content

Satyrs chase nymphs playfully around the camp because the nymphs have promised to kiss the satyrs if they’re caught. Aphrodite runs around with her boyfriend Ares even though she’s married to Hephaestus.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Lying: Percy sometimes lies to his friends to avoid hurting them or admitting his own weakness.

Alcohol: Camp Director Dionysus, god of wine, has been banned from drinking and sentenced to work at Half-Blood Hill by his father, Zeus. He produces wine bottles at a meeting, until the campers remind him wine is banned and most of them are underage anyway. He turns the wine into Diet Coke. Percy’s mom and her new boyfriend drink wine together.

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Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan | Review

Books in this series:

• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief  – ✬✬✬✬✬
• Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters – ✬✬✬✬✬
• Percy Jackson and the Titans Curse – ✬✬✬
• Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth – ✬✬✬ 1/2
• Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian – ✬✬✬✬✬

[This review contains spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters and Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse]

Amazon Link – [ here ]

I have been reading these books back to back for about a month now and whilst I really enjoyed the first two and gave them both five stars, I found myself not enjoying the Titan’s Curse as much. I gave it three stars, mostly because it was written well.

My biggest gripe was the characters. The Annabeth I’ve come to know and love barely features in the story at all and Grover is sort of pushed to the side, gets hardly any dialogue and disappears during the final fight. There are new characters introduced, but half of them are rather sexist and hate Percy simply because he is a boy and the other half are literal children.

Percy Jackson, Annabeth and Grover have finally got to an age where they’re becoming teenagers. I much prefer to read about teenagers than children, in, for example, fight scenes. No matter how epicly it’s described I can’t take 12-year-old Percy fighting with 40 looking-year-old Ares seriously. I just can’t.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover are 14 and finally have started becoming more mature and interesting to read about, but then Titan’s curse added a bunch of new characters who are all under 13 years old. I don’t like reading about kids and anyone under 13 is a kid to me, so it kinda annoyed me to see Zoe and Nico and Bianca, who are all so young. Why couldn’t they be 14 too?

The plot was fine. There was a mix up of the usual, arrive, fight, win, leave repeat of the last two books. The villain, Atlas, wasn’t as compelling as Luke or Ares or Hades and I have no desire to read about him again.

There’s clearly some sort of history between Luke and Thalia that goes beyond friends, and I would’ve like to have seen that explored more since their reunion was overlooked by the final battle (but then again, Thalia isn’t what I imagined at all, so I don’t know if I still want that).

I just… think this book was a little boring. It wasn’t as interesting or compelling as the others in the series and despite the hint that some of the characters might die, I found myself just not caring, at all. I powered through the first two books, but Titan’s Curse was a drag and it took me a lot longer to finish reading the damn thing.

New characters:

I hated Zoë. She was annoying and bossy and mean. I understand that she is thousands of years old, but I wish they had made her older because no matter how skilled someone in, I can’t take a 12-year-old trying to act like a boss ass bitch seriously. Her character was just mean to Percy endlessly for no reason. This was later revealed at the end of the book to be because she had previously had bad experiences with Hercules, but that doesn’t excuse what she did and her death didn’t redeem her in my mind.

I didn’t really see much point to her character. She jumped the gun really quickly, abandoning her brother as soon as she could and then she didn’t do much before dying. And her death was kinda dumb. She didn’t really die, she just went inside a giant robot and vanished. I’m hoping she comes back in a later book, so her death isn’t 100% pointless, but judging by the prophecy, that probably won’t happen.

Or, since you know, she’s Hades daughter she’ll come back as like a ghost or something.

Thalia was a huge disappointment. When I heard about her in the Lightning Thief I hoped she would come back one day and when Percy went off to hunt down the golden fleece to heal Thalia’s tree I had a feeling it would work a little too well and bring her back to life.

But Thalia was not what I expected, at all. When I think of Zeus’ daughter, I think of like a female Hercules: long blonde hair, tall, athletic, girly girl, a natural-born leader. Instead, Thalia’s character was a goth girl who wears only black and is constantly mean to everyone. I didn’t like her at all and she just made Annabeth’s absence even more noticeable.

I guess her joining the Hunters of Artemis was supposed to be an epic, powerful scene, but it just made me roll my eyes. I already don’t like the Hunters of Artemis, purely because they’re all mean and I find it hard to take a group of bitchy 12-year-old seriously as warriors, but Thalia joining them made it even worse. I don’t like Thalia but I want to see her grow and age. If she’s going to be stuck 14 forever I won’t ever get to see her as an adult and I want to see all the characters as adults one day.

How predictable. I liked his character, even though he is a little young. He is geeky, funny and overall adorable. His fan girl nature is relatable and he honestly reminds me a little of Colin Creavey from the Harry Potter books.

I sort of guessed from the beginning that he was Hades, son. It was kind of obvious since the gods have so many kids, and they were hyping it up to be such a big reveal. We already had a Zeus and Poisdoen kid, so obviously the only other person he could come from would be Hades.

Like Thalia, Nico and Bianca aren’t what I imagine when I think of Hades kids at all. And the fact that they’re both his kids and not twins suggests Hades must’ve been with their mum for a while. I’m hoping he doesn’t become a villain as I like his character, however, I can see Hades manipulating him and his undead sister into doing what he wants.

Artemis had great character development. I started off of hating her because of her rudeness towards Percy and Grover and her apparent disregard towards any man, as it felt a little unnecessarily sexist. But she grew and became a better person and learned to trust Percy. I came to like her.

Overall thoughts

I’m still going to continue reading this series, just not yet. I think one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy the Titan’s Curse that much is because I’ve read the first three books literally back-to-back-to-back and I think I’m just a little too swamped out by Percy Jackson and Riordan’s writing style. I already own the last books in the series, and I will definitely and read them one day, even if I never pick up the Heroes of Olympus, but not yet. I have tons of other books to read, so I’ll work on them before I come back to camp half-blood anytime soon.

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The Titan's Curse: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Graphic Novels, #3)

Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti, et al. | 4.36 | 5,780 ratings and reviews

Ranked #35 in Percy Jackson , Ranked #48 in Rick Riordan

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