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Bats: A World of Science and Mystery
Melville Brockett Fenton and Nancy B. Simmons
Book
There are more than 1,300 species of bats - or almost a quarter of the world's mammal species. But...
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor in Books
Mar 30, 2022
I have had this on my want to read list for a long time, but after watching the TV series (twice) it quickly moved up to my must read now list and it did not disappoint.
Written as different chapters in Adam Kay’s life, from newly qualifying to the incident that lead him to quit medicine, this book covered all aspects of life as a doctor. Each chapter starts with an explanation about the post he is in and a few anecdotes from his life. It then moves onto diary entries from the time in each post.
The book had me laughing at the ridiculousness of some situations, cringing at others and tearing up at a few too. It opens your eyes to the dire state of the NHS and how doctors are always viewed as well paid for short hours when that’s really not true. They are underpaid, under appreciated and overworked in a system that is failing them. We are lucky to have our NHS in this country and we should appreciate it much more than we do sometimes.
Adam’s writing is both informative and witty and it was a pleasure to read and was one that I flew through as it was so easy to read that I didn’t want to put it down at all.
The main takeaway that I have from this book is how much the system needs to change for those working for the NHS but in order for that to happen, governments need to stop trying to privatise parts of it and set unobtainable targets all while the expecting those that work there to spend the majority of their life at work and only getting paid for some of it. All of the staff are under tremendous pressure and they need their loved ones support before we lose all of them to easier and better paying jobs.
Written as different chapters in Adam Kay’s life, from newly qualifying to the incident that lead him to quit medicine, this book covered all aspects of life as a doctor. Each chapter starts with an explanation about the post he is in and a few anecdotes from his life. It then moves onto diary entries from the time in each post.
The book had me laughing at the ridiculousness of some situations, cringing at others and tearing up at a few too. It opens your eyes to the dire state of the NHS and how doctors are always viewed as well paid for short hours when that’s really not true. They are underpaid, under appreciated and overworked in a system that is failing them. We are lucky to have our NHS in this country and we should appreciate it much more than we do sometimes.
Adam’s writing is both informative and witty and it was a pleasure to read and was one that I flew through as it was so easy to read that I didn’t want to put it down at all.
The main takeaway that I have from this book is how much the system needs to change for those working for the NHS but in order for that to happen, governments need to stop trying to privatise parts of it and set unobtainable targets all while the expecting those that work there to spend the majority of their life at work and only getting paid for some of it. All of the staff are under tremendous pressure and they need their loved ones support before we lose all of them to easier and better paying jobs.
PMP Project Management Professional Exam Certification Kit
Book
PMP(R) Complete Review includes the Sybex Deluxe Study Guide and Review Guide PMP(R) Project...
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Dear Sister (Sweet Valley High, #7) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Warning: This is more book report than review but I just couldn't help myself. :P
In a fit of nostalgia I decided to pick up a Sweet Valley High book. I used to read these nonstop starting when I was eleven or so. Part of the reason I decided to read this particular one is of a supposedly risque scene between Liz and Bruce Patman, and even though I know I had read this exact book before, I had no recollection of this event.
So even though this is really an immediate sequel to number six in the series (confusing much), it's easy to pick up where the plot left off (aren't they always?). Elizabeth, part of the all-American, blonde, perfect size-six figure (in the newest books they're size four), sunny personality, Californian duo that make up the Wakefield twins, along with sister Jessica, lies in a coma. She got that way by riding on the back of her boyfriend Todd's new motorcycle and getting hit by a drunk driver. Jessica was partially at fault because she was supposed to pick her up at a party but never showed up. First evidence of Jessica's self-absorbed nature. So Liz miraculously recovers from her coma after the doctor tells Jessica that she could help Liz by talking to her because she has the strongest link or some other malarkey. During her supposedly heartfelt talks, she inadvertently calls Liz a jerk ("Only a jerk would count on me." pg. 5), once again showing what a b*tch Jessica really is. So when Liz wakes up at the end of the chapter, she immediately only cares with how she looks, Jess is only slightly off-put by this turn of events.
So the rest of the book is Liz forgoing her usual nature of sweet, responsible, older sis-type and instead out-Jessica-ing-Jessica, which I think was actually used in the book. That ain't good, two Jessica's? Could there be anything worse? Yeah, so Jessica is forced to turn more into what Elizabeth is usually like in this book, but we all know that won't last and she won't learn any lessons either. Liz proceeds to make excuses to get out of doing any kind of work, sneaking off, wearing next to nothing, including a barely there bikini, and basically acting like an irresponsible 16-year-old. Sweet Valley is full of obtuse people who don't realize Liz is any different than usual (uh, hello?), even her own parents stay astonishingly dimwitted, which I guess isn't really all that surprising. I won't give anything away to anyone who wants to read the outcome, but at the end all's well that ends well as usual in the soap opera town of Sweet Valley, California.
And yes, the scene was racy for its time and series.
In a fit of nostalgia I decided to pick up a Sweet Valley High book. I used to read these nonstop starting when I was eleven or so. Part of the reason I decided to read this particular one is of a supposedly risque scene between Liz and Bruce Patman, and even though I know I had read this exact book before, I had no recollection of this event.
So even though this is really an immediate sequel to number six in the series (confusing much), it's easy to pick up where the plot left off (aren't they always?). Elizabeth, part of the all-American, blonde, perfect size-six figure (in the newest books they're size four), sunny personality, Californian duo that make up the Wakefield twins, along with sister Jessica, lies in a coma. She got that way by riding on the back of her boyfriend Todd's new motorcycle and getting hit by a drunk driver. Jessica was partially at fault because she was supposed to pick her up at a party but never showed up. First evidence of Jessica's self-absorbed nature. So Liz miraculously recovers from her coma after the doctor tells Jessica that she could help Liz by talking to her because she has the strongest link or some other malarkey. During her supposedly heartfelt talks, she inadvertently calls Liz a jerk ("Only a jerk would count on me." pg. 5), once again showing what a b*tch Jessica really is. So when Liz wakes up at the end of the chapter, she immediately only cares with how she looks, Jess is only slightly off-put by this turn of events.
So the rest of the book is Liz forgoing her usual nature of sweet, responsible, older sis-type and instead out-Jessica-ing-Jessica, which I think was actually used in the book. That ain't good, two Jessica's? Could there be anything worse? Yeah, so Jessica is forced to turn more into what Elizabeth is usually like in this book, but we all know that won't last and she won't learn any lessons either. Liz proceeds to make excuses to get out of doing any kind of work, sneaking off, wearing next to nothing, including a barely there bikini, and basically acting like an irresponsible 16-year-old. Sweet Valley is full of obtuse people who don't realize Liz is any different than usual (uh, hello?), even her own parents stay astonishingly dimwitted, which I guess isn't really all that surprising. I won't give anything away to anyone who wants to read the outcome, but at the end all's well that ends well as usual in the soap opera town of Sweet Valley, California.
And yes, the scene was racy for its time and series.
BookblogbyCari (345 KP) rated Mindhunter: Inside the FBI Elite Serial Crime Unit (Now A Netflix Series) in Books
Mar 10, 2019
Douglas is a show-off
This is hands-down the most action-packed biography I have ever read! And it’s almost the most egotistical and narcissistic sounding biography I have ever read.
In his opening scene in the prologue, Douglas finds himself waking up from a coma in hospital expecting to be tortured by sick criminals, having (almost) single-handily run the FBI’s psychological profiling unit, handling hundreds of cases for several years.
I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the Netflix series based on this book, but I am quite a fan of the Criminal Minds series, so I had an idea of what to expect. However, you need to get 6 chapters in before Douglas starts talking about his work as an FBI profiler. He starts off talking about growing up, his love life, and getting into his career.
Douglas may call himself a profiler, but in my opinion, he is first and foremost a story-teller, with a talent for a drama-filled yarn. And rather than being put off by his constant bragging, I found myself hanging on his every word.
This light and long prelude to the criminal profiling section of the book made the crime details feel all the more gruesome. Some of the predictions made by Douglas about the murderers are barely believable. I mean, how can a crime scene really tell you the age of a murderer or what kind of car he drives?
Unfortunately, Douglas doesn’t offer much explanation into these kinds of things, and the leader is left assuming it’s all down to statistics. And if there’s anywhere the book is let down it would be here, because this would be why readers would pick the book up.
I once read a similar book called The Profiler, by Pat Brown. Brown, however, was a mere spectator to criminal goings on and had no influence whatever on getting criminals brought to justice. Douglas, however, would meet with local police and provide strategies on getting the bad guy, and getting him to confess.
To me, the most crucial chapter was Battle of the Shrinks. It looks at how criminals are dealt with once apprehended. Here Douglas meets with a psychiatrist whose job it was to assess whether criminals can have their sentences shortened and be let off early. This psychiatrist didn’t bother reading police reports to see from an outsider exactly what the criminal had done because he didn’t want to be made biased it and wanted to meet the criminal exactly as they presented himself to him. Douglas was appalled by this attitude and tried to get this over to the psychiatrist, but sadly, to no avail.
In short, this is a very entertaining book, and while it can teach you lot, reading it will never make you as good a profiler as John Douglas himself.
In his opening scene in the prologue, Douglas finds himself waking up from a coma in hospital expecting to be tortured by sick criminals, having (almost) single-handily run the FBI’s psychological profiling unit, handling hundreds of cases for several years.
I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the Netflix series based on this book, but I am quite a fan of the Criminal Minds series, so I had an idea of what to expect. However, you need to get 6 chapters in before Douglas starts talking about his work as an FBI profiler. He starts off talking about growing up, his love life, and getting into his career.
Douglas may call himself a profiler, but in my opinion, he is first and foremost a story-teller, with a talent for a drama-filled yarn. And rather than being put off by his constant bragging, I found myself hanging on his every word.
This light and long prelude to the criminal profiling section of the book made the crime details feel all the more gruesome. Some of the predictions made by Douglas about the murderers are barely believable. I mean, how can a crime scene really tell you the age of a murderer or what kind of car he drives?
Unfortunately, Douglas doesn’t offer much explanation into these kinds of things, and the leader is left assuming it’s all down to statistics. And if there’s anywhere the book is let down it would be here, because this would be why readers would pick the book up.
I once read a similar book called The Profiler, by Pat Brown. Brown, however, was a mere spectator to criminal goings on and had no influence whatever on getting criminals brought to justice. Douglas, however, would meet with local police and provide strategies on getting the bad guy, and getting him to confess.
To me, the most crucial chapter was Battle of the Shrinks. It looks at how criminals are dealt with once apprehended. Here Douglas meets with a psychiatrist whose job it was to assess whether criminals can have their sentences shortened and be let off early. This psychiatrist didn’t bother reading police reports to see from an outsider exactly what the criminal had done because he didn’t want to be made biased it and wanted to meet the criminal exactly as they presented himself to him. Douglas was appalled by this attitude and tried to get this over to the psychiatrist, but sadly, to no avail.
In short, this is a very entertaining book, and while it can teach you lot, reading it will never make you as good a profiler as John Douglas himself.
Kaz (232 KP) rated White Teeth in Books
May 15, 2019
A Disappointing Read
What the 'blurb' says:
'One of the most talked about debut novels of all time, White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book.'
My Thoughts:
This novel has had quite a lot of attention over the past few years, particularly on BookTube. So when I saw it in my local charity shop, I decided to give it a go. I have to admit that upon starting it, I had very high expectations of it, so I was quite disappointed by the end.
First, the positives. This is had some very good writing within it.. The way in which Zadie Smith writes, is funny and the characters were very believable.
But the plot itself, was the main problem I had with this book. At the beginning, certain characters had a lot of attention and their stories seemed to be developing nicely and some of the things that happened to them, were really intense. But then suddenly, all of the focus of this story was completely shifted, onto another character and those who initially seemed important, became secondary characters, who were hardly mentioned in the rest of the book. Then, more and more characters were added, without fully focusing on any one person. This meant that, by the end of the book, even though they believeable, I really didn't feel like I knew any of them
Partly due to this, and the fact that every chapter felt like an individual short story, this made the flow of the plot stop and start all of the time, and, although some chapters were really enjoyable, for me, they didn't link together well.
Randomly also, there were almost essay-like chapters, which talked about the ideas of identity and race within a multicultural society. Even though these were really interesting and thought provoking, they didn't seem to belong within the story itself. So for me, the organization of the plot was really weak.
The most disappointing thing for me, was the end. The different strands of story did kind of come together towards the end. It was all building up to something that I thought, would make a powerful ending.
However, it felt like Zadie Smith had run out of energy by the end and couldn't be bothered to gives us readers a plausible and realistic conclusion. For some characters, they didn't really have any resolution at all. This made me feel frustrated about investing time on this book.
I think this book had some interesting ideas and the style of writing was really good, but the plot was terrible. This is shame, because this could have been brilliant..
My Rating ***
'One of the most talked about debut novels of all time, White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book.'
My Thoughts:
This novel has had quite a lot of attention over the past few years, particularly on BookTube. So when I saw it in my local charity shop, I decided to give it a go. I have to admit that upon starting it, I had very high expectations of it, so I was quite disappointed by the end.
First, the positives. This is had some very good writing within it.. The way in which Zadie Smith writes, is funny and the characters were very believable.
But the plot itself, was the main problem I had with this book. At the beginning, certain characters had a lot of attention and their stories seemed to be developing nicely and some of the things that happened to them, were really intense. But then suddenly, all of the focus of this story was completely shifted, onto another character and those who initially seemed important, became secondary characters, who were hardly mentioned in the rest of the book. Then, more and more characters were added, without fully focusing on any one person. This meant that, by the end of the book, even though they believeable, I really didn't feel like I knew any of them
Partly due to this, and the fact that every chapter felt like an individual short story, this made the flow of the plot stop and start all of the time, and, although some chapters were really enjoyable, for me, they didn't link together well.
Randomly also, there were almost essay-like chapters, which talked about the ideas of identity and race within a multicultural society. Even though these were really interesting and thought provoking, they didn't seem to belong within the story itself. So for me, the organization of the plot was really weak.
The most disappointing thing for me, was the end. The different strands of story did kind of come together towards the end. It was all building up to something that I thought, would make a powerful ending.
However, it felt like Zadie Smith had run out of energy by the end and couldn't be bothered to gives us readers a plausible and realistic conclusion. For some characters, they didn't really have any resolution at all. This made me feel frustrated about investing time on this book.
I think this book had some interesting ideas and the style of writing was really good, but the plot was terrible. This is shame, because this could have been brilliant..
My Rating ***
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Just One of the Guys in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Okay, I'm going to tell you why Just One of the Guys is not only one of my new favorite Higgins books, but one of my new favorite romances period.
1. The heroine is different. She's not super feminine in her character, but she's definitely feminine in her desires and her passion and her attitude. Growing up with four older brothers, Chastity Virginia (yeah, that's her name. I know, right?) yells when she's mad, throws punches with intent, and won trophies in college for rowing. She's a quarter inch away from being six feet tall, and she's got man-shoulders. She runs 10-mile races up hills for kicks. But she's thirty, she wants her passion to be returned, and her body is telling her that she should have already made at least three babies by now. I mean, how many romance novels do you read with female protagonists like that? most of the time they're young, innocent, unable to take care of themselves, and feminine. Chastity is not the typical female protagonist ... and that's one of the reasons I like her so much.
2. Like any good novel, there are a few sub-plots running through this novel; one is the failing marriage of one of Chastity's brothers, named Mark. He and his wife are going through hell (and possibly divorce and child custody problems) but they still love each other. There is this chapter (chapter 22--it's seared into my head) that made me cry because it was so amazing. See, Chastity babysat for Mark's soon-to-be-ex-wife, and she didn't tell him. When he found out, he blew up at her. Then later when he apologized they started talking, and he opened up to her about how badly he wants to make things right. she gave him a little advice and they had a sob-fest and in the end it worked out so perfectly. But the thing that got me was that so many stories I've read with failing relationships are about trying to get over the person, instead of reconciling. It was beautiful and inspiring and I read the chapter 3 times because I loved it so much.
3. Another one of those sub-plots was the relationship between Chastity’s parents. They’re officially divorced, but they still hang out all the time for dinner, they still love each other, and her dad just assumes her mom will wait around for him to retire. But that isn’t the case. Her mom starts dating again and throws everyone for a loop. Then when she gets into a serious relationship, shit really hits the fan. I was surprised by the outcome. I won’t say what it was for the sake of keeping this review spoiler-free. But I will say that it was different. It wasn’t the same-old same-old over again. Suffice to say, this book was the opposite of Happyland-syndrome.
4. The romance between Chastity and Trevor was so epic. I’m not going to say anything else about it because I don’t want to risk spoiling it. It has to be read in order. You can’t know anything out of order. But trust me, it was epic and wonderful and powerful and perfect and beautiful.
Like all of Higgins's books, the writing is fun, easy to read, relaxed, and a little snarky. This one was a little awkward because some of it was written in a different tense than what she does now, but it's one of her earlier books, and I can't hold that against her.
Anyway, you should go get this book. Amazon, B&N, Paperbackswap, your local book store, etc. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Content/recommendation: Some language, mention of sex (but nothing explicit) Ages 17+
1. The heroine is different. She's not super feminine in her character, but she's definitely feminine in her desires and her passion and her attitude. Growing up with four older brothers, Chastity Virginia (yeah, that's her name. I know, right?) yells when she's mad, throws punches with intent, and won trophies in college for rowing. She's a quarter inch away from being six feet tall, and she's got man-shoulders. She runs 10-mile races up hills for kicks. But she's thirty, she wants her passion to be returned, and her body is telling her that she should have already made at least three babies by now. I mean, how many romance novels do you read with female protagonists like that? most of the time they're young, innocent, unable to take care of themselves, and feminine. Chastity is not the typical female protagonist ... and that's one of the reasons I like her so much.
2. Like any good novel, there are a few sub-plots running through this novel; one is the failing marriage of one of Chastity's brothers, named Mark. He and his wife are going through hell (and possibly divorce and child custody problems) but they still love each other. There is this chapter (chapter 22--it's seared into my head) that made me cry because it was so amazing. See, Chastity babysat for Mark's soon-to-be-ex-wife, and she didn't tell him. When he found out, he blew up at her. Then later when he apologized they started talking, and he opened up to her about how badly he wants to make things right. she gave him a little advice and they had a sob-fest and in the end it worked out so perfectly. But the thing that got me was that so many stories I've read with failing relationships are about trying to get over the person, instead of reconciling. It was beautiful and inspiring and I read the chapter 3 times because I loved it so much.
3. Another one of those sub-plots was the relationship between Chastity’s parents. They’re officially divorced, but they still hang out all the time for dinner, they still love each other, and her dad just assumes her mom will wait around for him to retire. But that isn’t the case. Her mom starts dating again and throws everyone for a loop. Then when she gets into a serious relationship, shit really hits the fan. I was surprised by the outcome. I won’t say what it was for the sake of keeping this review spoiler-free. But I will say that it was different. It wasn’t the same-old same-old over again. Suffice to say, this book was the opposite of Happyland-syndrome.
4. The romance between Chastity and Trevor was so epic. I’m not going to say anything else about it because I don’t want to risk spoiling it. It has to be read in order. You can’t know anything out of order. But trust me, it was epic and wonderful and powerful and perfect and beautiful.
Like all of Higgins's books, the writing is fun, easy to read, relaxed, and a little snarky. This one was a little awkward because some of it was written in a different tense than what she does now, but it's one of her earlier books, and I can't hold that against her.
Anyway, you should go get this book. Amazon, B&N, Paperbackswap, your local book store, etc. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Content/recommendation: Some language, mention of sex (but nothing explicit) Ages 17+
EPIC Adventures - Kids Stories
Book and Education
App
What if we could inspire our children to find the EPIC in the everyday? Opening their eyes to...
EmersonRose (320 KP) rated The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5) in Books
Nov 20, 2019
Alert! Before I begin this review, I need to let it be known that in the case of this particular book I may be a little biased, well maybe really biased! This is the tenth book I have read by this author and the last in the second series I have read. It is safe to say I love these books or else I would not have read this many.
Alright, now that that is out of the way, let me begin. This book is called Blood of Olympus, it is the fifth and final book in the Heroes of Olympus series (if you should ever desire to read these book, I would recommend starting with the Percy Jackson, and the Olympians series as this series is a sequel series. The author of this book is a writer by the name of Rick Riordan. This book is a young adult fantasy novel. It is the final chapter of the adventure of a group of seven young adults who happen to be demigods, modern day children of the ancient gods of Greece and Rome. This adventure, like many great adventures, is a race to save the world.
For me, the initial draw of the book was that it is a fantasy novel, which is one of my favorite genres, and its focus is on Greek Mythology, something of an obsession of mine. The mythology in these books may not always satisfy all mythology nerds because they do take liberties in how the myths are presented in order to showcase how they might have changed to fit in the modern day world. The way Riordan chooses to represent mythology is often fairly close to original stories, showing that he spends the time researching the myths, and they are clever, funny, and entertaining.
As I read the books, I found myself drawn to the relationships between the characters, not surprising as characters are a key draw for me in literature. By this point in the series, the relationships became especially interesting because you have known some of the characters for ten books now while others are just in their second or third book appearances. The central characters have grown into a substantial group that each have their own unique backgrounds, personalities, and even mythologies that create intriguing tension and bonds. Their bonds grow stronger as they work through new struggles and adventures with the added drama of them being a group of teenagers, which obviously means that there is a fair bit of romance involved as well.
For me personally to get into a story the most important aspect is to be very invested in61w3pqVMCZL._US230_ the characters. This does not mean I have to like them, but I do need to be completely invested in what happens to them. If the storyteller can do this, then I will most likely binge the entire thing whether book, movie, tv show, comic…. regardless whether or not the story is good or my normal cup of tea. This was definitely an initial draw in me reading this second series because I was already very invested in both Percy and Annabeth’s characters, who are among the main characters in this series and the main characters in the previous series. The majority of the characters in this book did capture my emotional investment, which kept me reading all five books, but there were a few I found lacking. Maybe I am the only one who felt this, but I thought that Riordan didn’t spend enough time on some of the new characters to pull me into their plots. Unfortunately, this is common in stories that feature such a large cast of main characters, had the time on each character been even plot points might not have been as successful and honestly, I might have been annoyed to not spend as much time on my favorites.
I would be lying if I were to say this was my favorite book in this series but I still greatly enjoyed it. Besides my problem with not feeling emotionally invested enough in some of the characters, I really do not have any other complaints about the book. It was successful in finishing this series story arc while having plenty of plot of its own. And it ended wrapping just about everything up so that I was satisfied, but open enough to still want more. If this were a regular series, the leftover cliffhangers would be dreadful! But Riordan writes series that capture over-arching plots but that connect to his other book series in this same world, so an ending like this simply promising more books about these characters in another series.
Overall I liked this book, if young adult fantasy is your genre, then I would definitely suggest looking at these books. They do what I require of my urban fantasy stories, mix magic into our real world enough that a part of me can almost believe it could be possible. Characters, world, and plot flowing together into an engaging story that obviously captured my interest enough to read ten and counting of these novels.
*This was a review I found while cleaning that I write a few years ago. I have since read two more Riordan novels and counting! I love the way Riordan writes and appreciate how he seems to continually grow as a writer, always tackling new issues and allowing his characters to have growth. Annabeth and Percy especially, they are two of my all-time favorite characters. I highly recommend reading his books!
Alright, now that that is out of the way, let me begin. This book is called Blood of Olympus, it is the fifth and final book in the Heroes of Olympus series (if you should ever desire to read these book, I would recommend starting with the Percy Jackson, and the Olympians series as this series is a sequel series. The author of this book is a writer by the name of Rick Riordan. This book is a young adult fantasy novel. It is the final chapter of the adventure of a group of seven young adults who happen to be demigods, modern day children of the ancient gods of Greece and Rome. This adventure, like many great adventures, is a race to save the world.
For me, the initial draw of the book was that it is a fantasy novel, which is one of my favorite genres, and its focus is on Greek Mythology, something of an obsession of mine. The mythology in these books may not always satisfy all mythology nerds because they do take liberties in how the myths are presented in order to showcase how they might have changed to fit in the modern day world. The way Riordan chooses to represent mythology is often fairly close to original stories, showing that he spends the time researching the myths, and they are clever, funny, and entertaining.
As I read the books, I found myself drawn to the relationships between the characters, not surprising as characters are a key draw for me in literature. By this point in the series, the relationships became especially interesting because you have known some of the characters for ten books now while others are just in their second or third book appearances. The central characters have grown into a substantial group that each have their own unique backgrounds, personalities, and even mythologies that create intriguing tension and bonds. Their bonds grow stronger as they work through new struggles and adventures with the added drama of them being a group of teenagers, which obviously means that there is a fair bit of romance involved as well.
For me personally to get into a story the most important aspect is to be very invested in61w3pqVMCZL._US230_ the characters. This does not mean I have to like them, but I do need to be completely invested in what happens to them. If the storyteller can do this, then I will most likely binge the entire thing whether book, movie, tv show, comic…. regardless whether or not the story is good or my normal cup of tea. This was definitely an initial draw in me reading this second series because I was already very invested in both Percy and Annabeth’s characters, who are among the main characters in this series and the main characters in the previous series. The majority of the characters in this book did capture my emotional investment, which kept me reading all five books, but there were a few I found lacking. Maybe I am the only one who felt this, but I thought that Riordan didn’t spend enough time on some of the new characters to pull me into their plots. Unfortunately, this is common in stories that feature such a large cast of main characters, had the time on each character been even plot points might not have been as successful and honestly, I might have been annoyed to not spend as much time on my favorites.
I would be lying if I were to say this was my favorite book in this series but I still greatly enjoyed it. Besides my problem with not feeling emotionally invested enough in some of the characters, I really do not have any other complaints about the book. It was successful in finishing this series story arc while having plenty of plot of its own. And it ended wrapping just about everything up so that I was satisfied, but open enough to still want more. If this were a regular series, the leftover cliffhangers would be dreadful! But Riordan writes series that capture over-arching plots but that connect to his other book series in this same world, so an ending like this simply promising more books about these characters in another series.
Overall I liked this book, if young adult fantasy is your genre, then I would definitely suggest looking at these books. They do what I require of my urban fantasy stories, mix magic into our real world enough that a part of me can almost believe it could be possible. Characters, world, and plot flowing together into an engaging story that obviously captured my interest enough to read ten and counting of these novels.
*This was a review I found while cleaning that I write a few years ago. I have since read two more Riordan novels and counting! I love the way Riordan writes and appreciate how he seems to continually grow as a writer, always tackling new issues and allowing his characters to have growth. Annabeth and Percy especially, they are two of my all-time favorite characters. I highly recommend reading his books!