The Lightning Thief

Title: The Lightning Thief

Author: Rick Riordan

Date Read: August 18, 2013

Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1

 

Summary: Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves. goodreads

 

Review: Before you read/judge this book, I think it is of the utmost importance that you consider the audience it is meant for. This is a children's book!!! It is meant to be read but teenagers and tweens. One of the reasons I picked this book up in the first place is because my clients are constantly toting it around and I figured if this book can get these kids' attention, it might be worth reading. Then I heard from adults and goodreads friends that it was good and worth reading, so I decided to give it a shot. I'll admit, it took me awhile to get used to the super conversational writing that was very simple. I found this type of writing gave me a hard time because I thought it was hard to follow at points. But once I reminded myself of the intended audience, I was able to settle in and enjoy.

 

I love Greek gods and think they are very interesting so I really enjoyed the spin this series puts on it. Everyone cheers for Percy because he is a kid who has a long history of trouble making but you find that its not necessarily all of his fault. Percy has also been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia but the author does an awesome job of reframing this and I that was one of my favorite parts of the book. Overall, the book was enjoyable. I lost interest because it became redundant at points (he finds a monster, almost gets hurt, kills the monster, finds another etc.) but I would recommend this book to any kid who was hesitant to getting into reading.