Review: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Author: Rick Riordan. Website, Twitter
Published: 4 May 2006 (Puffin)
Pages: 384
Buy: Amazon: paperback|Kindle Waterstone's: paperback|e-book Book Depository: paperback

Source: Borrowed e-book from library.

Plot Summary: (from the Book Depository)
Percy is a half-blood - the son of a Greek God. He spends his time fighting with swords, battling monsters with friends and generally trying to stay alive. Now Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks Percy has stolen his lightning bolt - and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea. Can Percy find the lightning bolt before a fully-fledged war of the Gods erupts?


My Review:
I've been meaning to read this book for absolutely ages! I've seen the Percy Jackson books compared to Harry Potter so I really wanted to check them out, as a huge Potter fan myself.

The books are based around Greek mythology, as Percy learns that he is a half-blood, the son of a Greek God. Now, I know absolutely nothing about mythology so I'll admit I was a little aprehensive, but I ended up really enjoying those parts of the story. I managed to pick up the myths and legends pretty quickly without it feeling wordy or boring. What the author has done has made these myths really interesting my intertwining them with Percy's story.

I loved Percy himself, too. The book is told from his point of view and he has this great voice which really brings the story to life. He's kind of troubled and a bit rebellious which made for some great wit throughout. I really liked the friendships he has with the other characters as well. Percy, Grover and Annabeth made a great trio as they fight battles together.

There's plenty of action and adventure, plus lots of cool magic which I loved. I really enjoyed the way the modern day American world mashed with all these Green mythological places. The descriptions were really vivid and I loved imagining all the different places.

My only problems with the book were where there were a few bits of the story that I didn't feel were necessary. I want to know more about some of the characters too but as this is the first book in a series then I expect to find out more in future books. I'm really excited to check those out.

A must for anyone who loves a bit of magic and adventure!

Rating: 4*
What to read next: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan, book 2 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
Books like this: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, The Iron King by Julie Kagawa