Book Review: The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4) by Rick Riordan

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BOOK review

Started on: 3.February.2015
Finished on: 13.February.2015

The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4) by Rick Riordan

Title : The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)
Author : Rick Riordan

Publisher : Disney Hyperion
Pages :  597 pages
Year of Publication : 2013

Price : $12.62 (www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 5/5
*for those who haven't read the first/second/third book, this review may contain spoiler.
Review for The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1) here. 

Review for The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2) here.

Review for The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3) here.

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"The spirits have whispered to him, told him of your future. When you reach the House of Hades, you will meet a formidable enemy. She cannot be overcome by strength or sword. You alone can defeat her, and you will require magic."

There's no time to rest for the demigods after Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus. While Percy and Annabeth tried their best to stay alive down in the realm of Hades, the rest of the time also has to figure out a way to reach the Doors of Death. Without Percy and Annabeth to lead the way, the rest of the demigods have to make their own decisions. However, all the choices ahead of them have risks—and it's only a matter of which risks are they willing to take. A goddess said Hazel will be the only one who can defeat a sorceress guarding the Doors of Death. But Hazel has no idea how she's going to do that.

"It is possible, though unlikely, you could still reach Epirus and close the Doors of Death. You might find Gaea and prevent her rise. But by then, both demigod camps would be destroyed. You would have no home to return to."

Leo, Jason, Frank, and Piper also had to deal with a bunch of monsters that kept getting in their way—trying to stop them from reaching the Doors of Death. Along the way, they discovered things about themselves and find out what they're really capable of. But in the end, it would need all of them to close the Doors of Death which is guarded by a group of monsters waiting to be unleashed to the mortal world. They might even have to bear arms with their enemies to accomplish their mission.

Bob grinned. "Yes, that is good news! Now, let's go. Death is close."
"The Doors of Death are close," Annabeth corrected. "Let's watch the phrasing."

image source: here. edited by me.

This series just keeps getting better and better! Everything that happened in this book was super intense, and I can't help feeling worried for all the characters throughout the story. I'm really glad all the characters got a chance to shine in this book, and not only focusing on the best ones like Percy or Jason. This book is quite dark and gloomy because they're facing really scary obstacles/enemies here. But of course, Rick Riordan never forgets to throw in his usual humor through characters like Leo or Percy—which always managed to lighten things up a little bit. Some parts in this book hints about what's going to happen next, and I sense things are going to be even more intense.

The narration in this book is a little bit different from the previous three, because all seven demigods (Hazel, Annabeth, Leo, Percy, Frank, Jason, and Piper) have their own chapters in this book! :D It's really awesome because this way we can see what's in the mind of each characters and also what they're going through personally. The group is divided into two: Percy and Annabeth who fell into Tartarus, and the other five demigods. But basically they have a similar mission, which is to find the Doors of Death; Percy/Annabeth from the Tartarus's side, and the rest from the mortal side. I really like how the story alternates between the two sides, and how Rick Riordan changed the focus at the most crucial part (which always made me eager to keep reading to find out what's going to happen next). There are so many things that happened in this book and I have a jumble of feelings towards everything in it. Some parts surprised me because I didn't expect some things, there are also scenes that made me swoon because of cuteness overload, and other emotional FEELS that I can't really describe one by one. Even though the book didn't end in a really intense situation, I'm still a bit anxious about where the team's heading next. Well, it's going to be the last book and I guess it's finally time to face the BIG BOSS.

"But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil."

"Keep climbing, he told himself.
Cheeseburgers, his stomach replied.
Shut up, he thought.
With fries, his stomach complained."

I really want to talk about some of the characters because each of them are going through a certain phase. First, of course, I'll talk about my favorite couple: Percy and Annabeth. Falling into Tartarus is certainly out of their experience and they were never trained for that. And because they're so clueless in Tartarus, it made everything so intense and thrilling. They faced a lot of obstacles and difficulties in Tartarus, but thankfully Percy still managed to lighten the mood despite the dark surroundings.

One of the most memorable obstacle in Tartarus for me was when Percy and Annabeth encountered the Arai, the spirits of curses. If either of them defeat the Arai, the curse will be released upon the killer—which then causes Percy and Annabeth to suffer from so many different things. What surprised me was when Percy got cursed by the death of the monsters he killed—which is literally karma for Percy because he killed so many monsters over the years. He had to experience Phineas's death (that happened in The Son of Neptune), and that's pure torture for Percy :( It got even worse because they didn't kill only one Arai at that point. But yeah, the Tartarus journey was extremely intense. Action-packed and very fast-paced. I also really love how both of them supported each other even though they don't see much hope ahead. Annabeth, you still prove yourself incredibly smart even in Tartarus. Kudos to you.

"Percy knew that he'd killed a lot of monsters, but he'd never really thought about it from the monsters' point of view. Now all their pain and anger and bitterness poured over him, sapping his strength."

A character that changed a LOT in this book would be Frank Zhang. As the son of a war god, I was expecting him to have some sort of leadership in him—and he finally proved it in this book! And I'm so happy for him, because he's always pretty insecure and felt inferior compared to Percy or Jason. I feel like he deserve more exposure and I'm glad he got it. When Frank stood tall and proud after what he had accomplished, I really want to give him a thumbs up and told him that he's great :'))

"It's natural to feel fear." The war god's voice was surprisingly warm, full of pride. "All great warriors are afraid. Only the stupid and the delusional are not. But you faced your fear, my son. You did what you had to do, like Horatius. This was your bridge, and you defended it."

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The award for the most shocking part of the book goes to Nico di Angelo's confession (!!!). Oh my goodness, I really didn't see that coming. My mouth was gaping like the gif above when I read that part because I need a little bit more time to process things. Now I see Nico in a different light; not just a gloomy boy who hangs around the corner. This happened when Nico met Cupid, who turns out to be really scary and intimidating. But I guess love can indeed be a scary thing, isn't it?

"Psyche had been right. Cupid was a monster. Love was the most savage monster of all."

And let me just say that my favorite part of the book probably goes to Leo Valdez's trip to Ogygia ♥♥♥♥. Like I said in my review for The Mark of Athena, I was really sad for Leo because he's the seventh wheel in the group without a couple. But not anymore! His meeting with Calypso when he's stranded in Ogygia is like the cutest thing ever. That love-and-hate relationship though, it's just so adorable and made me smile every single time. I just love how Calypso started to warm up to Leo because he fixed a lot of the broken stuff on the island. And as always, Leo with his charm and humor never fails to make me swoon. I will definitely go down with this ship! Leo and Calypso is officially my new OTP from this series :)) I hope to see how their relationship wraps up in the fifth and final book. *Oh, and Leo actually brought a gift for Frank from Ogygia, which is a total life-saver! I didn't expect Leo to think about that, and it just shows how much he cares for his friends :))

Calypso laughed—a clear, happy sound that made Leo's heart go ka-bump.
"See," he said, "I'm funny."
She managed to kill her smile. "You are not funny. Now, get back to work, or no cider and stew."

Another character that leaves a deep impression for me is Bob ㅠㅠ. Bob is so cute, I love him so much even though he's a Titan. And the ending part when Percy told the stars that Bob said hello, it's so sad, I even teared up a little bit. Without Bob, I think all that happened in this book wouldn't have been possible.

Hazel Levesque discovered that she's capable of something else other than being good at underground route and summoning precious rocks. Piper McLean finally learned some sword-fighting, and kind of upgraded her charmspeak skill. And Jason Grace finally get to lead the team while Percy and Annabeth are absent. I'm really liking how these characters grow in the story and expanding their abilities. I'm happy because Piper also got time to show what she's got and saved her friends single-handedly when the enemy attacked. I'm really looking forward to what all these characters have to offer in the next book :D

"Be honored, little demigods," said the god of the pit. "Even the Olympians were never worthy of my personal attention. But you will be destroyed by Tartarus himself!"

I'm thoroughly satisfied with this book, it's definitely a ride full of excitement and also monsters. The House of Hades gave so much development in the story and also hints of the things to come—which I'm quite terrified about. All that's left now is the final book which will conclude the journey of the seven demigods. I really don't know what to expect, I just hope it will be another great adventure with all these great characters I've come to love.

"So what if he was a hero? So what if he did something brave? Evil was always here, regenerating, bubbling under the surface. Percy was no more than a minor annoyance to these immortal beings. They just had to outwait him. Someday, Percy's sons or daughters might have to face them all over again."

'Bob says hello,' He told the stars. The Argo II sailed into the night.

by.stefaniesugia♥ .