Book Review: The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3) by Rick Riordan

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BOOK review

Started on: 19.January.2015
Finished on: 27.January.2015

The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3) by Rick Riordan

Title : The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3)
Author : Rick Riordan

Publisher : Disney Hyperion
Pages :  586 pages
Year of Publication : 2012

Price : $ 14.72 (www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 5/5
*for those who haven't read the first/second 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.

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"But as you said, Annabeth Chase, no one has ever succeeded in following the Mark of Athena to its end. There you will face your worst fear—the fear of every child of Athena. And even if you survive, how will you use your reward? For war or for peace?"

The demigods from Camp Half-Blood are visiting Camp Jupiter on Argo II with Annabeth, Jason, Piper, and Leo on board. After being separated for so long, Annabeth is finally reunited with her boyfriend, Percy Jackson—who seems to have gained new Roman friends, Hazel and Frank. They tried to explain the whole situation to Camp Jupiter, and that they come in peace. But it turns out peace doesn't last long between these two camps when something unexpected happened. The seven demigods fled from Camp Jupiter, but the Romans are determined to make them pay for what they've done. Now they need to figure out the prophecies; which is finding the Mark of Athena and save Nico di Angelo who's held captive by the twin giants.

"Percy swallowed back his anger. He wasn't sure if he was mad at Annabeth, or his dream, or the entire Greek/Roman world that had endured and shaped human history for five thousand years with one goal in mind: to make Percy Jackson's life suck as much as possible."

As the prophecy started to unravel, Annabeth slowly realized what she needed to do—and also the fact that she have to do it alone. She will be faced with her worst fear, but it needs to be done for her to accomplish her mother's request. On the other hand, they only have a few days to save Nico and defeat the giants before Rome will be destroyed. In the end, will they be able to complete the quest? And will they be able to bring back peace between the Greeks and Romans?

"He wanted to make her feel better and tell her it would be okay, but he knew he couldn't. He wanted to fix everything for both of them so they could have a happy ending. After all these years, even the cruelest gods would have to admit they deserved it."

image source: here. edited by me.

OH GOSH. THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. It's probably the best out of the series so far, and I can't wait to go on the next adventure with the fourth book. The first two book introduced us to two separate groups of Greek and Roman demigods; and they're finally united in this book! I love everything about this book; the diverse characters, intense adventure, and Rick Riordan never forgot to put a pinch of comedy in it as well to ease the tension. It's still fast-paced and action-packed like the previous two books. And in this one, the prophecy started to get a bit clearer; but the revelation seems to lead them into a darker path ahead.

"The Mark of Athena burns through Rome, Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."

Before going into this book, I wondered from whose perspectives the story is going to be written from; and it turns out to be: Annabeth, Percy, Piper, and Leo. At first I didn't understand why it's written from these four's perspectives, but in the end it all made perfect sense. I absolutely love how the story got complex right from the beginning of the story, with Leo's unexpected action that kind of ruined their effort to make peace with the Romans. As usual, the group goes on an adventure step by step collecting hints to find out their final destination. However, this time there's actually 2 quests that they needed to do: finding the Mark of Athena—which is Annabeth's personal mission, and saving Nico di Angelo and defeat the twin giants. Most of the time, they always split up in groups of three—which is great, because it gives all the characters a chance to shine and show their ability, instead of relying on Percy and Jason all the time. I really enjoyed how they got through obstacles which are sometimes a test for their friendship as well. With seven people, sometimes disagreements happened, but I think it adds a good dynamic to the story. I would also say that I'm glad the scene that is presented in the cover came early in the book, because I was constantly anxious! I literally cannot imagine Percy and Jason fighting with water and lightning on horses. It's a very dangerous battle! Thankfully it wasn't what I thought it's going to be; but of course I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it ;)) The last part of the quest/adventure is so incredibly intense! There are so many things going on at once, and I'm constantly worried for the characters because I don't know how they'll manage to succeed. And that ending!!! It's so beautiful, yet I also feel sad at the same time. And as I've said, I can't wait to dive into the next book to find out what's up next for these demigods.

"Never seen Jason fly before," Percy grumbled. "He looks like a blond Superman."

First thing that I'll say when talking about the characters is how much I love Percy Jackson! ♥♥♥ I think I love his character even more in this book than in Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. He's finally reunited with Annabeth, and their relationship is very adorable! I can definitely see why Piper's jealous of their relationship, because Percy and Annabeth are comfortable with each other (since they've been friends for quite a long time). My favorite scene is when Annabeth is in danger and tried a trick to call Percy for help; then Percy instantly came to the rescue ♥♥ I love how Percy can be ridiculous/goofy sometimes, but he really cares about his friends and would probably do anything to save them. And the ending just made me love him 100 times more. He's such a sweet and warmhearted person. He's definitely on my list of favorite book-boyfriends ;))

"...Even my grapes aren't safe. Ceres wanted a united front in the plant war."
"The plant war," Percy said. "You're going to arm all the little grapes with tiny assault rifles?"

On the other hand, Jason Grace has a completely different personality. And as much I want to love his characters (because he's so handsome), I wasn't really attracted to his personality (because in books, that's what matters the most for me). However, I absolutely love the bromance moments happening between Jason and Percy! These two kind of had a problem because they're used to being the leader of the group; but in the end combining their powers is always better than doing it alone. I need more bromance, please!

"Annabeth got a tingle down her spine as she realized the boys were working as one, summoning the sky and the sea to do their bidding. Water and wind churned together. Waves heaved against the ramparts and lightning flashed."

Of course, I can't not mention the other characters; because they're also amazing in their own ways. Let's talk how incredibly smart Annabeth Chase is. Her solo death quest showed that she's indeed the daughter of Athena—the goddess of wisdom. Even in a nerve-wrecking situation, she managed to (try to) stay calm and think of a solution. I think I'm as amazed as the other demigods are at her commendable wit. Another character that I'd like to mention will be Leo Valdez, my favorite character from the first book, The Lost Hero. Without Leo, I guess the group will fail miserably because they wouldn't even been able to fly (or fix) the Argo II. And I absolutely love Leo World action during the final quest! He's just fabulous with all the machinery and stuff. Not to mention his hilarious dialogues that crack me up even when they're in a dangerous situation :DD It's very sad for Leo to be the seventh wheel, because he's the only one without a couple :( I hope this won't lead into troubles for the group. *And we finally discovered the truth behind Leo & Hazel's connection, which is quite shocking and weird too :1

"We have trained all the famous mer-heroes! Name a mer-hero, and we have trained him or her!"
"Oh, sure," Leo said. "Like...um, the Little Mermaid?"
Aphros frowned. "Who? No! Like Triton, Glaucus, Weismuller, and Bill!"

The eidolons started pounding on the gates again.
"Who is it?" Leo called.
"Valdez!" Wolf Head bellowed.
"Valdez who?" Leo asked.

Phew, a lot of things happened in the third book, but I'm extremely satisfied with how the story progressed so far.  I'm both excited and anxious at the same time about starting the fourth book, The House of Hades, because what's waiting for them is a more challenging obstacle. I hope the story will still be as action-packed and fast-paced as this one. And of course, I can't wait to see the demigods back in action. Hopefully Hazel can show more of what she can do because Underworld is her area of power :))

"We're staying together... You're not getting away from me. Never again."

 by.stefaniesugia♥ .