The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena—Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

I watched the movie that was made based on this book and found it interesting but dumb like most movies based on books. Every person that I spoke to told me to read the book because they said that it was so much better than the movie and that that movie royally screwed everything up. I had forgotten about it until recently when I was talking to people about what books they would recommend to me. When they found out that I love the Harry Potter books, they said that I would like The Lightning Thief.  It always worries me when a book is hyped up like this one is because I go into it with high expectations.

I am happy to say that I did end up enjoying The Lightning Thief. It was a fun adventure that made the 4 hour flight I was on while reading it fly by. I don't normally read many middle grade books because the maturity level is fairly low and it can be hard to want to keep reading but I found this book easy to follow along with. It was clear that it was for a younger audience and many things that happened in the book were predictable but I still found the book to be a thrill-ride.  It was fast paced and there was never a dull moment. In fact, I would have liked for there to be less things happening because it felt like every page of the book there was another battle to fight. I thought that the characters were likable especially Grover. He added some much needed comedic relief to a tense story line. He actually reminded of Ron from Harry Potter albeit more of a worried, scared version. It was also interesting and refreshing that Percy's mother was included in the book and that she was a clever independent woman. I feel that parents that are included in these types of stories can be dumb or harsh and not prominent within the book. I thought that was a nice touch that Rick Riordan included her and that she was a change from the norm. Overall, I am glad that I read this book and would recommend it for anyone looking for an entertaining, easy read or a clean exciting book for their children to read!