Saturday, April 19, 2014

The House of Hades Review!

Note: This review is a little (lot) late because it was saved as a draft for a few months. Oops. -Hannah
Hannah: Because Natalie is no fun and hasn't ready any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus books, Emma and I are going to review The House of Hades!


12127810-the-house-of-hades.jpgAt the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape? They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.
We are going to spoil the Hades out of this book! Skip to the end if you don't want to be spoiled.

Emma:
so here we go! Starting with the dedication--GARR!!!
Hannah: the cliffhanger from Mark of Athena was worse than the cliffhanger in Catching Fire, which was previously my standard for evil cliffhangers.
Emma: I was very happy that it only took five chapters to get to Annabeth's pov because knowing
 Rick Riordan I thought we weren't going to get to them till halfway through the book.
Hannah: It was also nice to have all seven of the prophecized (?) about narrate HoH, but the chapter division wasn't as even as in the previous books, and it seemed like we hardly ever heard from Jason and Piper.
Emma: Also, I would have liked a chapter from Nico's point of view.
Hannah: I get that he wasn't one of the seven in the prophecy, but his freaking character development!
Emma: Yeah! I totally saw the whole Percy crush coming, but I think I was the only person who did.
Hannah: Yay for Nico! YA & middle grade needs more characters like him.
Emma: I was very happy, but one of my friends was devastated only because now she can't marry him.
Hannah: So the only reason she can't marry him is because he's gay, not because he's a fictional character.
Emma: Just a technicality :)
Hannah: Next character--Bob. Best reformed Titan ever. A chapter from Bob's P.O.V. would have been pretty cool too.
Emma: I also loved Small Bob the saber tooth kitty. He was definitely the smartest cat in Tartarus. Side note: Bob the Titan is the antithesis of Angel Bob from Doctor Who.
Hannah: One more Underworld thing and we'll move on. I can't believe Annabeth lost Daedalus's laptop, her invisibility hat, and her dagger!
Emma: I did enjoy Annabeth's new sword though. And now we finish up in Tartarus with the best quote "Another cosmic joke for Gaea to laugh at: Annabeth dies trying to keep her boyfriend, son of Poseidon, from drowning."

Hannah: How about Leo and Calypso? They were so cute together, and now Leo can stop being a seventh wheel to the rest of the couples.

Emma: I thought their fighting was hilarious and can't wait to see how their relationship plays out.

Hannah: Also, yay for Leo getting Frank that fireproof bag. Speaking of Frank, he and Hazel are probably  my favorite couple.

Emma: I think Percabeth still wins but it was really great that Frank got to have his awesome hero moment and is now praetor even if Hazel didn't get to see it.

Hannah: Hazel and Frank still had great storylines and lots of growth.

Emma; Speaking of awesome couples--I can't believe Coach Hedge is a father!

Hannah: There was enough other couple stuff happening with Coach Hedge, Percabeth, Hank (Frankzel?) that it wasn't so bad that Jason and Piper weren't really important in HoH. 

Emma: Yeah, although Piper saved the day from Khione with her awesome charmspeak, Jason didn't do much.

Hannah: Oh, well. The whole Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus plot was a bit more exciting.

End Spoilers

Emma: I thought that while the book was pretty good, it wasn't quite as ingenious as his other books.

Hannah: HoH was definitely up to the Rick Riordan standard. Not my favorite, but the plot was still fast paced and engaging--it didn't feel like 600 pages and the characters are awesome as always. 

Emma's Rating: ✭✭✭✭1/2
Hannah's Rating: ✭✭✭✭1/2



No comments:

Post a Comment