Book Review: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan || Three Perspectives, Two-Faced Gods, and One Bad Enemy

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea―except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all―including Leo―related to a god.

Rick Riordan, the best-selling author of the Percy Jackson series, pumps up the action and suspense in The Lost Hero, the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Fans of demi-gods, prophesies, and quests will be left breathless--and panting for Book Two.

Discussion:

⭐⭐⭐⭐    

"[L]ove is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness. Their noblest, bravest acts are done for love."

Besides anxiously awaiting my Hogwarts letter or an onslaught of Greek monsters to test my battle skills before running away to Camp Half Blood, I am stuck imagining these fantasies in my head. But, really, imagine me doing awesome ninja skills to obliterate nasty monsters into adorable dust bunnies? At least, the butterbeer at Universal Studios, dying my store-bought cookie dough blue, and practicing my hip-breaking air-kicks will have to do. Still waiting for that peanut butter-flavored ambrosia to fall in love with, though?

With the anticipation for the new Percy Jackson television series, I was excited to return to my favorite gang of demigods and my excuse for a Greek mythology class. With this new addition to Percy Jackson's world, readers everywhere get to experience the deja-vu of another dimension, specifically one involving Roman mythology and more interesting characters to fall in love with. 

Waking from his slumber, Jason is riding a bus from his school Wilderness Academy to the Grand Canyon, and is seated next to his girlfriend Piper and his best friend Leo. Unfortunately, Jason doesn't know where he is or, even, who he is. Besides his former gym teacher's reminders of his identity as a cupcake, he only knows that his stolen memories are part of the goddess Hera's scheme. So, it becomes Jason and his friends' mission to not only save the world from monsters once banished to the Underworld but to also regain Jason's memory. Of course, with Riordan, included in the story are multiple instances of small life-ending conflicts, sassy interactions, and teenage flirtations.

Similar to his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the pace of the story is done so well that I listened to the majority of this book via audio. As part of my daily runs, drives to and from work, or my background noise at work, I looked forward to hearing the alternating perspectives of Jason, Piper, and Leo. Percy's witty and sarcastic commentary in the first series was amazing, but this format gave me insight into each of the main protagonists' development throughout the story and their respective interpretation of events. For example, during many of Leo's interactions with pretty ladies, he can get a little flirtatious, lose focus on his task, and begin preparing an epic prom proposal with a fire-breathing dragon to scorch his message into the sky. However, thankfully Piper, and sometimes Jason, is available to fill in some of the gaps and remain sharp-witted and level-headed under pressure to remind us that snow goddesses have ruthless motives too. 

Still, Leo does remain a favorite because he is just hilarious and adorable with his shortcomings of...um, finding a girl who will actually returns his feelings.

Again, reading from the perspectives from multiple characters, Jason was my least favorite of the three. Paired with Piper's natural charisma and intelligence and Leo's tragic-backstory-turned-into-actually-funny-humor, Jason was bland. Like, vanilla ice cream without the added vanilla bean or egg for homestyle custard. Or like, oatmeal without an entire jar of peanut butter added to it. Or the worst, like, a story without a mention of Perseus Jackson. 

Okay, joking with that last one since Percy isn't gone...he's just lost...in another dimension...deciding whether he has to take the Greek blue pill or the Roman red pill....before Annabeth loses her chill...and I reread Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO) for the fourth time...

Still, although there are no major issues with Jason's character, I wish Riordan had spent more building Jason's character, especially since he started with a great foundation. There are several instances of Jason's bravery, kindness, and loyalty; however, this book also seemed to spend more time catching up with old, beloved characters and their stories rather than the main guy JASON. Like every English teacher says, it's fantastic that Riordan shows readers the heroic strengths and the vulnerabilities of his characters rather than having a speech of how impeccably beautiful they are, but I seriously need more lines discovering Jason rather than "I lost my memory and Hera won't give it back". Maybe, even Riordan was homesick about Camp Half Blood and his previous beloved characters. 

Piper and Leo - They were both so fun to read from due to their sharp insights. Piper has a lot of inner turmoil throughout the beginning of the book since she is expected to betray both Jason and Leo and save her father who was kidnapped by mean cyclops. Like Jason and Leo, she does frequently express how much of an outcast she is due to her father's celebrity status and her near-annual transfers from various schools. Leo also has inner turmoil but that's mainly due to his inability to trust himself after incidentally killing his mother after starting a fire. Both of these characters were so well written, and sometimes, it is nice to take a break from "organic life forms". 😁

Although it was definitely hard to consider The Lost Hero as its own entity, I had to remember that this is a continuation of PJO and includes the ongoing events of previous characters. It was great reading about Thalia as Artemis' right-hand warrior or Mr. D's (long-awaited) return to Olympus. The PJO series was a great introduction to this universe (besides the attempt of a wrecked love triangle business); however and again, in this next addition, I wanted Jason's character and our main trio's relationship to be further developed. We can't sit all day waiting for Percy to come around if we're waiting for Jason to remember his past. I'll soon be reading Son of Neptune and see where Percy is now, so bye!

Have you read any of Riordan's books or other stories revolving around Greek/Roman mythology? Do you think Jason will be converted from PB-less oatmeal into a full buffet of quirks and antics? How many squares of ambrosia did it take you to finish this book? Chat with me via the comments section below or on any of my social medias! Toodles!

Happy reading,

newbookcats