The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

Also reviewed by Heather and Kari.

Summary: Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. but to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves. (Summary from book - Image from wswhe.lib.overdrive.com)

My review: This will be the third time The Lightning Thief has been reviewed on RFS (see here and here), so I will keep it brief.

I used to love learning about constellations when I was a young girl and hearing the stories of how they came to be in the sky. This book brought back all that was fun, magical, and mysterious about Greek mythology.

The Lightning Thief has the same exciting feel as Harry Potter, without the extensive plot and character development. This makes it easily suited to younger, less skillful, readers, but it is still sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adults as well. Even though parts of the story were fairly predictable or too easily explained, the blend of mythology with modern times kept my attention. I read this book in a couple of days (which for the mother of a newborn is quite a heroic feat) and will likely have read the others by the time this review posts.

My Rating: 4 Stars. I don’t remember anything objectionable in this book, but keep in mind, I’m running on very little sleep.

Sum it Up: A great way to pass the time while nursing (or whatever).

My reviews of The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, and The Battle of the Labyrinth will all post today every few hours. You can read Kari's reviews of them here, here, and here. Kari's review of The Last Olympian will post tomorrow.