Review: The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads: After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson is finding his seventh-grade school year unnervingly quiet. His biggest problem is dealing with his new friend, Tyson, a six-foot-three, mentally challenged homeless kid who follows Percy everywhere, making it hard for Percy to have any normal friends. But things don't stay quiet for long.

Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: the magical borders that protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters, the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millennia. Only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new name: The Bermuda Triangle.

Together with his friends, Percy must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family, one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.

My Thoughts: Second in the Percy Jackson series, I found I liked the book even more than the first, although the story may not have grabbed me quite as much as the first. I listened to the first book on audio - about 8 hours - and thoroughly enjoyed it. It took me just over an hour to read Book 2, and I enjoyed that process much more. The audiobook was good, and it made me appreciate the fact that there was a good story here, but I'm too impatient to "read" a book in 8 hours when I can read it in 1 :)

Book 2 continues to seal the bond between Percy, Annabeth and Grover, setting up what is sure to be an enjoyable rest of the series as they continue to battle Kronos and his supporters, as well as deal with the challenges and issues that come from Mount Olympus as well. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest in this series (and in fact already started listening to Riordan's followup series on my last car trip!)

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