Book Review: The Lightning Thief

I'm back! Finally found the formula to make time, one of the key ingredients being apple cider, and am sprinkling you all with the concoction! I've been reading tons so I have tons of blogging to catch up on but I promise not to spam you all this time! So, here goes...

Summary: 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.

Review: While, personally, it doesn't quite stand up there with Harry Potter, Percy Jackson was an interesting take on mixing mythology with the modern age. I really loved the way the author intertwined actual Greek stories in the book while still keeping things mostly kid friendly. 
 The cast is lots of fun, a bunch of aspiring heroes out to save the world from some of the oldest story villains ever. One thing I really appreciated in this book was that Percy Jackson has many mild disorders: adhd, dyslexia, I think a few more are mentioned as well. My younger brother who struggles with dyslexia loves having a hero who is strong but struggles with something as basic as reading, just like him. So that aspect of the character was a huge plus for me. The friendships and relations throughout the story develop nicely if a little generically but all in all create a wonderful opening to a promising series. 

Content: Some violence from vicious fictional creatures to an actual fight with a bit of blood. The whole premise is children born from unmarried couples though this isn't talked about openly and doesn't present itself as an obvious issue. Mentions are made of married goddesses dating other gods, again this is delved into too deeply and derives from the original mythology so it's not a blatant issue but still a common one.  
 All in all it's written to be appropriate for most ages and is a great way to learn some of these ancient stories!