“The Sea of Monsters” and “The Titan’s Curse” by Rick Riordan

After reading The Lightning Thief by audio book, I said I wouldn’t continue to reread the series in that form because I hate how it’s narrated, but I went back on my word. So, did I like it this time? No.

Quick summary:

The Sea of Monsters and The Titan’s Curse are the second and third books in Rick Riordan’s middle-grade fantasy, adventure series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

In The Sea of Monsters, our protagonist Percy has to rescue his best friend Grover, a satyr, when he goes missing. Percy decides to search for him in the Sea of Monsters, a.k.a the Bermuda Triangle, with his companions, Annabeth, a friend he made in the last book, and his cyclops brother, Tyson. Meanwhile, Luke and his boat of baddies are still up to no good in the name of Kronus.

The Titan’s Curse picks up with Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia, who popped out of a tree in the last book, on their way to check out some half-bloods Grover peeped at a military boarding school. With the help of the goddess Artemis and her band of hunters, Percy and his gang are able to rescue the half-bloods and get them safely to Camp Halfblood, but at the cost of Annabeth, who was lost in effort.

When the campers and the hunters learn through a dream that Artemis was captured on her hunt for Kronus’s right-hand man, called “the General,” Thalia and two hunters set out to rescue her with Percy sneaking along to rescue Annabeth. Again it’s a race against the clock to save the world from the General and Luke and his boat of baddies, who are up to no good in the name of Kronus.

My thoughts:

I read these for fun. Actually, most of my reading is for fun but when I picked these up, I did so because I needed something light. I read The Sea of Monsters in audio book form because I realized that I like to listen to audio books as I go about my day or my chores. It’s a nice break from listening to music and I get through a book while I do it. The drawback, though, is I can’t listen to new books this way because it’s hard for me to pay attention to all I want to when reading a new book, like language, unique words, and writing style. That’s why I’ve only reread books using audio books.

I didn’t like The Lightning Thief audio book because the narration sucks. The only reason why I listened to The Sea of Monsters on audio is because I’d just completed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on audio and didn’t know what to do with myself, so I turned to the second Percy Jackson book.

The Sea of Monsters was a fun read, but I would have enjoyed it much more if I’d read the physical copy. Still, it was great to hear about Percy’s adventures with Annabeth, like being turned into a guinea pig and riding a hippokampus. I still find it irritating that Percy calls Tyson “big guy,” a sucky endearment, but I liked that Riordan touched on Percy’s feelings of embarrassment when he learned that he has a disfigured brother and then feeling ashamed later that he felt way. I also liked when Percy was jealous that Tyson gets to visit Poseidon’s kingdom undersea as well. I think all those ring true of how an only child would feel in those circumstances.

The Titan’s Curse was also a fun read. I picked it up soon after completing The Sea of Monsters to see if a change in book format would improve my experience. It did. It’s nothing new, but I proved to myself that I pay closer attention to the story when reading the physical book.

In this one, the antics of the gods were very entertaining, especially Dionysus and Aphrodite, though she appeared briefly. (By the way, Tatalus in The Sea of Monsters was hilarious! Poor thing couldn’t eat or drink.) I also liked when the wild hog appeared on the scene and that Grover now thinks he has to drink lots of coffee to find Pan. Lol! The adventure at the Hoover Dam was also great because 1. I’d forgotten about Rachel Dare and 2. It made me want to go visit the Hoover Dam. (Random thought: I’m pretty sure I’m a child of Athena.)

Overall:

Sea of Monsters ★★★☆☆

Titans Curse ★★★★☆

I thought these books wouldn’t hold up well for a reread, but they did and I’m glad for that. They are fun and hilarious and perfect for when you need something light and quick.

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