Percy Jackson's Greek Gods (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) (Percy Jackson's Greek Myths)

by Rick Riordan

John Rocco (Illustrator)

"Percy Jackson, a modern-day demigod, tells the origin stories of the gods of Olympus and provides an insider's point of view - with plenty of attitude - in this illustrated collection"--

• ISBN10: 1484712374
• ISBN13: 9781484712375
• Publish Date: 23 February 2016 (first published 7 August 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Disney Hyperion
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781484712375

Reviews

[Mercy]

Lo que me he reído con este libro es demasiado y lo mucho que extrañaba a Percy como narrador 😍.

[Nessa Luna]

I first heard about the illustrated edition of this book a couple of months ago, and I was really interested. The story of the Greek gods told according to Percy? With images? Count me in! But the book was quite big and thus expensive - which I had anticipated - so I stalled my purchase. Later on I made peace with the fact that I had to borrow it from my friend (as soon as she'd finished it), but then a couple of days ago I saw the book at a local bookstore. It was the same size as my Heroes of Olympus books (unlike the one my friend owns) and so I decided to buy it.

Like I said, Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods is basically the original mythology stories, told according to Percy. With lots more humour, a bit less gore (because those myths are gory af) and just so so so much humour, gods. That is one of the reasons I love Riordan's books so much, he manages to make me laugh (out loud) with his book and mostly his chapter titles every damned time.

First, Percy explains about how this whole mythology started; with Ouranus and Gaia, and their twelve Titan children. How Kronos killed his father to become the 'king' of the world and how eventually Kronos would have something similar to him happen by the hands of his own children. Karma's a bitch. Then, Percy picks fifteen Gods and Goddesses to gossip talk about, and honestly I loved it so much.

I knew most of these stories already, so it wasn't that exciting to me, but the way Percy/Rick told them were so nice and so hilarious. There were a lot of references to modern things - like cellphones and facebook and Justin Bieber - and it was just so strange and amazing to see those mixed in with those old mythology stories. I really think that choosing to write this book like this was the best idea Rick ever had.

If you want to know more about Greek mythology, but you don't want to read those 'boring' books, I definitely recommend you pick up Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods. But only pick up the edition I have, okay? I'd be insanely jealous if you'd picked up the beautiful illustrated edition (which I might still do soon. I think. I don't know). I'll certainly be picking up the other book 'Percy' has written, named Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes - talking about all those demigod and mortal heroes like Hercules, Perseus and so on.

My opinion on this book in one gif: 

[pamela]

I thought I was going to love this book, but it turned out sadly to be somewhat disappointing. I've been enjoying children's and teen fiction lately because most of what I've been reading felt natural, with highly developed worlds that were believable and had so much depth. This book had none of those things.

I have to admit this is the first Percy Jackson, and indeed Rick Riordan book I have ever read. It also didn't have an overarching narrative, so I have to forgive it for not having depth of plot. I also have to admit that it possibly wasn't the best introduction to the Percy Jackson series as there was very little possibility of gaining an insight in to Riordan's ability for world building and I didn't have a sense of Percy Jackson as a character. That said however, the book is stand alone as you shouldn't need to know Percy's character to read or get enjoyment from it, and with Greek mythology so full of colour, life, death, tragedy and horror it should have been easy to paint a picture of Ancient Greece. Riordan just didn't achieve it though. I would have appreciated fewer stories with a bit more depth, or the stories told chronologically rather than by god.

I think the part I found most jarring was Percy Jackson's narrative voice. It just didn't come across as natural. It felt very much like an adult trying desperately to write as a child and it simply did not come across quite right. It all felt somehow forced, and Percy Jackson's reactions to some of the stories didn't ring true. I highly doubt that any well rounded teenage boy would be so blasé finding out his father was a multiple rapist...

It should have been a great read. There is so much to write about in Greek mythology, but for me 'Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods' just fell flat. It wasn't fast paced, or fun, and Percy just felt like he was trying too hard to be funny. Nobody likes a try hard. It wasn't a terrible read, but it just wasn't great. And I really, really wanted it to be.

See the review on my website here .