Review: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & The Olympians #1


Blurb: 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.


Percy Jackson is a troublemaker. He has ADHD and dyslexia, sees things that are impossible and gets into constant trouble. One day, while visiting a museum, his math teacher tries to kill him. The worst thing is that she transformed into some kind of monster and Percy killed her with a pen/sword borrowed from his latin teacher. When he tries to explain it to his best friend Grover, he doesn't remember their math teacher, and neither does anybody else.

When he goes home, his mother tells him that they are going on a trip to the beach, but when they arrive, they are attacked. His friend Grover appears out of nowhere and helps them get rid of the monsters, so everyone gets into the car and Percy's mother tells him that they are driving him to Camp Half-Blood. Percy wants some explanations to what's happening, but before they can tell him, they are attacked by a minotaur. Percy kills him, but not before he has killed his mother. Before more monsters arrive, Percy carries Grover, who has been injured, to Half-Blood Camp, where his latin teacher is waiting. There he discovers that he is a Half-Blood, the son of a god and that Zeus's lightning bolt has been stolen. Something has to be done, but what can a 12 year old do?

The book was fantastic. You discover everything about the other world through Percy, who is a half-blood. The action is non-stop, there is something attacking them most of the time, and I loved all the different creatures and mosters that appeared.

Annabelle and Grover are Percy's friends and his sidekicks. They accompanied him through most of the book, and their unique abilities helped him stay alive. Annabelle is the smart one (daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom) and even though she clashed with Percy when they met, they become fast friends. Grover is Percy's best friend and also a satyr. He was responsible for his security before Percy discovered that he was a half-blood. He's funny, a little weird but always tries his best. There were a lot of important and different characters, but there are too many of them, so you'll have to read the book.

The plot was really good. You get clues little by little as to who stole Zeus' bolt, but appart of that, there is an overall plot for the 5 books of the series that starts in this one. This is fast-paced story, and I read it in one sitting. This is a great book for people all ages, but especially teenagers and lovers of mythology. Read this book, you won't regret it.

Memorable Lines:

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me for with a murderous look in her eyes.
My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.
She snarled, ‘Die, honey!’
And she flew straight at me.
Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.

Genre: YA

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