Kait Reviews: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Posted October 3, 2016 by Kait in Fantasy, Reviews, YA / 0 Comments

Kait Reviews: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
Series: The Trials of Apollo #1
Published by Hachette Book Group on May 3rd 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology
Pages: 384
Format: Kindle
Source: Amazon
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Reading Challenges: 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge

How do you punish an immortal? By making him human. After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favor. But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters, and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Initial Excitement

I started reading Percy Jackson when I was in seventh grade in 2005. I read every book as it came out, and other than the Kane Chronicles (which I started but didn’t enjoy) and Magnus Chase (which I keep starting and getting distracted), I’ve continued to read all of his books as soon as they’re available.

Summary in a Second

How do you punish a god? By making him mortal. Apollo is one of my favorite Greek gods, and seeing him as a human is hilarious.

Storytelling and Setting

How much do I love these characters and this setting? SO MUCH. Probably my favorite non time-travel universe, honestly.

About those Characters

I’ve already mentioned how much I love Apollo, both human and god, but all the characters are fantastic.

Favorite Quotes

“He looked about as worried as it is possible for a man to look while wearing fishnet stockings.”

“I’ve found that thinking often interferes with doing. It’s one of those lessons that gods learn early in their careers.”

“We only have one life, but we can choose what kind of story it’s going to be.”

Favorite Part

I have two favorite parts of any Rick Riordan book- the mythology and the narrator. I don’t love Apollo quite as much as I love Percy Jackson (but don’t tell him I said that!), but his voice is still wicked amusing. Also surprisingly insightful.

Least Favorite Part

The fact that I have to wait another year to read the sequel.

Summary in a GIF

Judging a Book by its Cover

Can we talk for a minute about how perfect the cover is? There’s the boy crouched in front of the image of the god. There’s the opening scene in muted colors. IT’S PERFECT.

Genre Love

I love middle grade mythology. I can’t resist it.

Other Thoughts

I just can’t state enough how much I love these books. I’m going to call them the Camp Half-Blood books, because Percy Jackson doesn’t work when he’s only in a few chapters.