Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth Review

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Published: March 6, 2008

Synopsis: In this fourth book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, Percy and his friends are faced with even greater dangers that are threatening Camp Half-Blood and Olympus itself. They embark on a quest through Daedalus' ancient labyrinth to find the inventor himself and stop Luke and Kronos's army from destroying the camp.

My rating: 5/5 stars

 

 

First off, I realize I skipped reviewing The Titan's Curse and I have excellent reasoning behind that: these books just got so good that it's saying something that I've put them down long enough to write this review. =)

 

[Note: This review is somewhat spoilerly. Don't read on if you haven't finished the book.]

 

My reaction to reading the first two Percy books was mostly that they were fun reads that I'd continue when I got the chance. However, since the third book, I haven't been able to put them down. Holy Hades they just got that amazing!!!

 

I loved every aspect of this book. It is probably my favorite one yet although The Titan's Curse is a pretty close second. There was just so much adventure and humor and sadness and edge-of-your-seat suspense. There were times when this book made me laugh out loud and other times when I was gripping the pages so tightly that I'm surprised the pages aren't horribly wrinkled. And the emotions... *sniff* our little Percy and Annabeth are growing up.

 

Percy and friends met so many interesting characters along the way this times around - Nico (even though he was technically introduced in book three, he had a bigger role in this one), Briares, Calypso, Daedalus, Pan, Rachel. I loved the themes that were attached to all these new characters. The power behind the belief in yourself and in others - even if those others aren't worthy of it like Briares and Daedalus weren't at first. The importance of letting go - the way Nico had to let go of Bianca and learn to trust Percy. I especially loved the not too subtle theme of taking care of the environment. I closed this book wanting to plant a garden in honor of Calypso and Pan.

 

Surprisingly, my favorite quote came from Dionysus, "But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword... Sometimes small things can become very large indeed." (pg. 346 of the US paperback ed.)

 

Enough reviewing... must read last book...