Book Review: The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Title:  The House of Hades
Author:  Rick Riordan
Genre:  YA mythology retelling
Series:  The Heroes of Olympus #4
Publisher:  Hyperion
Pages:  597, hardcover
Acquired via:  Bought on Amazon

Rating:  

Synopsis from goodreads:  At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I love Rick Riordan's series, and this book was a great addition.  It was mainly focused on Percy and Annabeth's adventures, with the other characters taking smaller roles.  It had romance, drama, lots of action and suspense, and plenty of new mythological people and creatures.

I was so happy with the entire Percibeth storyline.  It was awesome for these two to finally get back together and share an adventure.  Their relationship develops and grows so much throughout the book as they suffer crazy torture in Tartarus.

The other characters have their own adventures, but some of them seemed to get very little attention in this book.  Piper and Jason both had very minimal storylines, while Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Nico had a lot of focus on them.  I especially loved the way Frank's character developed.  He really got a chance to shine.

There was one part that I wasn't too thrilled with, which is a first for me with Riordan's books.  I won't give away what exactly it was, for those of you who have yet to read the book, but there is one part of the book, a big "character revelation", that seemed forced and preachy and not really well-written.  I personally think Riordan could have written it a lot better, but that's just my opinion.  It was the only thing in the whole book that bothered me, and it didn't bother me enough to keep me from loving the book.

Fortunately, Riordan did not leave us with a literal cliffhanger like he did with the previous book (which he poked fun at in the dedication; you must read it!).  Instead, the book had a satisfying ending, while hinting at the big climactic finish to come in The Blood of Olympus.  I cannot wait to read the next book, and hope it is an epic finish worthy of this series.