"The Mark of Athena" (2012) by Rick Riordan

Warning: If you have not read the previous books in this series, or the original series this one is following up on, then this review will contain spoilers for you. Also, why haven't you read these books yet?

Taking place right after the events of The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena continues the journey of the seven demigods, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank, and their quest to stop Gaea from destroying the Earth as they know it. To accomplish this goal, the team must reach the original roots of the gods, Rome and Greece, before the giants lay waste to them. However, Annabeth has a journey ahead that only she can face alone. A journey that, if she succeeds, might be able to join both the Roman and Greek camps and end the war against the giants.

Simply put, if there was something or someone you did not like from the previous two books in this series, you will like them now. The pacing of The Mark of Athena is tight, leaving no room for boredom. The jokes are funnier and the action is fast-paced and detailed. The development of the characters and their chemistry have shown how far the characters, whether old or new, have come, giving the book more of a mature feel than its predecessors. Also, the balance of the subplots with the alternating third-person perspectives of four characters (Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Percy) provides a much broader look on the plot and gives each of the 7+ characters time to shine.

With laugh-out-loud humor, edge-of-your-seat action, and a great amount of development for both plot and characters, The Mark of Athena is flawless and the best book yet in the Heroes of Olympus series! On to House of Hades!

5/5 Stars

You can buy your copy of the entire series from Amazon right here!

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