_edited.jpg)
2.75 stars! This review will be spoiler free for The Dark Prophecy, but there will be spoilers for The Hidden Oracle!
Synopsis:
No one does synopses better than Riordan, so here it is!
"Zeus has punished his son Apollo—god of the sun, music, archery, poetry, and more—by casting him down to earth in the form of a gawky, acne-covered sixteen-year-old mortal named Lester. The only way Apollo can reclaim his rightful place on Mount Olympus is by restoring several Oracles that have gone dark. What is affecting the Oracles, and how can Apollo do anything about them without his powers?
After experiencing a series of dangerous—and frankly, humiliating—trials at Camp Half-Blood, Apollo must now leave the relative safety of the demigod training ground and embark on a hair-raising journey across North America. Fortunately, what he lacks in godly graces he's gaining in new friendships—with heroes who will be very familiar to fans of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. Come along for what promises to be a harrowing, hilarious, and haiku-filled ride."
Initial Thoughts:
I am so conflicted about this novel. I loved it simply because it's an Uncle Rick book and it had that adventurous, twisty, suspenseful (always with the deadlines) kind of plot that I know and love. There were creative creatures and interesting battle scenes, though not traditional fighting. Also, there are characters I hold near and dear to my heart in this book, *ahem ahem* Leo Valdez. There were also some new characters that I grew to love in this book: Jo and Emmy, even Lit. For some reason though, I just didn't love this book as much as I thought I would. The funny, snarky, sassy writing you expect in a Riordan book is still 100% there. Witty comebacks are still a thing, thank goodness. I think the loss of luster for me lies in the fact that my heart isn’t particularly attached to any of the MAIN characters. I’m usually super invested into the main characters of Rick’s books as well as the plot, but for me I was only interested in seeing the plot move forward. Altogether, I felt that this sequel took a dip compared to The Hidden Oracle. I can only hope that book three will get better. I can’t just NOT finish a Riordan series.
Suggestions: Definitely read the Apollo section of the "Percy Jackson's Greek Gods" book if you can! This definitely helps if you want to get to know more background of the God who's head we're stuck in for this series.
Plot: Haikus before every chapter!
This plot does not really deviates from the standard Rick formula. We have a prophecy that a demigod must complete in order to save the world. I don’t mind this. I like that you can rely on a Riordan book to provide you with some mystery (what does this prophecy really mean?), some adventure (where will this prophecy take us?), and some very very weird villains (you have to meet Commodus). Commodus and all the ways that they poke fun at his name were actually hilarious to me.
So I’m sure Riordan had taken his inspiration for Apollo’s history from true Greek mythology, but he definitely took a lot more artistic license with how he portrayed said myths. They were less based in truth and more in humor. Commodus being a prime example.
Apollo is growing! YAY GROWTH. He’s not there yet. No where close. But he has grown the most infinitesimal amount.
FIGHTING! I truly liked the battle scenes. They were kind of less hyped and fast paced because the fighting was less traditional, not brute force or skill. This is probably due to the face that Apollo’s powers are based in music and archery, both not being particularly fit for melee. Regardless, they were creative. Who knew you could fight your way through a battle using a ukulele and song. It’s intriguing to see how a musician may take on an enemy rather than a swordsman. Then there are the bursts of Godly power that come in clutch when Apollo needs it and those bouts of power manifest in such unique ways.
NOT so great stuff:
So so so so so many allusions Riordan makes. In this novel, it makes more sense (rather than Magnus Chase) because Apollo has lived so long and the allusions are more of way to emulate how long his life has been, but goodness. 40% of the jokes in this book were drop dead LOL hilarious, the other 60% fell quite short. Many people would disagree, and I mean MANY. Still, I just didn’t find myself laughing as much as say reading PJO, HoO, or MC.
The ending was SO GOOD! I loved the ending more than anything else. Especially because I like it when a bad guy turns good. Then, Riordan has a way of hinting at which “old characters” get to make their debut in the sequels and THAT always always makes me want to keep reading. My love for the character coming in, in book three exceeds my disappointment with this book immensely.
Characters: yikes (mostly rants coming up!)
The cast of characters in this book didn’t really improve.
APOLLO funny as ever, was trying too hard to be funny sometimes. Him complaining about being mortal all the time got really old really fast. His cluelessness was also started to grate on my nerves. You can only handle so much “I’m so great why does everyone hate me.” One thing I do like about Apollo is that he doesn’t even try to pretend to be a great savior. He’s a damsel in distress most of the time just trying to figure out how to survive. When it truly comes down to the wire, he makes the hard choices though.
CALYPSO I thought maybe I’d like Calypso with her fighting spirit and all that, but she sort of fell flat for me. As did her relationship with Leo. It wasn’t really explained. Even though I know it wasn’t supposed to be in the spotlight, I still wanted more if it was going to be mentioned that there was trouble in paradise for them.
LEO I still love with all his fire and latino-ness.
MEG, started to annoy me again. She has this very twisted backstory and we get to learn so much more about her, but then she keeps closing herself off. I was just losing my patience with her more often than I’d like.
LIT, yes that is the name of one of the characters, and I SO want more of him. I live for the morally gray.
Overall:
I can’t NOT continue with this series. I’m so invested in Rick Riordan, I just have to continue. Especially because I tend to not like his second books in series anyways, but then I end up LOVING book 3-5 (mostly 4), usually. I don’t know why that always happens, but it does, so I will of course be picking up the third book!
Peep by review for all the books in the series if you haven't!
Review for book 1: The Hidden Oracle | 5 stars
Review for book 2: The Dark Prophecy | 2.75 stars
Review for book 3: The Burning Maze | 3.75 stars
Review for book 4: The Tyrant's Tomb | 4 stars
Review for book 5: The Tower of Nero | 3.5 stars