Friday, October 11, 2013

Review: The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Title: The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4)
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Middle Grade (although these later books tend more towards Young Adult), Fantasy
Goodreads | The Reading Room



The House of Hades is the fourth book in the bestselling Heroes of Olympus series, set in the action-packed world of Percy Jackson.

The stakes have never been higher. If Percy Jackson and Annabeth fail in their quest, there'll be hell on Earth. Literally.

Wandering the deadly realm of Tartarus, every step leads them further into danger. And, if by some miracle they do make it to the Doors of Death, there's a legion of bloodthirsty monsters waiting for them.

Meanwhile, Hazel and the crew of the Argo II have a choice: to stop a war or save their friends. Whichever road they take one thing is certain - in the Underworld, evil is inescapable.
Review by Nara

So far this year, I have read 326 books. Three. Hundred. And Twenty. Six.
Now why is this relevant, you may ask? Is it just to show off how many books I've read this year? Maybe...*shifty eyes*. But more specifically, I say this to really be able to put it into context when I tell you that The House of Hades is literally THE BEST book I have read this year (so far. The Fiery Heart hasn't been released yet, so we'll see...). Out of all those 300+ books I've read this year, this magnificent creation comes out on top.

The House of Hades is...how might I put this....shall we say....FABULOUS. FANTASTICAL. FLAWLESS. (Why do they all start with F? No idea lol) Seriously, any complimentary adjective can be used to describe this absolute masterpiece of a book.

If you have not yet had the pleasure of reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and the subsequent Heroes of Olympus series, seriously mate, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. You're depriving yourself of one of the most incredible, most hilarious, most downright astounding set of books of all time.

I just love all of the characters. ALL OF DEM. (I mean, the ones we're supposed to like. Obviously I don't like Tartarus or Gaia etc). But of course, everyone has their favourites and mine is most definitely Percy. PERCY I LOVE YOU. He's just so funny and nice and brave and loyal and EVERYTHING. Plus he has green eyes. DEM GREEN EYES <3 And seriously, I think the couple I ship above all others from ANY book is Percy x Annabeth. Percabeth is just so cute- and just how they supported each other through the entire journey in Tartarus ERMAHGERD EXTREME FLAILAGE!


And Nico. Oh, my, gosh. I mean, he wasn't really one of my favourite characters, and he still probably isn't one of my favourites, but MASSIVE CURVEBALL. Just did not expect that to happen. Like, at ALL. If you've read any other reviews of this book, I'm pretty sure most if not all of them would have mentioned this twist. So damn unexpected.


A couple of spoilery things need to be discussed, so I'll hide them under a spoiler tag.

Click me to read spoilers

So, I actually read the Australian edition of the book, which has a massive helmeted thing in the top (check it out here). When I first saw the cover, I was like, what the heck is that thing doing on there? But when we got to the bit where Tartarus was being described I was like WOAH THE COVER MAKES SENSE.

OH MY FREAKING GOD I SHIP LEO x CALYPSO SO HARD. Do they even have a shipping name? Caleo? Leolypso? lawl. Regardless, they are amazeballs, and when he swore on the River Styx while he was floating away on the raft/boat thing THAT WAS THE CUTEST.




Right now, my Current Ship Ranking:
1. PERCABETH
2. Leo x someone (not saying because spoilers)
3. Tyson x Ella (even though we haven't seen that much of these guys, I love Tyson :3
4. Frank x Hazel
5. Jason x Piper
6. EVERY OTHER FREAKING RELATIONSHIP IN THIS BOOK BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL PERFECT

I don't want to say much else about this book, because this statistic should speak for itself:
Goodreads rating: 4.73 out of 5.00
FOUR POINT SEVEN THREE

p.s. after writing this review, I really feel like rereading this book. So I totes am. This is literally three days after finishing it for the first time. CLEARLY IT IS A GOOD BOOK PEOPLE.

Favourite
Panacea Candidate

Ratings
Overall: 10/10 Well actually, I'd like to give it much higher than this. Oh, ∞/100 will do.
Plot: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 4/5





16 comments:

  1. Another rave for House of Hades! Must...read...soon...more importantly, WOW I can't believe you've read over 300 books this year! That my friend, is an achievement in itself. Amazing stuff!

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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    1. haha why thank you! I'm a pretty fast reader, and I spend a lot of time reading, so I guess that just reflects that :)
      AND YES READ IT SOON ERMAHGERD IT'S SO GOOD

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  2. I haven't been able to stop hearing about House of Hades at all this week! Everyone's been super hyped up about it and that just reminds me that I haven't read past The Lost Hero. But wow, the series sounds soooo good and I can't wait to jump back into it! Especially if Leo is being shipped with someone because I love Leo! :)

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    1. Annie, READ THEM READ THEM READ THEM.
      The relationship Leo has with the other person is SO DANG CUTE. Not as cute as Percabeth, but still ermahgerd, those chapters from Leo's POV are my favourite part of the book I think :D

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  3. HAHAHA!
    My Tweet Feed was absolutely bursting on the day this one was released! And I feel like the only one standing in the dark...
    Well, it does sound THAT good. xD Now I don't think I can put off reading this series!
    All of you make this sound so fantastic >< And I absolutely love that Avatar gif up there! Suddenly it makes so much sense xD
    Fantastic fangirl review, Nara! It's always fun to see people spazz about the books they love ;)

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    1. REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD IT!!!!!
      It's just an INCREDIBLE series. And Percy <3
      haha I actually only just recently watched by first episode of Avatar, and dang it's pretty good. I don't know why I put it off for so long!
      hahaha so much fangirling. I'm pretty sure almost all reviews of this book will have some level of fangirl in them :P

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  4. *SQUEE* I'm dying to read this book. Like, I want it soooo bad. I'm glad it's good! The Mark of Athena's ending was horrific. I still can't get over it. That was probably my faviurite Riordan book yet, but it sounds like this one is even better! And ahh I love Percy so much. :)

    -P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex

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    1. I KNOW RIGHT! The ending of Mark of Athena was pure evil. Don't worry, the ending of HoH isn't anywhere near as bad. I really liked the ending, actually. Kind of a cliffhanger, but not really. PERCY :D :D

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  5. Oh, you torture me, Nara! D:

    No, but seriously. All I've been seeing a five-star reviews EVERYWHERE. It's crazy. And I have to admit that I wasn't TOO excited for HoH because I didn't really enjoy the previous books much (though MARK OF ATHENA was loads better than the first two), but now... It's all I can do not to buy it. But wow. 300+ books and this is still your favorite? *slow clap*

    Yes, Percy will forever remain my favorite, too. I once thought it would be Leo, but NAH. Percy's been around for so long, I can't just ditch him like that! And I ship Percabeth so hard! Everyone's been talking about Nico, too! He isn't my favorite character - obviously - but I'm pretty intrigued as to what his role in the story is. I think he gets Percy and Annabeth out of Tartarus. AM I RIGHT OR AM I RIGHT?

    Anyway, LOVE your review, Nara, and I'm sorry for all the caps everywhere. I'm excited, okay?! >.< Those gifs, though!

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    1. hahaha GIVE IN TO THE PEER PRESSURE AND GET THIS BOOK!! It's probably my favourite so far :) Although I did really like MoA as well. And SoN was good too. And LH. I LIKE DEM ALL haha

      I really like Leo as well, but Percy's just amazing. And badass. Percabeth is my OTP haha. And yeah, Nico's not one of my favourites, but the bombshell dropped about him in this book OMGGG. haha all of them play a role in saving Percy and Annabeth. I guess you'll have to read the book to see what role Nico plays :P

      hahahaha don't worry you used nowhere near as many caps as I did. This series just makes me really fangirly!

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  6. Just finished this a few hours ago and just LOVED IT as much as you did. I also ship Leo x Someone ;)

    Christie @ Read by the Undead

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    1. YES LEO x SOMEONE was just so dang cute!!! Those chapters were just SQUEEE!

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  7. gee not fair. the book is not yet published here in my country and that sucks. ;A; it is really that good? I can't wait!!

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    1. Aww that really sucks! I hope it gets released where you live soon! AND YES IT REALLY IS THAT GOOD!! :D

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  8. 300+ books. Nara, you are a beast at reading XD I think I've read, what, a hundred? And that includes my summer marathon too. HAHA! But anyway, I really love how you favorited this book! I just recently read and reviewed it, and it was AMAZING. Especially that part with Leo and... yeahhh, because he has hands down been my favorite character thus far, and was so frakkin happy for him. The Nico part sort of surprised me, but before he even mentioned it, I already expected what would happen. It sort of took away some of the mystery, but I STILL love him. AND I LOVE THESE BOOKS! And now... I have to wait another year for the next one. *siiiiiigh* great review Nara :D

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    1. haha why thank you Jasmine :P
      THE LEO PART <3 <3 CUTEST.
      Woah you predicted the Nico thing?! I was completely sucker punched by it.
      I knowwww we have to wait AN ENTIRE YEAR for The Blood of Olympus *weeps* And it'll be so sad once it's over :(

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