Hi, I’m almost thirty, and I just read a bunch of books for kids.
Lately, I’ve been thinking of books I enjoyed in my youth. I was an avid reader then (and still am now) and I regularly went to my school or public library to find any book I could get my hands on. Because of that, there were some first-in-a-series books I read but never read the later releases (many because they weren’t released), others I read and loved but don’t remember much about, and even more I do remember but am curious whether the writing and story are just as good as I remember.
I recently reread the five original stories of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and they were so good, I intend to read the two newest additions Rick Riordan has released in recent years. Because I feel this answer is obvious, let’s start this off by jumping straight to the typical “Is this book suitable for children?” question I usually try to answer in every book review I do.
Is Percy Jackson and the Olympians suitable for a young audience? A resounding yes.
The writing is simple and engaging. The topics are suitable for a young audience. There is no romance until later installments, and even then, there is nothing more than hand holding or an occasional kiss. The entire story well paced and plotted, and it was just as entertaining for adult me as it was for child me.
Percy Jackson as a character has an incredibly strong and engaging character voice, and I personally feel that much of the success from the series should be attributed to this. The entirety of the story is written from his perspective, and from the descriptions of Greek gods and monsters to the action sequences and conversations among his countless cousins and friends and enemies alike; the story being told about Percy by Percy had me quite literally laughing out loud on more than one occasion.
The world is alive. The characters, even the MANY side characters that may not be present for more than a few pages, feel unique and three dimensional. The entire Percy Jackson universe is creative and imaginative. It’s the exact kind of story that would inspire young children to think and imagine and pretend, which should be the desire of all children’s fictional books.
If you came into this as an adult and are wondering whether you should look back at the Percy Jackson series and relive it once more? From one adult to another, yes. You should.
AG Patrick 