TL;DR don't mouth off to your supervisors
TBR #1456, added Sept 17 2015
finished 7/26/16
I was pretty hyped for this since it was a new Percy Jackson book and yet had so much potential to explore outside of Percy's shadow. It definitely didn't disappoint!
The first thing that really struck me was how unique of a character Apollo was. I was honestly a little off-put by his narration at first, even though I knew it was because of his unique position in the story, but I can say that it does become better. Honestly, I was super impressed with how Apollo was handled as a narrating main character. He got me laughing a few times, which I don't remember happening with the past couple books in this ever-growing universe. We get to see just how his experiences over the story affect him and I was blown away by his character growth.
(I'm not sure why I wasn't expecting anything, but hey, even immortal gods can learn lessons! Look at that!)
Also, I'm so happy and proud of how Rick Riordan handled Apollo's identity. (I don't want to say sexual identity since it's a kids' book and is strictly PG, but I don't think romantic identity quite covers everything, either.) I was already happy about Will and Nico being shown in a positive light, and then we get Apollo, too? I don't want to say too much about it but I think Apollo is just the kind of positive character role model that a lot of kids need, not only because of his own identity, but because of how comfortable he is with himself and his children / others as well.
Meg is also a super important character! I was surprised by the information we learn about her. I'm avoiding spoilers here too, but I think she's equally important for a lot of kids. She was definitely a kid with flaws but I'm desperate to know more about what will happen.
One criticism I do have is all the pop culture references. Like, they're nothing new, but in The Hidden Oracle they felt especially ... time-stamped? I'm not sure how to fully explain it. As I was reading, I realized just how dated they all would seem in a few months, let alone a few years. The internet and pop culture as a whole are moving along faster and faster and I'm beginning to realize how much of a losing battle it is to try and keep any in a YA novel. They're much more suited for small or flash-fics on the internet. I think the references also have the potential to be alienating to readers who aren't familiar with the American pop culture scene.
I saw an argument made on goodreads about the quality / pacing of the plot, and I can see their arguments. I feel like The Hidden Oracle is a standard Rick Riordan book. It wasn't exceptionally good or bad to me. The final battle did feel a little lackluster, though. It didn't feel like the stakes were all that high enough for all the drama that was being made about it.
Percy's cameos were nice, but honestly, give the kid a break!! #LetHimBe2k16
TL;DR I was floored (in a good way) by the characters we get to know in The Hidden Oracle, and to me that outweighs any weaknesses the plot had. (I'm a character > plot person anyway, though.)
This Trials of Apollo series has five books listed, publishing all the way through 2020. That's insane. I guess that's standard compared to the original Greek and Roman series? Though I wonder if that means that the Egyptian and Norse ones got the short end of the stick.
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