The Hidden Oracle
December 2017 Reading Wrap-Up
The Waterless Sea by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 2)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 11 – 12
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Chanters vs. Pirates from the beginning.
Least Favorite Thing: Ooomg so many sexist desert-dwellers!
I started to reread this series earlier in the year and then just totally got side-tracked, but I’m back now! (Also I think I completely blocked out the end….)
My Posts About The Waterless Sea
The Tenth Power by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 3)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 12
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: The reveal about Cal’s family 🙂
Least Favorite Thing: Um… Keela’s entire original personality?
Man I zipped through this one! I was so anxious because I couldn’t remember in detail how this book went so I just devoured it!
I definitely recommend the Chanters of Tremaris series to anyone who likes YA Magical Fantasy and those who, like me, love stories about nature magic.
My Posts About The Tenth Power
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: Kinda?
Reading Dates: December 12
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Lavena had me cackling!
Least Favorite Thing: Seriously why does her entire family have to be Like That?? I just wanted to climb into the novel and systematically throttle them all…
I was actually surprised by how little of this story I remembered from when I first read it years ago.
My Posts About The Swan Maiden
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
(Trials of Apollo, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 23 – December 13
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Actually dealt pretty well with the portrayal of a relationship between a child and their abusive parent.
Least Favorite Thing: Apollo is so fucking annoying. I miss Percy.
Seriously the only parts of the book I truly loved were the parts with Percy. I didn’t even realize he was my favorite, but he’s obviously my favorite. Lovably sarcastic dork….
My Posts About The Hidden Oracle
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
(Brian’s Saga, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 13
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: I love the way Brian thinks about things, like referring to the fire as his “new hungry friend”.
Least Favorite Thing: That moose was a dick. (Honestly, I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about the story/writing.)
I’m really glad I decided to try rereading this again. I wanted to see if I still liked it after all these years and I think I actually like it more now.
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
(Rise of the Empress, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★★
Review: Yes
Reading Dates: December 15 – 18
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Had me totally rooting for someone I knew was technically a villain!
Least Favorite Thing: I really didn’t need the mental images of killing small animals… (To be clear, it’s not often and it’s not like gratuitous slaughter, it’s just the descriptive language Julie C. Dao is good at made things a little too vivid for me for that particular couple scenes.)
I was so excited to get my hands on this book and it didn’t disappoint! I feel like wandering around town yelling about this book like a street preacher. Seriously, I recommend it to everyone, especially if you like fairy tale retellings.
(I almost put that my favorite thing was that there was literally zero white people in this entire novel, but I thought that might be a little tactless…oops!)
My Posts About Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
Mind Games by Kiersten White
(Mind Games, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: October 22 – December 23
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Fia being all small and kick-ass.
Least Favorite Thing: It just didn’t hold my attention very well…
I think it’s a pretty decent book, there was just something that made it hard to stay in the story. Still it ended on a minor cliffhanger so I guess I’ll be reading the sequel at some point!
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: December 23 – 26
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: The photography.
Least Favorite Thing: I’m surprised to find there isn’t really anything I didn’t like from this book. Everything felt very honest.
I was afraid this book would be really hard to read because of the subject matter, but it moved really well and was a very honest portrayal of grief and recovery.
In Progress
Completed: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I DID IT I DID IT I DID IT I FINALLY MANAGED TO FINISH IT OMG
“Kudos to the Imperial Guard for having stupid amounts of courage.”
– Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo, book 1)
*endlessly screaming in frustration*
I CAN’T BELIEVE I STILL HAVEN’T MANAGED TO FINISH THE HIDDEN ORACLE AND MIND GAMES!!!
I read ALL of Rick Riordan’s other Greek/Roman demigod books (yes, hi, that’s 10 books) in less than a month, but I have been stuck on this LAST ONE for LIKE THREE WEEKS
And Mind Games? Oh, yeah, I’ve been reading that sucker for like 2 full months now!
And I can’t even say it’s a reading slump because I read 3 other books….
Seriously why can’t I finish these books? They aren’t bad books! Granted Apollo is super annoying, but the rest of the book is fine and what even is my excuse for Mind Games????
I’m not even doing the WWW Wednesday or WAYRW because it would literally just be me talking about how I’m STILL FUCKING READING THE SAME TWO BOOKS AND WILL PROBABLY NEVER FINISH THEM IN MY LIFETIME
November 2017 Reading Wrap-Up
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 3 – 4
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Ripred being a little shit.
Least Favorite Thing: Henry. Blah. Dickhead.
I woke up in the middle of the night with an urge to reread this series, and seeing as I have poor impulse control, I immediately arranged for my husband to go get them all for me from the library.
I know these books are Middle Grade so a few things are a bit silly, like a guy called Sandwich, but the story itself is quality and I recommend it to anyone who likes a fun fantasy adventure.
My Posts About Gregor the Overlander
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 2)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 5
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Twitchtip. I miss her already.
Least Favorite Thing: Please read this in your most disgusted tone, while screwing up your face as if you smell something foul: Shiners.
Gregor has a lot more self-restraint that I do when it comes to not yelling at people…
I have to admit though, reading this book is a bit more difficult once one knows what’s going to happen in the next books!
My Posts About Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 3)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 6
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Gregor grooming Lapblood.
Least Favorite Thing: The descriptions of some of the grosser things like plague victims and Gregor’s acid toes…
I read this whole book in like 2 hours! I surprised myself lol I didn’t intend to read it that quickly, but since it’s middle grade and the story is pretty engaging, I zipped right through it.
My Posts About Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 4)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 6
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Boots’ fucking princess scepter lol
Least Favorite Thing: The Bane. He skeeves me out.
Oh man I had forgotten that this book is way sadder than the others! 😦
My Posts About Gregor and the Marks of Secret
Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 5)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 6 – 7
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Ripred and Lizzie. It’s too sweet!
Least Favorite Thing: I hate one very specific thing about the ending, but only read about it if you don’t care about spoilers.
[start] I just hate that they go back to the Overland permanently as if they don’t obviously and completely belong in the Underland! That has literally always bugged me. Sometimes I just pretend that and the thing with Ares never happened. [end]
I really love this series, I’m so glad it was recommended to me back in high school.
My Posts About Gregor and the Code of Claw
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 8 – 14
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: The end when Jane wraps everything up. I like the way she does it.
Least Favorite Thing: The way literally no one ever listened to Fanny about her own feelings?????
I’m glad I reread it, I think I even liked it more than Sense & Sensibility now.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 13 – 15
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Puppyyyyy!
Least Favorite Thing: Come on, as if I was going to say anything other than Gabe? Please.
It’s been a long time since I first read this book and I admit to not enjoying it as much this time around, but I think that’s only because it’s geared more for younger readers and sometimes I have trouble with the rhythm of Middle Grade books. I’m glad I’m going to finally get down to going through all of Rick’s books though.
My Posts About The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 2)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 15
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: lol Tyson
Least Favorite Thing: Clarisse not knowing when to shut her damn mouth…
Oddly enough I remembered almost nothing from this one except for Tyson… So rereading it felt more like reading it for the first time. I have a feeling the rest of them will be like this too.
My Posts About The Sea of Monsters
The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 3)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 15
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Bessiiiiiiie!
Least Favorite Thing: I actually find Nico incredibly annoying…
Would it kill anyone to stop being cryptic? Like wow. Just answer a question somebody!
My Posts About The Titan’s Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 4)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 15 – 16
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Poseidon showing up for Percy’s birthday just to be a drama queen. “Blowfish?” lol
Least Favorite Thing: STILL NOBODY CAN JUST ANSWER A FUCKING QUESTION OR SHARE INFORMATION!
So far this is my favorite of the series. I’m wondering if they will just keep getting better or what.
My Posts About The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 5)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 16 – 17
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Percy being like “acknowledge your fucking children assholes” at all the gods.
Least Favorite Thing: Guess what. It’s still the fact that no one will answer a damn question. I’m so annoyed.
Honestly, if someone doesn’t directly answer a question I’m going to scream.
My Posts About The Last Olympian
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 17 – 18
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Leooo! Precious little fireball.
Least Favorite Thing: It took them way too long to figure certain things out… Like everyone who spoke to them alluded to 2 or 3 specific things and they didn’t get it until the very end? Oookay.
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 2)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 18 – 19
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Ella/Tyson lololololol
Least Favorite Thing: When Octavian talks I roll my eyes so hard I get a headache…
I’m not sure if this one was better than the first one (Lost Hero), but I was really glad to be back to Percy so I enjoyed it more.
My Posts About The Son of Neptune
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 3)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 19 – 20
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: “If they’d let women warriors into their cult, the might have learned some common sense.”
Least Favorite Thing: Literally only Leo talks about things, everyone else is like “I’ll explain later” and “we can talk about it later” and “I hope it’s not what I think it is” but they never talk about it!!
My Posts About The Mark of Athena
The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 4)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 20 – 21
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Bob + Small Bob (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)
Least Favorite Thing: Gaea is so fucking annoying…
IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR LITTLE NICO TO GET A DAMN HUG????? My poor little spooky baby…
My Posts About The House of Hades
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 5)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: No
Reading Dates: November 21 – 23
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Nico gets to be happy!!!!!
Least Favorite Thing: Zeus the douche…
I’ve got all the warm fuzzies from the ending of this book. Thanks, Rick.
My Posts About The Blood of Olympus
In Progress
WWW Wednesday: November 22, 2017
Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Currently Reading: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, book 5) by Rick Riordan
I’ve only just now started this one, like I’m still on the first page, but I’m very excited! Only I have to admit, I can’t see how they’re going to solve all their problems and I’m very worried about that.
Also, I’m kind of hoping they’ll all get a vacation after this… The poor demigods deserve some R&R big time! Honestly I don’t know how they keep going, I would have been done with the gods and their errands of doom like 9 books ago for sure. I get tired just witnessing Percy & Co. constantly go-go-going and fighting and struggling.
Recently Finished: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Heroes of Olympus // Rick Riordan
- The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 1)
- The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 2)
- The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 3)
- The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 4)
- The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 5)
- The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, book 1)
- The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus, book 2)
- The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus, book 3)
- The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus, book 4)
I’ve been going with these books non-stop for a week, finishing at least one a day. Honestly, I’m starting to have dreams set in the same world when I take breaks to sleep! I admit to being a little worried about the book hangover I may wind up with when I finally finish all the books, but obviously I’m not worried enough to stop.
Reading Next: The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, book 1) by Rick Riordan
So according to the internet, The Trials of Apollo is a sequel series ot Heroes of Olympus, so even though Rick has 2 other series out as well, I’m going to jump to this one next.
I haven’t decided yet if I will read the Kane Chronicles or Magnus Chase books… I’m worried I won’t enjoy them as much after spending so much time with the Greek/Roman gods and the demigod characters in this group of stories. I may decide to keep them in the TBR and just take a break from Rick Riordan’s books so that I’m a little fresher when I do read them. Who knows.
Darkestwings Reads