This one felt a little slow until it sped way up and then zipped through everything.

I hate multiple POVs. Like, I like them when they give different perspectives and I like them for the sake of couples and stuff, but overall I don't like them and I will tell you why. There is always a point where one POV is significantly more interesting than the rest and all I want to do is skip over chapter after chapter to get back to that one POV. And this book, it was Annabeth. A little bit Percy, but mostly I wanted to know about Annabeth.

Also, I made my way through two whole books with barely any Percabeth content and Rick Riordan did not disappoint. Oh my gosh. I love them more than all the other series couples. Ugh. I get why they are so many people's OTP.

Things I didn't like: the sexism, still. It's not glaringly obvious, but it's there and it bugged me. Although I will say Rick Riordan did a pretty good job countering it too, like there are something's that go directly against the sexist option and I really appreciate that. The other thing I didn't like was how much made up drama there is. In all the books, really. Like the way the characters jump to be resentful of anything?? I just don't like drama for the sake of drama. It feels completely useless to add unnecessary tension, and I think if the tension of the actual plot isn't enough, then maybe the problem is with the plot?? And if the drama/tension is for the sake of character growth, then IMO if you can't develop characters without making them resent each other and learn to understand each other or whatever, then are you actually a good writer?? Like Frank and Annabeth are a decent example, although they didn't have much time together, Frank and Annabeth kind of just co exist and then he shows up at her door and asks her to explain how Chinese handcuffs/fingertraps work because he, as he tells her himself, doesn't trust anyone else to not make fun of him. And she's like oh my gosh of course let me help you out! And they don't have to be resentful of each other first, they just go from co existing to being idk friends?? closer?? whatever, my point being that they don't need the drama to develop.

Anyway, I mostly enjoyed the things Percy and Annabeth think about each other, all the praises they don't say. gotta love em. And them sneaking out was so satisfying to me. ( )

Engaging and action packed and heartrending AND PERCABETH BETTER BE OK BECAUSE IM NOT. ( )

Okay, so I fell off my book wagon for a couple of reasons through this spring, summer, fall, but I'm making a vested effort to get back in the swing of it. Because, well, you know, books are made of awesome, and I miss them, and I can find a space for them somewhere, again, without losing al the lovely things I've gained along the way.

And so I started here (thought after another reread I'll mark up shortly) -- and boy howdy, okay, so I must have wanted to start with a bang, because I started this, got halfway through, started reading Days of Blood and Starlight at the same time, and just sat down to read the second half of this one in the last hour and half of this Sunday, and my brain is still reeling from just finishing it.

I love how all the demigods slowly knit together into a unit. That it takes time and there are issues, between whole scores of people figuring out how to work together and how to pull away and work alone. I love the Mark of Athena road. I love the further delving into the psychitzophrenic Roman/Greek gods, how everything is different, how some history layers. And, yeah, it's not perfect. My History minor cried a little, but it was so fun.


I am dying for the next book and what happens next to everyone. ( )

Una lucha milenaria.
Siete adolescentes en apuros.
Y el fin del mundo a la vuelta de la esquina.
El destino de la humanidad pende de un hilo: Gea, la madre Tierra, ha abierto de par en par las Puertas de la Muerte para liberar a sus despiadados monstruos y los únicos que pueden cerrarlas son el equipo de semidioses elegidos por la antigua profecía.
Percy, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Leo y Annabeth, tienen un reto muy difícil y además, solamente cuentan con seis días para conseguirlo y, por si fuera poco, acaba de estallar la guerra entre sus dos campamentos y ahora ellos son un objetivo…

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket, Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving command: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader—but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare. . . .