The Percy Jackson and the Olympians craze started in 2005 and finally ended with a

grand total of 10 books in 2014. The series, which was broken into two parts, follows young

demigods as they work to save the world, all while fighting hordes of monsters and dealing with

temperamental gods. All the books were well liked except for the final book: Blood of Olympus;

which faced hard critiques from longtime fans. The preceding four books introduced seven new

characters that were detrimental to the storyline and kept 3 vital characters from the previous

series. The novels leading up to the final end all gradually foreshadowed and built suspense.

Unfortunately the finale was a disappointment.

Majority of the fans agree: the book was rushed. The climaxes happened within a few

pages and were not intriguing. In fact, they were incredibly predictable. In the story, the

demigods are fighting against Gaea, in an effort to prevent her from waking to destroy the world.

Her demise is over and complete in 3 measly pages. Another complaint describes the fact that

new and old characters had plots built up which were then ignored in the end. Frank, a character

whose life depends on a piece of firewood, has his weakness mentioned in passing within the last

ten pages. I decided to give the book a second chance, and was just as disappointed as when I

first read it on the release date. In fact, the only thing that kept me reading was Nico di Angelo, a

son of Hades, who was finally explored as a character. Some of the only nice things I can say

about Blood of Olympus are associated with Nico, which I do not mind as he is a very important,

valuable character. I would have enjoyed the book more had it been paced out and not rushed

while still involving all of the great character developments and conflicts. Blood of Olympus is

full of character conflicts which are explored correctly. ADHD is explained well with Leo’s

thoughts occupied with Calypso; which is only an example of what makes an already relatable

set of characters even better.

           The book was butchered by fans, and with reason. Many people would never recommend

it to other readers because of its fast nature and habit of ignoring characters. I, on the other hand,

would definitely recommend it. The book may be rushed and a least favorite, but it ends the story

well. A story that started small and grew into something big finally reached its sad end. Despite

not being the series best, Blood of Olympus knows how to end a story, leaving the reader

grasping for more.