Lost Hero Reaction Post: Part One
Okay, so I finally got my hands on the thing and I'm nowhere near finished at this point (I'm on page 211), but I had Some Thoughts about everything that's happened so far that I wanted to share. Again, if you've finished, please be mindful of spoilers and all that.
I'm kind of disappointed that I went a spoiled myself as heavily as I did for some of the stuff that's happened so far, but it's not totally taking away from my reading experience. I'm still having fun squeeing with glee and gasping all at the right parts.
Anyway, I've really liked what Riordan's given us so far. I love all the extra details about camp and the way the other cabins interact with each other - plus, new cabins! I always felt like we never saw much of Camp Half-Blood when we were with Percy. He was always running off to do some quest and since he didn't have any demigod siblings, we never got to see how that dynamic would work out.
I LOVE THE MORPHEUS CABIN. Okay really, I just love Clovis because I think of him as that sleepy little kid from Meet the Robinsons and I thought the scene with him, Annabeth and Jason was funny. He and Nyssa are kind of my favorites of the new minor kid introductions - nice to see Will Solace and Jake Mason again though.
I fucking love Cabin Nine and all the cool shit they have (underground tunnels!) and don't even get me started on the OMFGAWESOME that is Bunker Nine and Festus. I want to give all of Cabin Nine giant hugs - they've had a tough couple of months. And can I just say that this line:
As they were leaving, Leo looked back at his new bed, and he could almost imagine a dead counselor sitting there - another ghost who wasn't going to leave Leo alone.
KILLED ME. The thing about The Last Olympian was that we never got to see the emotional impact of everyone's deaths - we really only got Percy's POV. But we're getting plenty of it in this book and I like it.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Aphrodite Cabin. On one hand, Drew makes an interesting change from Silena because she was so nice and gushy and kind of an airhead. Drew's just a bitchy mean girl, which can be funny (like when she pushed her sister out of the bathroom, sorry, I lol'd), but she's just been so annoying so far. She's probably going to be my new Clarisse for this series, seriously. I do find it interesting that she was badmouthing Silena though.
And can I just skip right to the other gut-punchy moment of the first 200 pages?
One picture showed Annabeth - much younger, maybe eight, but Jason could tell it was the same: same blond hair and gray eyes, same distracted look like she was thinking a million things at once. She stood next to a sandy-haired guy about fourteen or fifteen, with a mishievous smile and ragged leather armor over a T-shirt. He was pointing to an alley behind them, like he was telling the photographer, Let's go meet thing in a dark alley and kill them! A second photo showed Annabeth and the same guy sitting at a campfire, laughing hysterically.
...It was a strip of pictures like you'd take in a do-it-yourself photo booth: Annabeth and the sandy-haired guy, but with another girl between them. She was maybe fifteen, with black hair - choppy like Piper's - a black leather jacket, and silver jewelry, so she looked kind of goth; but she was caught mid-laugh, and it was clear she was with her two best friends.
JUST TEAR MY HEART OUT, RICK, GOD.
Also, let me have my raging Percy/Annabeth shipper moment:
...the way Annabeth said Luke's name, he wondered if maybe Percy Jackson wasn't the only boy Annabeth had ever liked.
SHUT YOUR MOUTH, JASON, AND NEVER SPEAK OF THAT AGAIN.
And since we're on the track of Annabeth, I'm not a big fan of that Annabeth's been primarily used as the exposition vehicle for the new characters. I don't really buy her friendship with Piper because Annabeth wouldn't become friends with someone that fast, although her distress of losing Percy might make her drop her guard a bit more. I feel like RSquared is trying too hard to with the COOL GIRLS SHOULD BE BFFs angle. That's not the only thing he's trying to hard with when it comes to Piper, but whatever.
OH AND I FORGOT THIS LINE THAT IS AWESOME ON SEVERAL LEVELS
Annabeth rummaged a little farther in the shed and brought out something else.
"A shotgun?" Piper asked.
"Mossberg 500." Annabeth checked the pump action like it was no big deal.
BECAUSE IT ISN'T THIS ANNABETH FUCKING CHASE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HELL YEAH
But I did love that we get to see a bunch of Rachel and that she and Annabeth really are friends now and I totally wasn't grasping for straws with that. AND RACHEL IS ALWAYS TOTES AWESOME, OKAY. She lives in a creepy cave now, ya'll, and I loved her 'MORE LIKE THE FUTURE MUGS ME, LOL' line.
As for the new trio... eh.
The jury's still out on Jason and Piper. I have moments where I love Piper, but most of the time I'm just indifferent to whatever her problems are. Now that the mystery of Jason's parentage has been solved (which is a mindfuck of itself and I hope it gets explained WELL), I find him kind of... uninteresting? Maybe it's because Percy's narration was always so fast and funny, but whenever we get to Jason, I'm just like, "Oh god, not this kid again." And I'm still WTFing about his fucking wolf dream.
I'm no quite on board the Jason/Piper ship yet because, as much as everyone complains that Percy/Annabeth was shoved down our throats, Jason/Piper really is being forced on us and I'm not attached enough to the characters yet to care if omg why isn't jason putting his arm around my waist D:
But Leo. OH MY GOD, LEO. IF I COULD REACH THROUGH A BOOK A HUG A CHARACTER, I WOULD GIVE YOU THE BIGGEST BEAR HUG OF ALL TIME. KEEP MAKING THIS NEW TRIO AWESOME, OKAY LEO?
And I think that's about all I have for now. Jason, Piper, and Leo have just got started on their quest (which is actually really interesting) but I'm... kind of not giving a shit about it?
I think this is because I care WAY MORE about what's happening with Percy than with the new kids. I kind of can't believe that RSquared thought people would want to read about the new kids going on a quest that isn't to save the hero from the first series. He might've been able to do this plot without Percy going missing; at this point, all it does is serve as a distraction from the main quest.
Because right now my mindset while reading is something along the lines of LOL Cal and Zethes WHAT HAPPENED TO PERCY Leo be more fucking awesome always, okay? WHAT FUCK IS ANNABETH DOING oh god not more Jason chapters WHY ARE WE NOT LOOKING FOR PERCY FUCKING JACKSON RIGHT THIS FUCKING SECOND GODDAMMIT RICK RIORDAN
okay, bedtime for me. need to get up early so i can once again mumble an excuse to my thesis director as to why I didn't get shit done this week
I'm kind of disappointed that I went a spoiled myself as heavily as I did for some of the stuff that's happened so far, but it's not totally taking away from my reading experience. I'm still having fun squeeing with glee and gasping all at the right parts.
Anyway, I've really liked what Riordan's given us so far. I love all the extra details about camp and the way the other cabins interact with each other - plus, new cabins! I always felt like we never saw much of Camp Half-Blood when we were with Percy. He was always running off to do some quest and since he didn't have any demigod siblings, we never got to see how that dynamic would work out.
I LOVE THE MORPHEUS CABIN. Okay really, I just love Clovis because I think of him as that sleepy little kid from Meet the Robinsons and I thought the scene with him, Annabeth and Jason was funny. He and Nyssa are kind of my favorites of the new minor kid introductions - nice to see Will Solace and Jake Mason again though.
I fucking love Cabin Nine and all the cool shit they have (underground tunnels!) and don't even get me started on the OMFGAWESOME that is Bunker Nine and Festus. I want to give all of Cabin Nine giant hugs - they've had a tough couple of months. And can I just say that this line:
As they were leaving, Leo looked back at his new bed, and he could almost imagine a dead counselor sitting there - another ghost who wasn't going to leave Leo alone.
KILLED ME. The thing about The Last Olympian was that we never got to see the emotional impact of everyone's deaths - we really only got Percy's POV. But we're getting plenty of it in this book and I like it.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Aphrodite Cabin. On one hand, Drew makes an interesting change from Silena because she was so nice and gushy and kind of an airhead. Drew's just a bitchy mean girl, which can be funny (like when she pushed her sister out of the bathroom, sorry, I lol'd), but she's just been so annoying so far. She's probably going to be my new Clarisse for this series, seriously. I do find it interesting that she was badmouthing Silena though.
And can I just skip right to the other gut-punchy moment of the first 200 pages?
One picture showed Annabeth - much younger, maybe eight, but Jason could tell it was the same: same blond hair and gray eyes, same distracted look like she was thinking a million things at once. She stood next to a sandy-haired guy about fourteen or fifteen, with a mishievous smile and ragged leather armor over a T-shirt. He was pointing to an alley behind them, like he was telling the photographer, Let's go meet thing in a dark alley and kill them! A second photo showed Annabeth and the same guy sitting at a campfire, laughing hysterically.
...It was a strip of pictures like you'd take in a do-it-yourself photo booth: Annabeth and the sandy-haired guy, but with another girl between them. She was maybe fifteen, with black hair - choppy like Piper's - a black leather jacket, and silver jewelry, so she looked kind of goth; but she was caught mid-laugh, and it was clear she was with her two best friends.
JUST TEAR MY HEART OUT, RICK, GOD.
Also, let me have my raging Percy/Annabeth shipper moment:
...the way Annabeth said Luke's name, he wondered if maybe Percy Jackson wasn't the only boy Annabeth had ever liked.
SHUT YOUR MOUTH, JASON, AND NEVER SPEAK OF THAT AGAIN.
And since we're on the track of Annabeth, I'm not a big fan of that Annabeth's been primarily used as the exposition vehicle for the new characters. I don't really buy her friendship with Piper because Annabeth wouldn't become friends with someone that fast, although her distress of losing Percy might make her drop her guard a bit more. I feel like RSquared is trying too hard to with the COOL GIRLS SHOULD BE BFFs angle. That's not the only thing he's trying to hard with when it comes to Piper, but whatever.
OH AND I FORGOT THIS LINE THAT IS AWESOME ON SEVERAL LEVELS
Annabeth rummaged a little farther in the shed and brought out something else.
"A shotgun?" Piper asked.
"Mossberg 500." Annabeth checked the pump action like it was no big deal.
BECAUSE IT ISN'T THIS ANNABETH FUCKING CHASE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HELL YEAH
But I did love that we get to see a bunch of Rachel and that she and Annabeth really are friends now and I totally wasn't grasping for straws with that. AND RACHEL IS ALWAYS TOTES AWESOME, OKAY. She lives in a creepy cave now, ya'll, and I loved her 'MORE LIKE THE FUTURE MUGS ME, LOL' line.
As for the new trio... eh.
The jury's still out on Jason and Piper. I have moments where I love Piper, but most of the time I'm just indifferent to whatever her problems are. Now that the mystery of Jason's parentage has been solved (which is a mindfuck of itself and I hope it gets explained WELL), I find him kind of... uninteresting? Maybe it's because Percy's narration was always so fast and funny, but whenever we get to Jason, I'm just like, "Oh god, not this kid again." And I'm still WTFing about his fucking wolf dream.
I'm no quite on board the Jason/Piper ship yet because, as much as everyone complains that Percy/Annabeth was shoved down our throats, Jason/Piper really is being forced on us and I'm not attached enough to the characters yet to care if omg why isn't jason putting his arm around my waist D:
But Leo. OH MY GOD, LEO. IF I COULD REACH THROUGH A BOOK A HUG A CHARACTER, I WOULD GIVE YOU THE BIGGEST BEAR HUG OF ALL TIME. KEEP MAKING THIS NEW TRIO AWESOME, OKAY LEO?
And I think that's about all I have for now. Jason, Piper, and Leo have just got started on their quest (which is actually really interesting) but I'm... kind of not giving a shit about it?
I think this is because I care WAY MORE about what's happening with Percy than with the new kids. I kind of can't believe that RSquared thought people would want to read about the new kids going on a quest that isn't to save the hero from the first series. He might've been able to do this plot without Percy going missing; at this point, all it does is serve as a distraction from the main quest.
Because right now my mindset while reading is something along the lines of LOL Cal and Zethes WHAT HAPPENED TO PERCY Leo be more fucking awesome always, okay? WHAT FUCK IS ANNABETH DOING oh god not more Jason chapters WHY ARE WE NOT LOOKING FOR PERCY FUCKING JACKSON RIGHT THIS FUCKING SECOND GODDAMMIT RICK RIORDAN
okay, bedtime for me. need to get up early so i can once again mumble an excuse to my thesis director as to why I didn't get shit done this week