The Trials of Apollo

This Post is Spoiler Free!

The Hidden Oracle

I’m going to keep this short because it is a five book series and I don’t want this post to go on foreeeeeeever. So here we go. The Hidden Oracle, book one of The Trials of Apollo (ToA) by Rick Riordan. It is the third and final series in the Percyverse—Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO – five books) and The Heroes of Olympus (HoO – also five books) came before it. This review will most likely contain spoilers for PJO and HoO, though nothing too big. Just character names and possibly relationships (that would be impossible to avoid if you ever see any PJO or HoO thing on social media). Before I start, I would like to say that I’d recommend reading both PJO and HoO before ToA, but it isn’t 100% necessary. You just might miss some dam jokes and get some general spoilers. Honestly, I almost wish I had reread both series before starting The Hidden Oracle, but I also have extensive knowledge of the Percyverse, so I wasn’t too bothered.

But, I digress. Book one is off to a good start. I liked having it be from Apollo’s POV (first person, which I don’t always like but sometimes it works). You really got to see his character development, and I’m excited to see more of it! As always, I was happy to see my bby Percy. He is love. He deserves the world. I could gush about him forever. Same with Will and Nico. They are everything, and I’d protect them with my life if I could. But, alas, they are fictional. Sigh.

There were a couple of moments of predictability, but it never stopped me from loving the book (also, I technically read this five years ago when it first came out, so this IS a reread…). I truly do love Uncle Rick’s… *cough cough* …Rick Riordan’s style of writing. It is fun and enjoyable, while still showcasing the full range of emotions that Humankind can feel. It’s hard to explain, so I hope y’all understand well enough. Basically, Uncle Rick (nope… not correcting myself again) gives everyone a home.

I promised to keep this short, and I’ve already kinda failed, so I’ll leave it at that. Basically, I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next one in the series!

The Dark Prophecy

So. The Dark Prophecy. As always, I absolutely love Uncle Rick’s writing. You know how a couple of paragraphs ago, I mentioned that he gives everyone a home? It was a couple of days ago that I wrote that, but The Dark Prophecy only enforced my opinion. I’ll admit, I even started tearing up. Quite a bit. 

Apollo’s character development seemed to regress a bit in the first part of this book, but I didn’t mind that too much. It got back on track as crises happened. I think that is really all I have to say on the technicalities of the writing?

On a more fangirl-ish note, there were so many perfect references! I’ve always felt that way reading Riordan’s books, but it never fails to amuse me! 

Now… onto the next book!

The Burning Maze

I hate Uncle Rick. I’ve been crying for the last two hours. Horrible, ugly crying complete with sounds torn from the depths of Tartarus. The worst part is I knew it was going to happen. I knew it was going to happen, and it hurt so much more than I thought it was going to. 

So, yeah. I’ll be honest, I had trouble getting into this book at the beginning, but that was 100% because I had been spoiled for something and was dreading reading it. I even wrote an entire blog post about it which you can find here. But, despite having a huge thing be spoiled for me, I still loved the book. It was a good book. It was a really good, really awful book. It really was a horrible book. I’m crying again, and I know I’ll cry at the beginning of the next book.

Am I ready for this? Nope.

The Tyrant’s Tomb

Okay my computer is FREEZING (it’s literally one degree Fahrenheit outside. Negative seventeen Celcius, I believe?). So I’m going to keep this short. My fingers aren’t wanting to work…

I suppose it’s my fault for having stayed up so late to finish this book. I just couldn’t stop reading!! I definitely cried at the beginning again, and during the middle, and a bit at the end (my sinuses hate Uncle Rick). Honestly, I love how all of the characters have developed. Especially Apollo. The entire series has been fantastic to read.

Plus. Uncle Rick’s humor is always on point. There were a couple of times I laughed so hard I startled my cat. To be fair, though, he is used to my random outbursts whilst reading. I constantly yell, cry, laugh, scold the characters, etc.

Anyways. I’m gonna leave it at this. Onto the fifth and final book! 

The Tower of Nero

I’m not sure if I even have words to express how I’m feeling. I’m crying again, but it isn’t the same type of tears that The Burning Maze left me with. I could probably mention that Apollo’s character development was crafted beautifully, or that Rick Riordan’s humor never fails to make me laugh, or that reading about the original characters from PJO and HoO was heartwarming and emotional all at once, or that I read all but one chapter of this book in a single sitting, or that the research and love put into this story and this world is incredible. But… that doesn’t seem to be enough.

At the beginning of this post (written almost a month ago… I wrote each of these bits directly after reading each book) I mentioned that Rick Riordan gives everyone a home. That stands true. That’s the only way I can really describe it. I felt at home during this whole series. This book is supposed to wrap up the Percyverse, I think, but to me it feels like the whole saga was just a snippet. It’s not often that a series can finish in a way that makes me want to believe that the characters are real and continuing on with their lives and will always be there to welcome me—all of us readers—back home. It’s an emotional feeling, let me tell you.

I’m still crying. This is ridiculous. Okay, so I usually leave my reviews with a deciding question: will I read this again? The answer is yes. I have a feeling I’ll read this and the entire saga again many times over.

If you want the whole series, here’s the link!

My Next Read:

Escape Room by Maren Stoffels