Book Review | The House of Hades | Rick Riordan

Title: The House of Hades
Author: Rick Riordan (web | twitter)
Series: The Heroes of Olympus
Genre: Fantasy MG/YA, Mythology
Amazon | Goodreads | B&N
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Release date: October 8, 2013
Source: Own it

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

It’s a pretty special thing, friends, when an author manages to create a world and fill it with characters that endear themselves to you for books and books and books and their story never gets old or boring or LESS endearing. The opposite, in fact. Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books are exactly like this. I read all five books in the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and instantly fell in love with the writing and the characters and the world, and now I’m in pretty deep with The Heroes of Olympus. The most recent installment in that new series, THE HOUSE OF HADES, is really proof of something that has been sneaking up on me for a while: Percy is all grown up, and I am NOT ready. But what an amazing young man he is, and what incredible young people he has around him.

I don’t want to spoil things for people who haven’t read this series yet (WHAT ARE YOU DOING GO READ THESE), but I will tell you that in THE HOUSE OF HADES, Percy and Annabeth are stuck in Tartarus, where all the evil immortal things go when they are “killed” so that they can be reborn and again unleashed. Percy and Annabeth meet some familiar faces and encounter pretty nasty creatures there. Of course, they also need to make it to a certain spot in Tartarus by a certain deadline in order to prevent the annihilation of humanity, as one does. Meanwhile, the other heroes—Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Nico, and Leo—are trying to meet up with Percy and Annabeth to play their own part in the prophecy and to stop the annihilation of humanity. ALSO, they are trying to stop the Roman and Greek camps from going to war with each other. No pressure. As usual, Rick Riordan keeps things fast-paced, funny, and plenty emotional enough to tug on the ol’ heart strings.

I love how Rick Riordan is able to make these books about everyone equally. In the original series, things were obviously about Percy, but The Heroes of Olympus series encompasses a group of unique, brave, smart young people who have to navigate their awkward teenage years while also trying to prevent the goddess Gaea from raising her army of monsters and giants to basically take back the earth from humans. We get just enough time spent with each of the heroes so that we know what they’re going through, what things look like where they are, and how they are dealing with being one of the prophesied 7. THE HOUSE OF HADES gives each character time to shine and show how important they all are to the story (and each other, let’s be honest).

To me, though, the storylines that have stayed with me from THE HOUSE OF HADES involve Percy and Annabeth and Nico. SIGH. These kids. I’ve spent so much time with them over the years that I feel really attached to them, and I think they had some of the more emotional storylines in THE HOUSE OF HADES.

Percy and Annabeth are, as they often seem to be, the heart of this series. Of both series. They are spending time together in the horrid waste that is Tartarus, running not just for their lives but also to save the lives of everyone and everything they know and love. It was lovely to see them fight for each other and worry about one another and find strength in each other. They’re growing up so fast! WAH! But it’s really impossible not to love them, separately and together. It’s been so great to see their relationship mature.

And so that leads me to Nico. OMG GUYS. There are a million reasons that I want to give Nico De Angelo big squishy hugs, but his storyline in THE HOUSE OF HADES is kind of heartbreaking and very emotional and just makes me love him even more. Mostly, though, I imagine that it’s empowering for lots of readers and that’s what makes it so wonderful. Rick Riordan deals with an important issue with lots of heart and grace, and the way the other characters react to it is lovely. NICO ILYYYYYYY!

Of course the drama surrounding our heroes in THE HOUSE OF HADES is, as always, full of surprises and fun and danger. Gaea is growing stronger the closer it gets to her appointed date for TOTAL EARTHLY DESTRUCTION. She’s making it almost impossible for the crew on the Argo II to make it where they need to go to help Percy and Annabeth. Plus, Hazel is coming into her magical abilities and realizes that she’ll need to play a really important role in the success or failure of their mission. The situation is growing more and more dire for our heroes. It was hard to put THE HOUSE OF HADES down because so much was going on.

I honestly can’t recommend Rick Riordan’s Greek/Roman mythology books enough. Percy Jackson is an excellent hero: flawed, brave, confident. The other heroes in THE HOUSE OF HADES all have their own doubts and strengths as well, and Rick Riordan doesn’t shy away from showing us any of them. Honestly: READ THESE. You’ll be feeling like a mama bear over these kiddos in no time. THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS, I need you and fear you all at once.

Check out some other reviews of The House of Hades by Rick Riordan!

Jennifer @ Novel Thoughts: “Legen — wait for it — dary.”

Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books: “What I love most about this book is that it gave me so many feelings.”