'The Trails of Apollo' Book Thoughts

Hello beautiful!

Today's post is regarding my thoughts on The Hidden Oracle, the first book in The Trials of Apollo series by Rick Riodan (Also known in the fandom as good old uncle Rick). I recently bought this book in my mini book haul and oh my... Let's get into my thoughts! (I'm narcissistic like that XD)

Details:

Original publishing date: May 3, 2016.
Page Count: 376 (Hardcover)
Author: Rick Riodan
Series: The Trials of Apollo

Preceded by: The Blood of Olympus

Followed by: The Dark Prophecy
Super Quick Summary:
How the heck can you possibly punish an immortal who has the ego the size of Jupiter? You transform him into a mortal who has the funniest name possible and acne! (No shame Apollo everyone goes through it) Now that he is human he finds himself in a tonne of shenanigans. 

No Spoilers Section: 

Where can I possibly begin? Woah... That is literally what I said as I closed the last page and the realisation that I had to wait an entire year to read the next installation of this series. *looks at calendar anxiously*

I was born too late to experience the Harry Potter book phenomenon (how could you do that to me mum?!) However I was there for what was left over of the movie franchise craze. I imagine anxiously waiting every year for a new Rick Riodan book to resemble that feeling of waiting for the next instalment in the Harry's journey.

The Hidden Oracle is another execution of Rick Riodan's formula of a funny/ sarcastic protagonist, endearing comic relief side kick, emotional backstory and mythological figurative hurdles to jump over. After reading so many books with the same formula I thought that I would be sick of Rick Riodan's writing, because they all resemble each other. This is certainly not the case. The writing was still funny, witty and very enjoyable. This book did not match The Sword of Summer for me though. It never less was a great read with a premise that interested me. It was extremely entertaining to see a god's thoughts on being a mortal.

The essence of Apollo's character from previous books were captured perfectly. Apollo had the enormous ego of a God and ideal amount of resentment due to his present situation as a mortal. He was proud and felt superior to every person he encountered. The plot did not match up to level of Apollo's great characterisation. There were some glaringly obvious plot holes and some 'what the tartarus?!' moments. Did that subtract from my overall enjoyment of the novel? Yes it did. Did it make me dislike the book? Certainly not. The book is a good read, but just has some elements that make it seem rushed. Considering how many books Rick Riodan spurns out and the length of them that is not a surprise.

Overall this book although has it's faults is certainly a loveable a fun read. 8.5 donuts /10 donuts!

Spoilers:

There were a copious number of things I wanted to mention about the book but everything would have spoiled a part of the book. I hope that if you are reading this section you have read it. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to not be chased down by angry blog readers with pitchforks because I spoiled the book.

PERCY! Sorry, but that had to be in all caps. I loved Percy's cameo in this book and Sally was great too. I'm so glad that she is no longer with Gabe. 5 years ago I first read Percy Jackson and was screaming in my head, "Sally you are the best parent ever for putting up with Gabe to protect your son, but isn't there a better way to disguise his blood without living with a smelly alcoholic that you don't love." Their cameo was great and I couldn't help but smile reading it.

I'm going to add that I had guacamole when I finished reading that scene because the talk of Sally's dip made me so hungry. Also when Percy arrived at the came and was suddenly in demigod warrior mode, someone please call a doctor because my heart was beating out of control. At first when Apollo mentioned finding Percy I thought that Percy;s appearance was only to make fan's happy, but it was actually very fitting to the story.

Attention to detail to Greek mythology is what Rick Riodan accomplished best in my eyes. Being a god that has lived thousands of years Apollo would certainly have many stories of his life to share. Good old Uncle Rick wove those stories into The Hidden Oracle without it appearing misplaced. The story flowed and those old Greek myths added into the story contributed to the credibility of the novel. I particularly commend the the addition of Apollo normalising gay relationships because they are normal! Love is love and people seem to forget that in Greek mythology Apollo did have same sex lovers. That shoutout was very important in my eyes and I'm sure that Nico and the thousands of other reader appreciate it.

Apollo's growth as character was perfectly written. The way he learnt to be protective over his family and was willing to risk his life to save them when he could actually die, was very heartwarming. His character development was probably one of the best I've seen in a Rick Riodan novel. Go Apollo! 

Now that I've gone through positive points of the novel I now to go through the negatives. Oh no... My first negative has to Apollo's surprise at Meg's betrayal. Apollo, you are were a god with thousands of years for life experience. You met a girl for a couple of days who has a mysterious past and when it is revealed that their is a traitor within the camp you don't think that Meg is a suspect? How someone with such life experience be blind sighted by that. I think that that was meant to show his absolute faith in Meg/ his new master, but to me that was a face palm moment.

Don't even get me started on Chiron. During a time when campers are disappearing left and right how could he think that the maze was a good thing? Sure he wanted an event to distract the camper and of course a death maze was the most logical course of action. The campers are demigods. They have the blood of an ancient Greek god cursing through their veins. They seriously have super powers! Why can't they have some kind of talent show instead. Even if he seriously thought that it was a good idea, wouldn't Chiron with all his knowledge and careful before we've seen before, make sure that the maze didn't lead to the forest. Also when Apollo was trying to warn him about the maze he ignored him. WHAT?!

There were so many face palm moments, but there were more moments that genuinely made me laugh out loud. This seriously was a good read that was worth the wait!

So now you know all my thoughts on The Hidden Oracle, please let me know what you think in the comments below! :)