'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! :)

My 3 Favourite Fandom Inspired Jewellery Pieces

Hello everyone!

Today's post is something a little different, but hopefully something that you enjoy. I am a big fan of merchandise and I love buying anything related to a fandom that I am apart of. One of my personal favourite pastimes is scrolling through the endless etsy stores that offer stunning fandom products. Today I have complied a list of my three favourite pieces that I own.

Item 1: Deathly Hallows necklace

This necklace had to be on this list. It was a birthday present from one of my best friends in the world who is also a fellow PotterHead. I just love wearing it because Harry Potter is a series that has greatly impacted my life and it's always great to wear it and meet other PotterHeads. It is honestly a really great conversation starter. Well I wouldn't really know because I don't really socialise, ha ha.

The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Clock, together the Deathly Hallows. *Dun, dun, dun! Ominous music starts playing* 

Item 2: Time Turner

This is a another Harry Potter piece of jewellery. It is also probably my favourite out of all the pieces I have mentioned on this list. It is awesome because it actually spends and has so much detail on it. Another bonus is that it was very inexpensive from eBay. I'm can be very thrifty, more money for books that way!

The sand in this time turner moves and it spins, just like the movie! I may or may not have spun it on multiple occasions when I realised that I have forgotten to do my homework...  

This replica has beautiful details engraved on outside!

Item 3: Amity ring

This ring is actually not a official piece of jewellery for the Amity faction. I was wondering around my local shopping centre when I went into a jewellery store and found this ring. There was a dramatic moment where my eyes fell on it and a voice came out of nowhere, that funnily enough resembled Morgan Freeman's voice, screamed, "you need to buy it, it looks like the Amity symbol!" Life tip, you never refuse a voice that sounds like Morgan Freeman. 

I have taken countless online quizzes and also the official quiz to determine my faction in the Divergent universe, but I believe they may be faulty, ahaha. On all of them I was sorted into Dauntless, besides from on that said I belonged in Erudite. In my heart I feel that I actually belong in Amity. The values of kindness and the calm lives  resonate with me. What better way to speak against the system by showing Amity pride!

The symbol is not exactly like the Amity one, but it is very similar. 

Please ignore my ugly hand and what is my thumb doing?

Item 4?!

You are probably checking the title and getting your fingers ready for the flurry of typing angry comments in all caps. This technically is not a fandom piece of jewellery and I thought you might like a little bonus jewelry item in this list. I also decided to add to this list though because it is one of my favourite rings that I own. I also use this ring as a bookmark. Before you laugh at me and say that this is stupid, please keep in mind that I use anything as a bookmark. I have even use the sandwich, but that is a story for another time.

I wear this ring 98% of the time and when I can't find a bookmark around me I just slip it in and boom perfect bookmark. No more losing pages and then regretting every life decision you've ever made. I I honestly believe that that is the worst feeling in the world. I said that and contemplate life and regret bringing dishonour on my family, my self and my cow.

Why do I keep doing that with my thumb?

The gems in this ring are actually black, but in this lighting it looked like a dark brown.

I have been planning this post for well over 2 weeks and I'm finally happy with it. I have taken photos of fandom inspired jewellery pieces so many times at this point. I just haven't been happy with the results, but eventually after 2 weeks, there was good weather so I went outside to take some photos in the natural sunlight. The photos are actually decent! I don't think you can comprehend my joy. *massive sigh of relief*

I have also been exploring the vast genre that is virtual art. It's been a lot of fun and I decided that I would like to incorporate that into my photos. I really do hope you like them and appreciate them because it took me over three hours. Being a newbie with the software really rattled me. I am getting better though!


I'm wishing to the book gods that you enjoyed this post and have a lovely day!

Happy reading!!

-xox The girl with her head in the clouds

aka Kellie :P

Mini Book Haul

Hello everyone!

Today's blog post is a mini book haul! Book hauls are things that make me SO happy, but they are probably very bad for health and my wallet. I stood between bookshelves of a the book shop as my heart palpitated and stress coursed through my veins. Shopping for books should be a pleasurable experience, but for me it is incredibly exhausting wanting to buy every second book I see, but not having the budget for it. (Side note, how cool would it be to have a no budget book shopping spree?!)

On this visit to the bookstore I was pretty good at restraining myself. I only bought two books: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Mass and The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riodan. I had originally went to the bookshop to buy the new Rick Riodan novel, because duhh, it's a NEW Riodan book  I had felt like I had waited for this book for an eternity for this book to be released. I was planning to pre-order it online, but after a little incident involving sleep deprivation and an intense feeling that I did not own enough material goods that I have no need of, my parents unanimously agreed that perhaps that I shouldn't be allowed to shop online. *looks around guiltily*

Upon arriving at the bookstore I grabbed The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle and whispered 'my precious' to it... *insert background laughter used in TV shows* I'm joking I only took the book into my hands and stared at it adoringly, The latter one was not a joke, ahaha. I then wondered around the store until I decided that before I lost my self control I should leave. As I was waiting in line, my eyes fell on A Court of Mist and Fury. In that moment, A spotlight seemed to shine on it and angels seemed to sing 'Hallelujah Hallelujah'. My self restraint melted and I left the store with two books, which is not too bad.

That was my mini book haul for today. I'm so excited to read these books and will have my thoughts up soon on my BookTube channel, so keep a look out for that! I have exams coming up next week, so I will be a little busy, but I'll post as often as humanly possible,

Happy reading!!

-xox The girl with her head in the clouds

aka Kellie :P

THE NEW COMEBACK!

Hi my name is Kellie and I like to read. I'm obsessed with Harry Potter and pizza. I have no pets, but I did have a sunflower plant that I accidentally killed (RIP Sunny). You may be wondering, 'What is with the introduction?'. Well my curious readers, it has been a while since my last post and I'm a little afraid that you have forgotten who I am.

I was neck deep into exam revision and I thought about how unhappy I was. I blissfully thought about how I'd rather be reading or do anything other then studying. Then I was distressingly hit with the realisation that I had subjected my poor blog to neglect. Urgh :( It was then that I decided that I couldn't let this continue. I have given my blog a make over (how good those it look now?!) and now I feel so motivated to post at least once a week (don't quote me on that though, because I think we all know that I am not the best at following schedules, XD).

Here is to a start of a more constant blogging schedule!

-xox Kellie

A NEW HARRY POTTER BOOK!

Hello everyone!

So today's post is about to break my little PotterHead heart. I thought that my world was forever changed when I saw the Fantastic Beast and Where To Find Them trailer. It was amazing! I have a reaction video on my BookTube channel if you want to check that out! *smiles at shameless self-promotion*

My mind was even more blown away when I heard around a week ago that the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script was going to become the newest book I freaked out. This is amazing. It's a new Harry Potter story! A new instalment in the story that had shaped me as a person. This is an appreciation post because I'm just so excited. This is going to be awesome.

Although since it is the script of a play it is going to be very different from the original books because it will have scene directions and other elements typical of a play. These things will differentiate the reading experience between the original books and this new one, but honestly I don't care! Honestly my heart feels like it's about to explode. This is so exciting! I never thought that this day would come, but it finally has and I'm overjoyed. Now comes the anxious wait until I am able to get my hands onto the book! :)

What are your thoughts on this new instalment in such an iconic series? Are you excited? Nervous about where J. K Rowling will take the story? Tell me down below! :D

BookTube vs Book Blogs

Hello everyone!

First and foremost I want to wish everyone a happy new year! I know it is a little late but this is after all my first post for 2016. For today's post I have a topic that I've been thinking about maybe too much lately and that is BookTube against book blogs. For those who are not familiar with BookTube, it is a community on YouTube that talks about books. BookTube is quite popular and some of the most popular BookTubers have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. I am also a BookTuber who admittedly has NOWHERE near that many subscribers. What I really enjoy about BookTube is that it's so fun. I just sit in my room and talk to a camera and fangirl about books like I do with my friends. Blogging to me is also like that with videos it has a whole other element to it.

I don't know if many people know this but I have a very deep love for photography. I'm not very good but I love it and my Canon 600d is my baby. I love trying to improve my video quality and investigating different lenses. I really want to expand my BookTube and create the best quality videos that I possibly can, but that in turns takes up a lot of my free time that I used to use for blogging. I feel torn because I love both but don't have time to make them both good, so one has suffer. That is why my blog content has also been suffering lately. I just have all this inner turmoil because of this.

I also feel like I can't make a video about something and then talk about it on my blog so that is why I have also been feeling like I do not have enough to talk about about. No one wants to watch a video on a specific book and then read a blog post about it. Do you ever have those moods where you feel like you have nothing to talk about and you're not interesting? That happens to me sometimes and that prevents me from wanting to post anywhere.

Here is one of my videos if you would like to check it out. It is quite old but there are more recent ones here if you'd like to check it out. If you check it out and subscribe if you like it I'd be soooo grateful :)

At the end of the day I love both platforms. I just really enjoy anything that allows me to express my love for books. I think what we learnt today is that I need to balance both and not let one prevent me from doing the other.

I hope that you have a great new year and can learn to balance whatever you need to If you already have good balance in your life I'm very jealous of you and wish to learn your craft, ahaha. :D

The Holidays!

Hello everyone!
The holidays are almost upon us! Well for those who celebrate the holidays anyway and for those who don't, I'm sure that whatever holiday you celebrate during another day of the year is just as great. My family personally do not celebrate religiously, but we do love to put up a tree, have a nice dinner and exchange gifts. I'm very excited for the holiday season and for today's post I decided to have a holiday themed post. I am going to count down my favourite holiday themed books and movies. I may also just add a couple other things that I love about the holidays. ;) Let's get started! :) (I'm sorry about all of the exclamation marks, I'm just so excited about all of the holiday festivities)

The first book on list has to be 'Let it snow' by Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle and John Green. It is a lovely book that weaves together three beauty Christmas stories together. The three authors each written their own character and story line that created this interconnected world. I most admit that I had originally only read it because it was partially written by John Green, but after reading it I loved all the authors. This book is very Chrisstmasy (I know that isn't a word, but lets pretend that it is, ahaha) and is a great holiday read.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone the movie is one of my favourites for the holiday season. Usually my philosophy is always 'books are better than the movie', but this may just be the one exception. I love watching this movie leading up to the holidays. It feels me up with a holiday vibe and it isn't Christmas until I watch this movie and eat so much popcorn that my stomach feels like exploding (unfortunately this does actually happen every year...). This movie is not just about the holiday season, but the main theme is love. Watching this movie is one of holiday traditions it just embodies the holidays for me.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickinson is a beautiful novella that is a classic. I love it and I most admit that I also love the animation version. I think that this is a great holiday read, because it is shorter so that you can spend other time with your family and friends. Some of my earliest Christmas memories are watching the animation then learning about the novella and reading those. This is a beautiful classic that is perfect every year.

My favourite Christmas movie of all time has to be Elf. As a little girl I never owned the DVD, but it would always be on TV in December. It's a hilarious comedy about an 'elf' who is actually a human. As he goes into the human world he is far out of his comfort zone, but he is filled with Christmas spirit. I'm pretty sure that most people have watched this movie because it always shows around Christmas but if you are reading this post and you have not watched it, do it now! It's extremely funny and perfect for the holiday season.

Hot chocolate is one of the most delicious drinks ever. Unfortunately in Australia Christmas is crazy hot due to it occurring in summer, but hot chocolate is still delicious. I've tried to make cold chocolate instead of hot chocolate and it actually worked pretty well. I used chocolate milk, whipped cream and crushed candy canes. This is the perfect treat to drink cuddled on the couch watching a cheesy christmas movie. This is super random, but I had to share my love for chocolate flavoured beverages.

This was my holiday related post. I hope you enjoyed it and have some ideas of what to read, watch or drink. :) This is going to be a very joyous holidays, I have a very good feeling about it.

Until next time,

The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds


aka Kellie xox