Review: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson #1)

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)
By Rick Riordan

Published By: Puffin
Publication Date: July 28, 2005
Date Read: March 12, 2024
Genre: Middle Grade – Urban Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback / Audiobook
Pages: 375

From Goodreads:
Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse – Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena – Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Everyone has heard of the Percy Jackson series. If you haven’t… what rock have you been living under? It’s always been on my radar to read and I just never got around to it. I (controversially) enjoyed the movie they made of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief years ago, and that’s around the time that I bought the books, but then I just again never got around to them. Fast forwards many, many years and I thought it was about time that I finally picked this series up. Honestly, my feelings about this book are very mixed. I really, really wanted to love this book… but I just didn’t.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief has everything that I really should have loved. Greek Mythology… a fun adventure… I love all of these things in books. Honestly, I feel like my main issue with this book was the writing style. If I had read this book when I was younger, I have no doubt that I would have loved it and obsessed over it. However, reading it for the first time as a 30-something-year-old, the middle grade writing style was a struggle for me. I started reading this book on Paperback and I was struggling. So, I decided to switch to Audiobook after seeing it was on Spotify Premium. This was definitely the right decision. I ended up enjoying it more once I switched to Audio. It was much easier to process and enjoy after that.

I did end up enjoying Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I am so glad that I finally decided to pick this series up, and I will definitely be continuing the series. I am fully intending to continue the series in Audio format as I feel like it’s going to be the best way for me to consume this series. Here’s to enjoying the rest of the series.