Vaction in Hell

 

So, we kind of took 2 days off of school for the release of House of Hades.

 

We were all totally excited and the book did NOT disappoint.

 

It was about 600 pages and was hard to put down. I read for hours on end and the girls listened mesmerized.

 

Some favorite parts:

* Leo and Calypso

* Bob and Damasen

* Frank defeating the Venetian cows

* Coach being coach

* Sciron's defeat

* Escaping Tartarus

 

Rick is an extremely talented writer. We all were sobbing at the doors of death and the sacrifice that was made. Yet, it was so well balanced with wit, humor and appropriate analogies. You'd think a book based in hell's hell would be too much, but he really did make it believable and doable.

 

One thing that really threw me off was Nico. This book is for 10 and older, that is the recommended age for all of them. But this is the first book where a very mature theme was introduced... Nico had a crush on Percy. I thought he handled it really well in his writing, but he made Nico so dark. I had a good talk with the girls that some people are gay. The girls thought that it was kind of weird. I reminded them that God has made us all different and that's a good thing. The most important thing is to know that no matter how God has made us, He's endowed us with the beautiful gift of agency and choice. No matter what we face in life, we need to choose God and He'll help us in everything. We also had a good talk about the importance of not judging others, loving and always serving others.

 

A main theme throughout the book was crossroads. How we'll always have important decisions to make and that we shouldn't be dependent on others to make choices for us. Another theme was self worth. So many of the demi-gods doubted their abilities and yet, they persevered and conquered. Lastly, another main theme was the power of love. Not romantic love, but a deep and abiding love in which you sacrifice for the good. I love that. I don't think there can be enough talk about the importance of giving all for good.

 

So fun!!!!! Only another year for the next book....

sigh.

The last book.