The Mark of Athena: Top Ten Scenes!

...Okay, if I'm being honest, there's eleven of them. And at least three of my "scenes" are really several related scenes that have been merged together so that I can get the total number down to something that resembles ten. Also, the ranking is mostly flexible. The top three are easily the best, but all of the others could pretty much be in any order you want--they were all just such great scenes!

In any case, I give you Heather's Top Eleven Favorite Moments from The Mark of Athena!

SPOILERS BELOW

#11 - "Keep It Simple."

  "Annabeth . . . sometime, maybe could you help me with another problem that's not so simple? I've got . . . I guess you'd call it an Achilles' heel."
  Annabeth felt like she'd just had a drink of Roman hot chocolate. She'd never really gotten the term warm and fuzzy, but Frank gave her that sensation. He was just a big teddy bear. She could see why Hazel liked him. "I'd be happy to," she said. "Does anyone else know about this Achilles' heel?"
  "Percy and Hazel," he said. "That's it. Percy . . . he's a really good guy. I would follow him anywhere. Thought you should know."
  Annabeth patted his arm. "Percy has a knack for picking good friends. Like you. But Frank, you can trust anyone on this ship. Even Leo. We're all a team. We have to trust each other."
  "I--I suppose."
  "So what's the weakness you're worried about?"
  The dinner bell sounded, and Frank jumped.
  "Maybe . . . maybe later," he said. "It's hard to talk about. But thanks, Annabeth." He held up the Chinese handcuffs. "Keep it simple."

Since Frank spent most of the book being portrayed as grumpy or scary or even a little unintelligent, I was so glad he had this moment with Annabeth to reassert his teddy bear tendencies. What a heartwarming scene! That being said, there is a part of me that wishes that this conversation had gotten Annabeth thinking about Percy and his own Achilles' heel, or sudden lack thereof. I would have liked to see that addressed, maybe along with the tattoos the Romans gave him when he became praetor.


#10 - Jason's Birthday

  Jason plucked an extinguished candle from his cake. "I've been thinking."
  That snapped Piper back to the present. Coming from your boyfriend, I've been thinking was kind of a scary line.
  "About?" she asked.
  "Camp Jupiter," he said. "All the years I trained there. We were always pushing teamwork, working as a unit. I thought I understood what that meant. But honestly? I was always the leader. Even when I was younger . . . "
  "The son of Jupiter," Piper said. "Most powerful kid in the legion. You were the star."
  Jason looked uncomfortable, but he didn't deny it. "Being in this crew of seven . . . I'm not sure what to do. I'm not used to being one of so many, well, equals. I feel like I'm failing."
  Piper took his hand. "You're not failing."

Okay, okay. I know that Piper and Jason have been getting a bad rap on the internet, but while I hear the complaints and can even kind of see why people are saying these negative things, I honestly do not agree with them. Sure, Jason was a bit of an idiot in MoA at times, especially wherever Reyna was involved. But I've seen worse. He'd never committed to Reyna, not once. And once he had committed to Piper, he didn't go back on that by flirting with Reyna too. I see a guy with a few problems trying to be as good as possible. And we can see from this scene that despite his royal parentage, Jason most definitely isn't arrogant. He's got insecurities, just like anyone else. I can honestly say that I like Jason more for his imperfections and vulnerabilities. And Piper? I see a strong female demigod who isn't sure how she fits in with all of her madly talented friends. I've heard people compare her to Bella Swan from Twilight ("Oh, I'm so popular, I hate it. Everyone likes me. I wish they would just leave me alone.") but I don't think that's fair to Piper. So she's never cared much about appearance. We can definitely thank her famous dad for that! She grew up in a world where her dad was idolized for his looks, and it was constantly pulling him away from her. Is it any wonder that she doesn't want her appearance to be the most important thing about her? I think Jason and Piper are good for each other. Plus, let's face it. The whole series is about bringing the Greeks and the Romans together. Jason's Roman and Piper's Greek. Face the music, people. This was endgame from book one.

Anyway, I loved this. We didn't get to spend a lot of time in Jason's head this time around because he wasn't being very forthcoming with Piper, so seeing him open up to her (not to mention promise that he's not stupid enough to break up with her!) was very endearing.


#9 - Fish-Centaur Brownies

  The dmigods paced the deck in silence, staring at the water and hoping for a miracle.
  When it finally came--three giant pink bubbles bursting at the surface off the starboard bow and ejecting Frank, Hazel, and Leo--Piper went a little crazy. She cried out with relief and dove straight into the water.
  What was she thinking? She didn't take a rope or a life vest or anything. But at the moment, she was just so happy that she paddled over to Leo and kissed him on the cheek, which kind of surprised him.
  "Miss me?" Leo laughed.
  Piper was suddenly furious. "Where were you? How are you guys alive?"
  "Long story," he said. A picnic basket bobbed to the surface next to him. "Want a brownie?"
  Once they got on board and changed into dry clothes, the crew gathered on the quarterdeck for a celebratory breakfast. While Leo fussed over his helm controls, Hazel and Frank related the story of the fish-centaurs and their training camp.
  "Incredible," Jason said. "These are really good brownies."
  "That's your only comment?" Piper demanded.
  He looked surprised. "What? I heard the story. Fish-centaurs. Merpeople. Letter of intro to the Tiber River god. Got it. But these brownies--"
  "I know," Frank said, his mouth full. "Try them with Esther's peach preserves."
  "That," Hazel said, "is incredibly disgusting."
  "Pass me the jar, man," Jason said.
  Hazel and Piper exchanged a look of total exasperation. Boys.

No matter who or where you are, boys will be boys. I don't know, guys. I loved getting this scene from all our newest demigods. Percy and Annabeth got a lot of screen time (and who is definitely NOT complaining about that? Me, right here!) but it was nice to see the others bonding over brownies and exasperating boyfriends. Especially Leo. He worried so much about never fitting into this group that I couldn't help jumping for joy when Piper threw herself off the boat when she saw he was alive. Leo needs the reminder every once in a while that these people really do care about him.


#8 - Bagel Sharing and Promised Returns

  Piper was happy to see Annabeth with a sparkle in her eyes because Piper had never had a better friend. For months, Annabeth had been tormenting herself, her every waking moment consumed with the search for Percy. Now, despite the dangerous quest they were facing, at least she had her boyfriend back.
  "So!" Annabeth plucked the bagel out of Piper's hand and took a bite, but that didn't bother Piper. Back at camp, they'd had a running joke about stealing each other's breakfast. "Here we are. What's the plan?"
  "I want to check out the highway, Piper said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."
  "Sounds dangerous!" Leo said cheerfully. "Well . . . you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull. And, uh, Annabeth--I could really use your help. You're the only other person who even sort of understands engineering.
  Annabeth looked apologetically at Percy. "He's right. I should stay and help."
  "I'll come back to you." He kissed her on the cheek. "Promise."
  They were so easy together, it made Piper's heart ache.

All together, now: awwww! Piper said it best: Percy and Annabeth are easy together. And that's exactly how it comes across. So cute. And it just speaks volumes about the year they've had that every time one leaves the other it's always with a promise to return. Percy totally gets Annabeth, even though he claims not to. In the first series, Percy relates his relationship with Annabeth to her desire to build something permanent (and is there anything cuter or more romantic than that? No!) and I think his promises to come back are part of his attempt to repair whatever damage was done by his suddenly being gone, not that Annabeth holds it against him at all. I also happen to love the glimpse into Piper and Annabeth's relationship that we got here. They didn't have a lot of time to bond in TLH (though Piper did say she could imagine being friends with Annabeth easily) so it's great that we get to see them acting like actual teenage best friends.


#7 - Bronze and Gold, Together

  "I'll take Otis again?" Jason called over the noise. "Or do you want him this time?"
  Percy tried to think. Dividing was the natural course--fighting the giants one-on-one, but that hadn't worked so well last time. It dawned on him that they needed a different strategy.
  This whole trip, Percy had felt responsible for leading and protecting his friends. He was sure Jason felt the same way. They'd worked in small groups, hoping that would be safe. They'd fought as individuals, each demigod doing what he or she did best. But Hera had made them a team of seven for a reason. The few times Percy and Jason had worked together--summoning the storm at Fort Sumter, helping the Argo II escape the Pillars of Hercules, even filling the nymphaeum--Percy had felt more confident, better able to figure out problems, as if he'd been a Cyclops his whole life and suddenly woke up with two eyes.
  "We attack together," he said. "Otis first, because he's weaker. Take him out quickly and move to Ephialtes. Bronze and gold together--maybe that'll keep them from re-forming a little longer."
  Jason smiled dryly, like he'd just found out he would die in an embarrassing way.
  "Why not?" he agreed. "But Ephialtes isn't going to stand there and wait while we kill his brother. Unless . . ."
  "Good wind today," Percy offered. "And there're some water pipes running under the arena."
  Jason understood immediately. He laughed, and Percy felt a spark of friendship. This guy thought the same way he did about a lot of things.
  "On three?" Jason said. 
  "Why wait?"
 They charged out of the trench.

Oh, I cannot tell you how long I waited for this moment. I wanted Percy and Jason to be friends more than anything, and it tore me up inside to see them competing with each other. I cringed when Jason implied that Percy would need an ocean to have a chance at measuring up to his own skill. I cringed again when Percy grumpily compared Jason to a blonde superman. Obviously it took a while for the two of them to get comfortable with working together, but once they did they were pretty much unstoppable. This moment, where they realized that they were not only stronger as a team, but also that they could actually be friends, was huge for me.


#6 - Don't EVER Mess With Leo Valdez

  Leo rested his hand on the Archimedes sphere, which now sat on the help, ready to be installed. He should have been excited. It was the biggest discovery of his life--even bigger than Bunker 9. If he could decipher Archimedes's scrolls, he could do amazing things. He hardly dared to hope, but he might even be able to build a new control disk for a certain dragon friend of his.
  Still, the price had been too high.
  He could almost hear Nemesis laughing. I told you we could do business, Leo Valdez.
  He had opened the fortune cookie. He'd gotten the access code for the sphere and saved Frank and Hazel. But the sacrifice had been Percy and Annabeth. Leo was sure of it.
  "It's my fault," he said miserably.
~
  "I'm the only one who has actually been into Tartarus," Nico said. "It's impossible to describe how powerful that place is. Once you get close, it sucks you in. I never stood a chance."
  Frank sniffled. "Then Percy and Annabeth don't stand a chance either?"
  Nico twisted his silver skull ring. "Percy is the most powerful demigod I've ever met. No offense to you guys, but it's true. If anybody can survive, he will, especially if he's got Annabeth at his side. They're going to find a way through Tartarus."
~
  Leo straightened. "We can do it."
  Everyone stared at him.
  "The Archimedes sphere can upgrade the ship," he said, hoping he was right. "I'm going to study those ancient scrolls we got. There's got to be all kinds of new weapons I can make. We're going to hit Gaea's armies with a whole new arsenal of hurt."
  They would find this House of Hades. They'd take the Doors of Death. And by the gods, if Leo had to design a grabber arm long enough to snatch Percy and Annabeth out of Tartarus, then that's what he would do.
  Nemesis wanted him to wreak vengeance on Gaea? Leo would be happy to oblige. He was going to make Gaea sorry she had ever messed with Leo Valdez.

That first part literally took my breath away. I admit it, I hadn't made the connection between Leo's deal with Nemesis and Percy and Annabeth's fall into Tartarus until it was spelled out for me, and what a poignant moment that was! And how awful for Leo to realize that in saving two of his friends, he'd doomed two others. But Leo doesn't take things like that lying down. He's proven over and over again that if you back him into a corner, he comes out kicking. Gaea should have learned that when she tried to break him by killing his mother and ended up merely giving him a reason to fight her. He's got something to prove now. And Nico's praise for Percy? Fabulous. They've always had a bit of a rocky relationship (especially recently in the series) so hearing Nico so blatantly labeling Percy as the most powerful demigod he's ever met, and in the presence of a son of Jupiter, too? I loved it.


#5 - The Epic Solo Death Quest

  Once Annabeth had made up her mind, arguing with her wouldn't do any good. He remembered the night three-and-a-half years ago, when they'd saved Nico and Bianca di Angelo in Maine. Annabeth had been captured by the Titan Atlas. For a while, Percy wasn't sure if she was alive or dead. He'd traveled across the country to save her from the Titan. It had been the hardest few days of his life--not just the monsters and the fighting, but the worry.
  How could he intentionally let her go now, knowing she was heading into something even more dangerous?
  Then it dawned on him: the way he had felt back then, for a few days, was probably how Annabeth had felt for the six months he had been missing with amnesia.
  That made him feel guilty, and a little bit selfish, to be standing here arguing with her. She had to go on this quest. The fate of the world might depend on it. But part of him wanted to say: Forget the world. He didn't want to be without her.
~
  "It's on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should--"
  "Take me along," Percy finished. "Yeah, you're right."
  Annabeth glared daggers at him. "That's not--"
  "Safe," he supplied. "One demigod walking through Rome alone. I'll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction, hopefully meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go on alone from there."
  They had a silent staring contest, but Percy didn't back down. When he and Annabeth started dating, his mother had drummed it into his head: It's good manners to walk your date to the door. If that was true, it had to be good manners to walk her to the start of her epic solo death quest.
  "Fine," Annabeth muttered.
~
  Percy gripped Annabeth's hand--probably a little too tight. "Tiberinus, let me go with her. Just a little farther."
  Rhea Silvia laughed sweetly. "But you can't, silly boy. You must return to your ship and gather your other friends. Confront the giants! Annabeth has a different path. She must walk alone."
  "Indeed," Tiberinus said. "Annabeth must face the guardian of the shrine by herself it is the only way."
  Percy's pizza felt like a cement lump in his stomach. "But--"
  "It's alright, Percy," Annabeth squeezed his hand. "I need to do this."
  He started to protest. Her expression stopped him. She was terrified but doing her best to hide it--for his sake. If he tried to argue, he would only make things harder for her. Or worse, he might convince her to stay. Then she would have to live with the knowledge that she'd backed down from the biggest challenge.
  "You're right," Percy said, forcing out the words. "Be safe."
  Annabeth kissed Percy. She hesitated, like she was wondering what else to say. Then she shouldered her backpack and climbed on the back of the scooter.
  Percy hated it. He would've preferred to fight any monster in the world. But he forced himself to stay in his chair and watch as Annabeth motored off through the streets of Rome with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.

Letting Annabeth go and face Arachne, knowing how terrified she is of spiders, was probably Percy's greatest challenge yet. I love the dilemma here: Percy wanting to protect her and help her and yet knowing that he can't this time. Again he proves that he really does understand her by realizing that any protesting on his part would only hurt her in the long run. The whole book Annabeth and Percy have been promising to "come back" to each other and for the first time, that promise is really being put to the test. The emotional depth in this whole sequence of scenes is just delicious.


#4 - The Stables

  She leaned over and kissed him: a good, proper kiss without anyone watching--no Romans anywhere, no screaming satyr chaperons.
  She pulled away. "I missed you, Percy."
  Percy wanted to tell her the same thing, but it seemed too small a comment. While he had been on the Roman side, he'd kept himself alive almost solely by thinking of Annabeth. I missed you didn't really cover that.
  "Annabeth," he said hesitantly, "in New Rome, demigods can live their whole lives in peace. I saw so many demigods living without fear: kids going to college, couples getting married and raising families. There's nothing like that at Camp Half-Blood. I kept thinking about you and me . . . and maybe someday when this war with the giants is over . . ."
  It was hard to tell in the golden light, but he thought Annabeth was blushing. "Oh," she said.
  Percy was afraid he'd said too much. Maybe he'd scared her with his big dreams of the future. She was usually the one with the plans. Percy cursed himself silently. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just . . . I had to think of that to keep going. To give me hope. Forget I mentioned--"
  "No!" she said. "No, Percy. That's so sweet."
~
  "You've been here all night?"
  "Frank!" Annabeth's ears were as red as strawberries. "We just came down here to talk. We fell asleep. Accidentally. That's it."
  "Kissed a couple of times," Percy said.
  Annabeth glared at him. "Not helping!"
  "We'd better . . ." Frank pointed to the stable doors. "Uh, we're supposed to meet for breakfast. Would you explain what you did--I mean didn't do? I mean . . . I really don't want that faun--I mean satyr--to kill me."
  Frank ran.
  When everyone finally gathered in the mess hall, it wasn't quite as bad as Frank had feared. Jason and Piper were mostly relieved. Leo couldn't stop grinning and muttering, "Classic. Classic." Only Hazel seemed scandalized, maybe because she was from the 1940s. She kept fanning her face and wouldn't meet Percy's eyes.
~
  "Great," Percy said. "We should take one more. Annabeth--"
  "Oh, no!" Coach Hedge barked. "Young lady, you are grounded.
  Annabeth stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. "Excuse me?"
  "You and Jackson are not going anywhere together! Hedge insisted. He glared at Percy, daring him to mouth off. "I'll go with Frank and Mr. Sneaky Jackson. The rest of you guard the ship and make sure Annabeth doesn't break any more rules!"

I'm going to go out on a limb here and just say that no Percabeth shipper in the world could possibly not like these scenes. Percy's big dreams and Leo's grinning and Annabeth getting grounded by a satyr and Mr. Sneaky Jackson... I'm sorry. It's just too fabulous for words.


#3 - Charleston Harbor

  She needed help . . . some kind of distress signal to Coach Hedge, or even better--Percy.
  "Well?" Octavian demanded. His two friends brandished their swords.
  Very slowly, using only two fingers, Annabeth drew her dagger. Instead of dropping it, she tossed it as far as she could into the water.
  Octavian made a squeaking sound. "What was that for? I didn't say toss it! That could've been evidence. Or spoils of war!
  Annabeth tried for a dumb-blonde smile, like: Oh, silly me. Nobody who knew her would have been fooled. But Octavian seemed to buy it. He huffed in exasperation.
  "You other two . . ." He pointed his blade at Hazel and Piper. "Put your weapons on the dock. No funny bus--"
  All around the Romans, Charleston Harbor erupted like a Las Vegas fountain putting on a show. When the wall of seawater subsided, the three Romans were in the bay, spluttering and fantically trying to stay afloat in their armor. Percy stood on the dock, holding Annabeth's dagger.
  "You dropped this," he said, totally poker-faced.
  Annabeth threw her arms around him. "I love you!"
  Down in the water, Octavian yelled, "Get me out of here! I'll kill you!"
  "Tempting," Percy called down.
  "What?"
  "Nevermind."

Of all the scenes in this book, I had the most vivid mental image of this one right here. I could see everything happening as I read it, and I loved every minute of it. Oh, gosh, Octavian squeaking and Annabeth pretending to be airheaded for once and the harbor exploding and the Romans are wearing earplugs so they can't be hoodwinked by Piper and Percy's poker face and I love you. Too much goodness all rolled into one. Possibly the best little bit of storytelling I have read in ages.


#2 - The Reunion
  During their separation, something had happened to Annabeth's feelings. They'd grown painfully intense--like she'd been forced to withdraw from a life-saving medication. Now she wasn't sure which was more excruciating--living with that horrible absence, or being with him again.
  Annabeth didn't mean to, but she surged forward. Percy rushed toward her at the same time. The crowd tensed. Some reached for swords that weren't there.
  Percy threw his arms around her. They kissed, and for a moment nothing else mattered. An asteroid could have hit the planet and wiped out all life, and Annabeth wouldn't have cared.
  Percy smelled of ocean air. His lips were salty.
  Seaweed Brain, she thought giddily.
  Percy pulled away and studied her face. "I never thought--"
  Annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement. Romans cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted "Hold! Stand down!"
  Annabeth put her knee on Percy's chest. She pushed her forearm against his throat. She didn't care what the Romans thought. A white-hot lump of anger expanded in her chest--a tumor of worry and bitterness that she'd been carrying around since last autumn.
  "If you ever leave me again," she said, her eyes stinging, "I swear to all the gods--"
  Percy had the nerve to laugh. Suddenly the lump of heated emotions melted inside Annabeth.
  "Consider me warned," Percy said. "I missed you too."

She attacked him, and he laughed. She attacked him, and he laughed. So perfectly in character for the two of them. I don't think it would have worked if Percy hadn't laughed, though. Like I've said over and over again, he knows her. It's been six months that he's been missing and all she wants is something permanent, so of course she's going to have to get some pent up negative emotions out. It's just such an Annabeth thing to do that I don't think Percy could have expected anything else, and that's why all he can do is laugh in relief. She's still the Annabeth he remembers and loves. And what a dramatic contrast between this scene and the penultimate scene in the book, where Annabeth begs Percy to let her fall and save himself. Speaking of which...


#1 - Together

  Annabeth was dimly aware of the Argo II hovering to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder, but Annabeth stood in a daze, staring into the darkness. Then suddenly Percy was next to her lacing his fingers through hers.
  He turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and broke down in tears.
  "It's okay," he said. "We're together."
  He didn't say you're okay or we're alive. After all they'd been through over the last year, he knew the most important thing was that they were together. She loved him for saying that.
~
  Annabeth's leg felt like it was pulling free of her body. Pain washed everything in red. The force of the Underworld tugged at her like dark gravity. She didn't have the strength to fight. She knew she was too far down to be saved.
  "Percy, let me go," she croaked. "You can't pull me up."
  His face was white with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.
  "Never," he said. He looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above. "The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"
  Nico's eyes widened. "But--"
  "Lead them there!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!"
  "I--I will."
  Below them, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess.
  Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome.
  "We're staying together," he promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."
  Only then did she understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall.
  "As long as we're together," she said.
  She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw the sunlight far, far above--maybe the last sunlight she would ever see.
  Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness.

My honest-to-goodness first thought when everyone climbed off the Argo II onto the crumbling marble floor was "What the heck are you idiots doing? Get Annabeth onto the ship!" Of course, a careful re-read brought it to my attention that although they lowered a ladder, Annabeth was too much in shock to climb up it. And I doubt Percy would have waited to see if she was coming. He knew she was hurt and terrified and alone and it was his only priority to get to her. The others must have simply followed his lead.

This is a masterpiece. I have no doubt that this was where Rick teared up while writing. All I can say is that the whole book was literally leading up to this moment. After everything Percy and Annabeth went through in the three books of this series, there was absolutely no way that he was letting her fall into Tartarus alone. It's heart-breaking. It's beautiful. Percy and Annabeth have taken over the top spot on my list of OTPs.

One can only hope that they'll be able to keep each other sane enough to find the way out. If nothing else, it's a comfort to know that Gaea's minions will certainly keep them alive if they're caught--until she's ready to rise, that is. Percy and Annabeth are her preferred sacrifices. That gives Jason and the crew a month to come up with a plan and rescue them, if that's what needs to be done.

Well, this was a long post of Percy Jackson goodness. The best part is that there are so many other parts that deserve mentioning! Mark of Athena is easily my favorite book of the series so far, but I am eagerly anticipating House of Hades or its follower to surpass it.

Mark of Athena

Rick Riordan predicted that there would be disgruntled readers starting around October 3rd. It's October 3rd, and here I am. Not disgruntled, though. Try deliriously happy.

...Well, okay. There's a little bit of disgruntled too. Needless to say, SPOILERS will be flying from this point on, so consider yourself warned!

Seeing as I am living at home and have three siblings concurrently reading this book, there's not a lot I can say or do without setting someone off. As the sibling who has finished the book, I am a dangerous liability. Anything I say or do could give something away. Literally. If I look at someone the wrong way, they are likely to burst into tears, claiming that I spoiled something.

And, okay, they have a solid reason for thinking that I might. I have to admit that my record isn't all that good when it comes to keeping secrets. What can I say? I get so excited when I finish something spectacular that I want to share it with everyone! I have this awful need to talk about everything: the good, the bad, the absolutely painful. I never mean to spoil anything, but...let's just say it happens sometimes.

So. The solution? Ha ha, blogging. I'm not expecting a ton of people to even see this, but it gives me the opportunity to get things out of my system without causing World War III in the Haddock home.

SPOILERS. For real, this time.

Am I disgruntled? Yes. But not in an angry, throw-the-book-across-the-room kind of way. (Ha ha, though I did slam it shut when I finished, but that was more out of excitement than anything else.) Funnily enough to anyone who has actually finished this book, the thing that disgruntles me most is the army of Romans gearing up to attack Camp Half-Blood. I know, right? Of all the things that happened, particularly that cliffhanger ending, that's the part that gets me upset? Let's just say I have a hyperactive sense of fairness and the Romans attacking the Greeks is so NOT fair. Oh, sure, I understand their reasons. But if Octavian has the power to work the Romans up into this kind of a frenzy, shouldn't Reyna have the same ability to calm them down? Not without risking her position, I know, but still. She's praetor. Octavian isn't. She should be able to do something. Something that doesn't involve unfairly attacking the Greeks while their leaders are on the other side of the world. And I want Octavian to get his comeuppance, too. He spent most of the book annoying me, though some of Percy's best moments were prompted by acts and words of idiocy from the Roman auger. Percy dumping him into the harbor in Charleston was easily in my top ten favorite scenes from MoA, and not only because Octavian was humiliated.

And that's a perfect lead-in to the deliriously happy.

Three words, my demigod friends: Percy and Annabeth.

The central focus of both TLH and SoN was getting Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase back together. Jason, Piper, and Leo didn't even know who Percy was, but their quest in TLH to free Hera (and Jason's personal quest to get his memories back) was the first step in figuring out what happened to Percy, even though they didn't know it at first. It was hidden deep in the background, but it was there. SoN brought that goal into sharp relief with the return of Percy as a narrator. Again, we were distracted by a seemingly random quest and the introduction of new characters with new problems, but Percy's drive to recover the fifth cohort's standard came from his desire to get back to Annabeth--even though he could barely remember her.

MoA starts out from Annabeth's perspective (finally!) and Rick apologizes to his rabid fans for SoN's truly agonizing cliffhanger by getting straight to their reunion. I'm going to be brutally honest here: it was kind of a let down...at first. Rick's not a romance writer by any stretch of the imagination (and we wouldn't want him to be!) so Annabeth's thoughts when seeing Percy for the first time feel a little forced. But any misgivings I had about my favorite demigod couple were quickly erased when, after a long-anticipated kiss, Annabeth judo-throws Percy to the ground in a release of pent up frustration and worry. Percy can only laugh at this, probably because he wouldn't have expected anything else from Annabeth. She helps him up and, just like that, we know everything is back to normal. Pure brilliance. So perfect and in character that everything I spent the past year imagining pales in comparison.

And their relationship just got better and better. I won't go into detail about any more of their scenes here, but it was perfect. After MoA's cliffhanger ending, which also happened to be one of the most touching and heartbreaking things I have ever read, I don't see how anyone could come out of that book NOT invested in Percy and Annabeth.

I really can't help it. I've got to talk about Percy's "budding bromance" with Jason. I went into MoA with my fingers crossed, hoping that the two camp leaders would get along but afraid that there would be trouble (and for good reason too, after the scene of the two of them locked in battle was released as the cover for the book!). While in New Rome, things seemed to be headed in the right direction. Percy and Jason bonded over a shared distaste for Octavian and everything looked like it was going to be butterflies and rainbows until a hoodwinked Leo opened fire on Camp Jupiter, cutting negotiations short before they could really begin. That's when the tension between the seven started to show.

With a son of Jupiter and a son of Poseidon, there's going to be more than a little tension. And that's not just because one is Roman and one is Greek. Zeus and Poseidon (or Jupiter and Neptune, if you will) are brothers, but they are also rivals. Jason and Percy were both more accustomed to leading rather than being led, and bringing them together was bound to have consequences. At one point they both tried to sit in the seat at the head of the table and spent a few minutes locked in a staring contest. Fortunately, both boys had the sense of mind to surrender the seat to Annabeth, who had been acting as leader up until they made it to Camp Jupiter. Percy and Jason spent a lot of time working around each other and staying out of each other's way. Fortunately, their rivalry stems more out of their individual desire to prove that they are useful than out of any real negative feelings. It isn't long before they're forced to work together, and in summoning up the mother of all hurricanes with Percy's control of the ocean and Jason's control of the skies, they realize just how strong they are when they do.

Can I just say again how brilliant Rick is? The easy thing to do in this book would be to make the seven get along unnaturally well throughout or to make them butt heads most of the time. And, okay, Frank and Leo spent a lot of time butting heads. But let's not forget that Frank was also the first of the seven to give Leo the benefit of the doubt when he couldn't explain why he'd started firing on Camp Jupiter. NONE of these characters was one-dimensional. They each came across as their own complex, realistic person, and with seven of them to juggle, that's no easy feat. The seven started out willing to trust each other because of shared alliances and experiences. Then they met some hiccups and speed bumps that caused plenty of tension and even dislike. But they worked through that and came out on the other side, able to work as a team. They understood that they were stronger as a team.

Maybe that's what I liked most about this book: these characters worked through their problems rather than letting them sit and stew. Some people might say that the issues were resolved a little too easily, but that's not something that bothers me. In a book like this, I would rather see the heroes dealing with their problems and coming out of them in better shape than they were before, and all the better if it's done realistically, which I think Rick has pulled off. Percy and Jason learn how to work together. Frank and Leo are attracted to the same girl--not only that, but Leo's special talent is one that could snuff out Frank's life in a heartbeat. Long story short, they're both scared of each other, though neither lets it show. Despite this, they learn how to trust each other by the end of the book. Better yet, Leo comes out of it maybe a little better at dealing with people.

Leo's story was another one that almost broke my heart. He's easily my favorite of the five new demigods we met in this series, probably because he's the most like Percy (though as my sister said, Leo is far crazier than Percy). My heart just goes out to him--how determined he is to do the right thing and take care of the people around him, even when he's inherited his dad's inability to handle living things. The poor guy is a seventh wheel in MoA. Gaea spends most of her time working on his insecurities about dealing with people by telling him how he will never truly fit in with the rest of them. She has a point, at least from the couple viewpoint--the other six are paired off. But one thing I admire about Leo is that he refused to be brainwashed by Gaea's lies. Gaea says "walk away"; Leo says "I'm gonna face-plant you, lady." Gaea says "you're a seventh wheel"; Leo says "this is my family." He's clear-sighted when it comes to her manipulations, and I just LOVE that. That being said, he doesn't always see the truth right away. He spent a good portion of the book troubled about being that seventh wheel, wondering if he's going to fit in any more than just being the mechanic. I was so happy that he was able to see past Gaea's lies to the truth: they all care about him, not about his Hephaestus powers.

I think that's far and away enough for now. I haven't even scratched the surface here. I could go on and on about Piper and Jason, or better yet, Piper, Jason, and Reyna. I'm rooting for Piper and Jason, truthfully, but I'm also rooting for Reyna here. I want her to see that things CAN go right for her. I want her to be happy. I could wax lyrical about my love for Coach Hedge and his musical quirks. (Singing the Pokemon theme song, only using "kill" instead of "catch?" I died!) I could give any number of theories about what's in store for Hazel in the next book, House of Hades. But I think I'm going to have to stop here. It's time to get dinner ready. I'll be compiling that list of top ten favorite scenes in the near future, though.

Loved it.