"House of Hades" is a Great Edition, Just Don't Read it on its Own

I've always been a fan of the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan. Actually, I'm not just a fan, I'm obsessed. I loved his original series and I've enjoyed making my way through this series.

Except for the first movie. That was a hot mess.

The thing about this Heroes of Olympus Series is that there is a LOT going on. There are a million character POVs and jumping from like 10 people throughout the entire book can get pretty exhausting. Not to mention the fact that you have to remember things that happened from the past books! This is not easy when you are trying to read the books as they come out, since you are going for months at a time without reading this stuff. To jump back in, you have to readjust and reach into your memory to remember what was established in the last book(s). It's hard to do, but that's the price of liking an ongoing series.

Other than that, though, this book is great: the characters develop, secrets are revealed, and there is action throughout. There's even a part where Riordan came out of left field  with some progressive stuff. It was unexpected, but I am so glad he decided to go that route with the story.

At the end of the day, though, I'm just here for Percy and Annabeth. And, well...whoever was in the first series. The other characters are okay, but I'm just invested in my original peeps. It's like if you read Harry Potter and Harry, Ron, and Hermoine shared time with new main characters. You'd like the newbies, but you would be more interested in reading about the old crew.

Overall, if you are a returning reader, like me, you know what to expect. This book is a great addition and answers all the questions that you had from the last book. However, I DO NOT RECOMMEND READING THIS OUT OF ORDER. You will be so confused and probably end up hating the series, which would be horrible for you BECAUSE IT IS SO GOOD AND SO WORTH IT. If anything, you HAVE to come into this series from the beginning (more preferably the Percy Jackson and the Olympian Series), because it eases you into Riordan's writing style. Once you do, I guarantee that you will be hooked.