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The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan (Trials of Olympus, Book #1) Review

If there is anything that must be said about this book, it is that the haikus are on point! I've never really thought haikus in English were cool in any sense of the word because they are originally meant to be written in Japanese. However, I could read Rick Riordan's haikus all day. We have never really gotten the perspective of a god before in any of Riordan's books, so this was a first. All I really have to say is that Apollo is all the kinds of arrogant I would expect to be if I was a god that just got turned into a human. He has ridiculous complaints about things like not having the perfect body and being a scrawny teenager throughout a good portion of the book. It's golden! Riordan still has that witty writing style that we all love him for. It's a pretty quick read, which is kind of upsetting since the next book doesn't come out until May 2017, a year after the publication of this book. I think we would all kill him if he made us wait any longer. I would say you do have to read the entirety of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and the Heroes of Olympus series before picking this series up. You'll miss out on a lot of references to characters from those series and will also be spoiled for both previous series. Besides, the other two series are so enjoyable to read that it's worth reading them anyway. I can securely say that this was one of my favorite reads of 2016.

SPOILER SECTION: Don't keep reading if you haven't completed the book. You probably shouldn't keep reading if you haven't finished the Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus series either. All shall be spoiled if you do!

I don't think I need to emphasize the awesomeness of the haikus anymore. You can follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/ashlightgrayson if you want to see a few posts about my favorite ones in the book. I have to say that Uncle Rick really knows how to convey the feelings of his characters through thoughts and inner dialogue. Apollo is a character that can seem very self-centered and ridiculous at first because of his selfish banter at the beginning of the book. I wasn't surprised at all that it wasn't his first time being turned into a mortal. All the Greek, Roman, and Norse gods tend to be a pain in the ass to deal with and all seem to have a bad attitude problem from what we've seen in the past. Zeus isn't exactly the patient and benevolent type. In spite of that, the fact that Apollo hadn't really learned his lesson after being turned into a mortal so many times still spoke volumes about his personality.

I like that Apollo still retained his main personality traits even when he had character growth. He saw how difficult life was for a lot of his demigod children and the things he had put others through because of his selfishness. Despite being a god who is supposed to deem himself above mortals and demigods, he learns to have sympathy and relate to humans again. I guess you could say that I liked that he was able to fall in love with humanity again.

Two of Apollo's past relationships are hinted at in the book which added to his very human traits. Despite his arrogance and separation from the mortal world, Apollo has been in love, with both a man and woman in the past. I guess we finally have him established as a queer character. Speaking of which, I'm sure all the Solangelo shippers are jumping for joy since we get a bunch of intimate moments with Nico di Angelo and Will Solace. We didn't really get much of Will in Blood of Olympus, so I'm glad we get to know him better in this book. He's very sympathetic towards his dad, Apollo, and it's nice to see him develop a nice relationship with him. Nico also seems way happier and more likeable. He has definitely had time to accept himself and it really shows since he's not as angsty as he was in past books.

I should probably mention how I love the fact that we get cameos of Percy at the beginning and the end of the book. He's finally taking steps to go to college together with Annabeth and is actually focusing on his grades. His new responsibilities in his personal life keep him from being omnipresent in this book. I love Percy's character, but Riordan makes it clear that this story is about Apollo and not Percy. Each character is getting their own time to shine. On that note, Leo is finally back! Everyone is upset that he didn't tell them about dying and "coming back to life" which is noted through dialogue among various characters. Honestly, I don't blame them, I would have been upset too. Although, I'm still so happy to know everyone knows he is back because that's part of what upset me for the ending of Blood of Olympus.

Other character's whereabouts are also revealed. Clarisse is going to college in Arizona. When Percy is initially speaking to Apollo he states that Annabeth is in Boston. This is an obvious reference to the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series. For those of you who don't know, that series focuses on Annabeth's cousin, Magnus Chase in Boston and his relation to the Norse Gods. I haven't actually read the first two books of the series that are out. I tried reading the first book, but had trouble getting into because I was in the middle of a reading slump. I'll be giving those a whirl later. It's just nice that Rick Riordan keeps us up to date with characters even if they aren't actually in a book we're currently reading. Not many authors are good at giving readers closure like that.

All in all, I like that there is a bunch of room for more character development for Apollo in this book. Leo and Calypso are going to be helping him out on his adventure which will be great to see. I am very excited and can't wait to order the next book. If you have liked Rick Riordan's other books in this universe of Greek and Roman gods, I can safely say this is among my top books from him in this world. A great read for those who appreciate comic relief and adventure.

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