By Ava Shaffer
Rick Riordan brings readers back into the magical, mythical world of Percy Jackson with The Chalice of the Gods. For the first time since The Lightning Thief, the trio of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover team up to complete a most daunting quest: securing letters of recommendation for college applications. Percy and his friends must grapple with the changes fast approaching their lives, defeat minor gods and goddesses, and go to the most stressful brunch known to man. The Chalice of the Gods is full of imagination, engaging plot details, loveable characters, witty dialogue, and clever reworkings of classic Greek mythology– it’s got everything that always makes a Percy Jackson book so good.
Read This Book If You…
Loved the original Percy Jackson series
Appreciate well-placed and humorous pop culture references
Want a quick, heartwarming read
Are preparing for college application season and, similar to Percy, are also agonizing over letters of recommendation and personal statements
Listen! Rick Riordan never disappoints! Every time I sit down with one of his books I know I’m in for a good time. There will be characters I care about, thrilling pacing, a plot that’s well-structured and entertaining at the same time, deeper themes embedded into the story, and chapter titles that make me laugh. He’s just got such a way with crafting worlds that suck readers in and keep them there. That’s why his books are always so nostalgic to me, and why I loved The Chalice of the Gods.
As soon as I started reading this, I remembered how much I missed the voice of Percy. His narration is just so fun and engaging, I could be reading about the most boring plot but still not mind it if he was the one telling the story. But thankfully Percy Jackson books never have a boring plot, and this one is no exception. I loved the pacing and the different trials Percy went through for his letter of recommendation. Every battle was so imaginative and the imagery is always cinematic, I can see the action in this story like it’s playing across a big screen.
The Chalice of the Gods felt like a love letter to New York City. I love how location-centric it was, and the specific New York settings that Percy, Annabeth, and Grover explored. It felt like going back to the roots of Percy, where he grew up and the places he loves. There were also such fun locations in this story too. Riordan has a talent for transforming familiar places (a Chuck E Cheese or hippie farmers market for example) into a clever rendition of that location into the Percy Jackson world, a world that readers love to return home to.
Another thing I love about Percy Jackson books is the way a theme or life lesson is effortlessly intertwined into the story. It never feels forced or cliche to me, it just works. In this book especially I was impressed by the way themes of growing up and new chapters in life were at the heart of the story. The choice to include the specific minor gods and goddesses that this story did, along with Percy’s musings on the upcoming change in his life, felt so sincere and moving. This just struck the perfect tone of becoming more mature but still holding on to the youthful and whimsical nature of this series.
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