The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan, released October 7th, 2014, is the final book in the Heroes of Olympus series, the sequel series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This much anticipated novel held many surprises for readers, but were they good or bad?

Before anyone reads on, beware, for spoilers are coming soon.

As a dedicated fan of Percy Jackson, I was eager to read this book. Sadly, I was more disappointed than I had hoped, considering there was almost nothing I disliked about Riordan’s past works. There is always much to talk about when the final book of a popular series finally comes out, and I’m going to start with the cons.

For a year, readers predicted and made theories for The Blood of Olympus, and I was eager to see all. In all honesty, what fans had hoped for was much more exciting than the novel itself. Riordan is a brilliant writer who rarely has problems, but points of view choices were by far his worst decision.

Rick Riordan, you could direct ten perfect movies, release dozens of wonderful short-series and have your new Norse series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, be more amazing than imaginable, and I still wouldn’t forgive you for not writing in Percy’s point of view. He being with us from the beginning, made Percy by far the most important character. His thoughts mean everything to the story and readers missing out on him was like eating a sandwich without the filling. Percy had substance, humor and even drama that The Blood of Olympus lacked. The ideal perspectives would have been all of the seven, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, and Piper Mclean, and fellow demigod, Nico di Angelo. Only four of these were included, plus the Roman, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano.

Another problem: The battles. Should I even call them battles? Honestly, the epic Giant War we were waiting for, for an entire series was about two pages long. Everything was so rushed, I felt I had missed the whole fight. Not to mention there was no violence between the Greeks and Romans, when I expected an absolute bloodbath to have broken out.

There were no major deaths unless one includes the beloved Leo Valdez. Though in his case, he returned from the Underworld so, of course, he doesn’t qualify. Really, a book does not simply have blood in the title and have only minor, and very few deaths. This novel was way too happy. The lack of serious emotions and extreme war left it too simple and boring. Rick Riordan obviously took the phrase ¨a storybook ending¨ literally. There was almost nothing depressing.

One more short con would be something of much importance. Sally Jackson, Percy’s mother, had not been seen in the entire Heroes of Olympus series. Readers could not wait to find out how she was, and how she had felt while her son was missing. Everyone waited for their reunion. We did not get one.

Now of course, I still couldn’t forget the pros. One word- NICO! Nico di Angelo was absolutely terrific in this book. I can obviously tell Riordan put much thought into him. For a total of five books so far, we had known very little about Nico and who he really was. In The House of Hades, he started coming together when his feelings for Percy were revealed. In this novel, we were able to discover so much about him. I loved that we realized just of how much of a warrior Nico di Angelo was. After discovering his secret, I hated that fans now saw him as a more vulnerable and helpless person. He was the opposite. I love Percy as much as ever, but sorry son of Poseidon, looks like your powers got some competition. Lastly, fans also assumed Percy would find out about Nico’s feelings in the most dramatic, miserable way possible. I thought quite differently, and I was correct. In the end of the book, Nico di Angelo simply walked up to Percy and Annabeth, chatted with them, and as he said it, cleared the air. There couldn’t have been a better end of that certain emotional conflict, in my opinion.

The romance in The Blood of Olympus was very different from the past two books in the series. Mostly, anything love related had been focused on Percy and Annabeth’s relationship, but in this book, it was all about Jason and Piper. I was a little upset for we had known both Percy and Annabeth since the first book and their relationship was one of my favorite parts of the series. But I’m not saying we didn’t get anything from them. Page 395, one of the most romantic moments in the series took place. ¨Rivalry ends here,¨ Percy said.¨I love you, Wise Girl.” It was too much and Riordan obviously summed up everything we needed from them right then and there.

One of the absolute best things about this book is that Rick Riordan made us love characters who were either frequently ignored or hated. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, was always the perfect boy who never broke the rules and only did as everyone would expect. In The House of Hades, Jason starting calming a bit when he had found out Nico di Angelo’s secret. By this book he was humorous, more sensitive, but as heroic as we remembered him. I can tell that readers love him a lot more. Next, beautiful daughter of Aphrodite, Piper Mclean has always been criticized by fans, including myself. She had seemed pathetic, but the book made me realize she was a fighter. She strategized and battled in ways we had never seen her do before. Piper really stepped it up.

Last, but not least, this book was hilarious! Of course, who expected anything else from Riordan? Jokes were everywhere, coming from the usual Percy, Leo, and even Jason. Though the novel was indeed a disappointment, I could not hold in my laughter. Percy and Annabeth’s relationship was hysterical in this book. Their conversations were just too funny. One of the funniest quotes is as follows. Percy was eating a huge stack of blue pancakes (what was his deal with blue food?) while Annabeth chided him for pouring on too much syrup.¨You’re drowning them!¨ She complained.¨Hey , I’m a Poseidon kid,¨ he said.¨I can’t drown. And neither can my pancakes.¨ No one makes a cheesy joke work like this author.

So, like the astounding series, my article is ending. There are many more things to discuss, but it would take as long to read this piece as it was to read the novel itself. As much as a let-down this book was, it had its benefits. Still the worst part is that everything, the humor, sadness, romance, horror, fight is over….Or is it? Coming next year is the third Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover story, written in Percy Jackson’s first person point of view, sequel to Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods, Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, and the first of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, The Sword of Summer. But putting the new works aside, The Blood of Olympus is only the end of that writing, not the story that lives forever in our hearts.