Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween and have a great day. :)



Wednesday, October 30, 2013

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - The House of Hades


The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)


“Under other circumstances, a weasel passing gas might have been funny, but Hazel didn’t laugh.”


“That would be magic worth seeing.”


“They knew the greatest heroes didn’t get happy endings.”


“But she wasn’t alone. She had Percy. And that meant she couldn’t give up.”


“He really didn’t need to see a godly groin this early in the morning.”


“You mix Greek and Roman, and you know what you get? You get BAM!”


“I am Bob, Percy’s friend!”


“I had a crush on Percy.” Nico spat.”


“If the others found out,” Jason said, “you’d have that many more people to back you up, and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.”

Nico,” he said gently, “I’ve seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did? That was maybe the bravest.”


“Peaceful,” she said. “Yes, I can see that.”


“I would like to say hello to the stars again.”


“When in doubt, talk some more.”


“Behold how newsworthy I am!”


“You cannot control your parentage, but you can choose your legacy.”


“I guess once in a while we all need a wake-up call from somebody who loves us.”


“You promised, Seaweed Brain. We would not get separated! Ever again!”

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Holy Hepaestus, I love this book

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

5 out of 5 gnomes

I am loving this series more with each book. Even though there are seven demigods to follow they still all have a concrete point of view and story without the story feeling cluttered..

I thought these points of view might become too much after awhile but they really work to the story’s advantage. There are still my favorite characters whose points of view that I like more aka Percy, Frank, Leo, oh and Hazel. Even my least favorite characters really stand out in this story and have more to do.

Riordan is great at descriptions and Tartarus is both horrifying and creepy just like the cover conveys it. Everything in Tartarus was intense and pretty much made you think Annabeth and Percy could die at any second. I was surprised by all the character that they met down there but also happy with one certain character that they met along the way.

It was great seeing the others gel more as a group and start to take full ownership of who they are and what they can do. Piper does the best thing ever and I think I've finally warmed up to her character (she really grows/becomes more of a good character.) Frank and Hazel are also awesome and becomes quite the heroes in this book.

The character growth was especially good in Nico and Leo. While reading I wanted to get Nico a hug and well some counseling probably wouldn’t hurt either. I also want to hug Leo and am thrilled by how he changes in this book.

I am so very happy that this book doesn't have a cliffhanger ending like the last one did. Can't wait for the next book and I’m still crossing my fingers and hoping that none of my favorite characters die.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Sentence Sneak Peek - The House of Hades

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

The first sentence from each chapter of The House of Hades, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

DURING THE THIRD ATTACK, Hazel almost ate a boulder.”

HAZEL HAD NEVER FELT SO HAPPY.

THE STORM SWALLOWED THE HILL in a swirling cone of black vapor.”

HAZEL WANTED TO RUN, but her feet seemed stuck to the white glazed ground.”

NINE DAYS.

THE IMPACT DIDN’T KILL HER, but the cold nearly did.”

WHEN THEY REACHED THE LEDGE, Annabeth was sure she’d signed their death warrants.”

THEY’D ONLY TRAVELED a few hundred yards when Annabeth heard voices.”

LEO SPENT THE NIGHT WRESTLING with a forty-foot-tall Athena.”

LEO HAD DESIGNED the mess hall’s walls to show real-time scenes from Camp Half-Blood.”

LEO WAS VAGUELY AWARE OF HAZEL SHOUTING, “Go!”

THE DWARFS DIDN’T TRY VERY HARD TO LOSE HIM, which made Leo suspicious.”

PERCY HAD TAKEN HIS GIRLFRIEND on some romantic walks before.”

AS THEY STARTED DOWN THE CLIFF, Percy concentrated on the challenges at hand: keeping his footing, avoiding rockslides that would alert the empousai to their presence, and of course making sure he and Annabeth didn’t plummet to their deaths.”

PERCY RECALLED HOW DANGEROUS Kelli had been the last time they’d fought in the Labyrinth.”

PERCY THOUGHT HE WAS HALLUCINATING.

FRANK WOKE UP AS A PYTHON, which puzzled him.”

FRANK MIGHT HAVE LIKED VENICE if it hadn’t been summertime and tourist season, and if the city wasn’t overrun with large hairy creatures.”

THEY BARELY MADE IT INSIDE.

FRANK STUMBLED OUT OF THE BLACK HOUSE.

ANNABETH DECIDED THE MONSTERS wouldn’t kill her.”

LATER, SHE MADE A RESOLUTION: Never EVER sleep in Tartarus.”

ANNABETH LITERALLY STUMBLED over the second Titan.”

AFTER A WHILE, Annabeth’s feet felt like Titan mush.”

EVERYTHING SMELLED LIKE POISON.

HAZEL AND FRANK TUMBLED OVER EACH OTHER.

HAZEL LIKED THE GREAT OUTDOORS—but climbing a two-hundred-foot cliff on a stairway without rails, with a bad-tempered weasel on her shoulder?”

“FINALLY!”

PERCY WAS RELIEVED when the demon grandmothers closed in for the kill.”

“LEFT!”

FOR ONE EXCITING MINUTE, Percy felt like he was winning.”

BOB SERIOUSLY KNEW HOW TO USE A BROOM.

JASON FELL ASLEEP ON THE JOB.

JASON SURVIVEDBARELY.

JASON FIRST SAW THE ANGEL AT THE ICE CREAM CART.

JASON HAD RIDDEN THE WIND MANY TIMES.

LOSING HER SIGHT HAD BEEN BAD ENOUGH.

THE MOST INSULTING PART?

COZY.

ANNABETH WOKE STARING at the shadows dancing across the hut’s ceiling.”

PIPER DIDN’T KNOW MUCH about the Mediterranean, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to freeze in July.”

LEO STARED AT THE DAGGER.

PIPER DIDN’T PLAN TO SHOOT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS.

SHE PUSHED BETWEEN THE BOREADS, which was like walking through a meat freezer.”

PERCY FELT HOMESICK FOR THE SWAMP.

IF THE SOBBING GHOUL WAS BOB’S IDEA OF HELP, Percy was pretty sure he didn’t want it.”

PERCY MISSED BOB.

AKHLYS LUNGED AT PERCY, and for a split second he thought: Well, hey, I’m just smoke.

THE WAY LEO FIGURED IT, he spent more time crashing than he did flying.”

“HOLY HEPHAESTUS,” LEO SAID.”

THE FIRST FEW DAYS WERE THE WORST.

LEO THOUGHT HE’D BEEN BUSY BEFORE.

ANNABETH HAD NEVER BEEN SCARED OF THE DARK.

NYX LASHED HER WHIP AGAIN.

AFTER THEIR FALL INTO TARTARUS, jumping three hundred feet to the Mansion of Night should have felt quick.”

“ANNABETH!”

JASON WASN’T SURE WHAT TO HOPE FOR: storm or fire.”

SO IT WAS A STORM DAY.

AT SIXTEEN, MOST KIDS WOULD STRESS about parallel parking tests, getting a driver’s license, and affording a car.”

THEY FOUND LEO AT THE TOP of the city fortifications.”

PERCY WASN’T DEAD YET, but he was already tired of being a corpse.
A TITAN STRODE TOWARD THEM, casually kicking lesser monsters out of his way.”

SO FAR THEIR DEATH MIST camouflage plan seemed to be working.”

“IAPETUS!”

FRANK WAS HOPING FOR FIREWORKS.

DESPITE THE MIDDAY HEAT and the raging storm of death energy, a group of tourists was climbing over the ruins.”

FRANK WAS NO EXPERT ON GHOSTS, but the dead legionnaires must have all been demigods, because they were totally ADHD.”

FRANK DIDN’T NOTICE THAT HE WAS GLOWING.

GETTING KILLED BY TARTARUS didn’t seem like much of an honor.”

DESTROY THEM.

WHAT IS THIS?

“PERCY, HELP ME!”

HAZEL WASN’T PROUD OF CRYING.

HAZEL’S INTERNAL COMPASS SPUN WILDLY.

IF THE GIANT HAD RUN AWAY SCREAMING, Hazel would’ve been grateful.”

HAZEL ALMOST FELT SORRY FOR CLYTIUS.

PERCY STARED AT THE ATHENA PARTHENOS, waiting for it to strike him down.”

AT SUNSET, PERCY FOUND NICO tying ropes around the pedestal of the Athena Parthenos.”