Sweat dripping down their faces seven heroes named Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank and Hazel go through an epic journey as they try to fulfill their destinies and defeat evil. “The Mark of Athena” is the third installment in the five book Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan and is just as good as the first two. This amazing book keeps readers at the edge of their seats as seven heroes go on an epic journey.
The plot centers around two rival groups of demigods, the romans and the greeks, who must join together to stop the evil Greek goddess and mother of the titans, Gaea, from destroying the world.
Annabeth, Jason, Piper and Leo all arrive at Camp Jupiter in a massive warship called the Argo II because of a prophecy spoken by Rachel, the new host for the Oracle, at the end of the Last Olympian in the Percy Jackson series. The prophecy said “ Seven half-bloods must answer the call, To storm or fire the world must fall, An oath to keep with a final breath, And foes bear arms at Doors Death.” Their plan to join together the camps fail but they pick up Percy, Frank and Hazel, completing the seven and begining their newest quest.
As they travel all over the world facing monsters and giants at every turn, Annabeth works on both of the quests, one involving the seven and the other one that her mother, Athena, gave her, to find the Mark of Athena. Annabeth’s prophecy was spoken by Ella, the harpy from the Son of Neptune, saying “Wisdom’s daughter walks alone, The Mark of Athena burns through Rome, Twin’s snuff out angel’s breath, Who holds the keep to endless death, Giants’ bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain of a woven jail.” Annabeth soon realize it’s connected to the prophecy of the seven and tries to figure out what to do.
Overall the book was outstanding,and it gave readers something exciting at every corner. One second the heroes are in a museum of monsters and the next they’re fighting over the sea against water monsters sent to kill them. If you like the Percy Jackson Series you’ll love this book, it’s written with the same energy, excitement and danger as that series.
However there were times where the storyline was very slow moving which wasn’t the best for my ADOS (Attention Deficit Oohhh Shiny). The times when the heroes were not fighting were very slow and descriptive which made the narrative choppy. After getting past those rough parts, though, the book was phenomenal and made me very excited for the next book. The writing was easy to understand because from the point of view from four teens who were pretty much constantly fighting and yelling making it very relatable. The book ended with a cliffhanger though so unfortunately we have to wait until next fall to read what happens to these seven heroes next.
I definitely recommend this book to read. However you should read the first two books before you read this one, it’ll be very confusing if you don’t.
by ARIELLA APPLEBY
