The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo #1)

When the great and mighty Apollo is cast from Mt. Olympus by an angry Zeus, he falls to earth and quickly realizes he is nothing more than mortal teen, Lester Popadopoulos––with horrible acne to boot. Stripped of his godly powers and everything that made him Apollo, he must find his way back into his father's good graces to return to his fabulous and perfect former self. But along the way, Apollo learns what it means to be mortal and realizes he might not have been so perfect after all.

This is my first time reading Rick Riordan, although I've seen the Percy Jackson movies and really enjoyed both. I'm such a huge fan of any story involving this level of mythology, so I'm kicking myself for not reading Riordan's many other books. (Hear that? That's the sound of fifteen more books hitting my TBR pile.) It was nice to be able to jump into this new series and not feel like I didn't know what was going on because I haven't read the others. I'm sure there were lots of clever little moments where knowing the other stories would have given a little more insight, but it wasn't necessary.

I absolutely adored the humor of Riordan's dialogue. The story is great for the intended Middle Grade audience, but there is so much hilarity that a child might not quite grasp yet, but a parent reading along with their child will find so much entertainment here. Occasionally, that humor falls a little over the top and the adult reader might find it a bit much from time to time. However, the Haikus at the beginning of each chapter might be my absolute favorite thing about the whole book. Funny and clever with a bit of insight at what's to come.

I love the way the author weaves what we know about various mythologies within this contemporary setting, but that is nothing new to Riordan's fans. Percy fans will be happy to see the young demigod make several appearances at the beginning and end of the book, but this is Apollo's story so he never seems to take the limelight, which I thought was a clever way to keep Percy fans engaged, while giving them time to develop a connection with Apollo. Kudos to the author for gently guiding his readers into a new series.

The ending came to a satisfying close with a good set up for the next book, but it wasn't quite the crescendo finish I was expecting. But then again, I am a fan of the cliffhanger and I seem to be the odd one out where that's concerned.

Fans of Riordan's books will find The Trials of Apollo an excellent addition to his other series, with the clever humor and adventure that is the hallmark of his brand, but newcomers can easily jump in with this series and discover their love for this amazing fantasy world where the gods still walk among us––sometimes in the guise of a pimply teen.

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle is a hilariously weird and fantastical tale that keeps you thoroughly entertained right to the end.

Apollo is mortal. His father, Zeus, has punished him by casting him out of Olympus and leaving him on Earth in a mortal body of a teenaged, acne ridden boy. Oh, and don’t forget that he has flab now. No more six or eight packs for this guy. The horror! To get his godly powers pack, Apollo must go through a series of trials to impress his father in order to get back on his good side. But being his selfish, narcissistic self, he’s not inclined to agree to the dangers just yet. So he gets claimed by a 12-year-old demi-god and sets out for help. Not everyone is excited to see him though, and we can’t really blame them.

This book is a breath of fresh air. Apollo’s snark and humour make for some hilarious situations. His voice and narration keep you entertained, and engrossed, all the while revealing things about his character that either annoy you, or hint at character development. He doesn’t try to deceive anyone, nor hide his true intentions. He is outright about his selfish, narcissistic ways. He doesn’t pretend to be a good guy, always helping people out and sacrificing himself. No, he’s the one who sends others to do his dirty work. He’s self-absorbed, and his looks and powers are everything to him. So imagine his horror when he discovers that not only is he human, he’s an ugly human with flab, acne, and a horrible name. It makes for some hilarious situations!

Now, despite Apollo’s insistence, his situation is not that important given what else is going on. Apollo has enemies, a lot of them, which isn’t exactly that hard to believe because Apollo isn’t the best person out there. These enemies have used his punishment to their advantage, but they also underestimated him. Despite the light tone and atmosphere, this book is full of deceit, betrayal, lies, and pain. Evil plots are unveiled, ancient enemies are discovered, and Apollo goes through some major character-development, though he still has a long way to go.

This rich and deeply imaginative tale is brilliantly written and easy to love; you won’t want to put it down.

WHAT I LIKED:

To say that this book is amazing might be the biggest understatement. Before we go down further, let me just say that Apollo has a special place in my heart. He's my favorite Olympian and I fell in love hard with his charms and wit in The Titan's Curse, which I have read several years ago.

Now that we have established that, let's go on. The first book in this epic new series from the Myth Master himself, offers a great new adventure for us mortals who love to pretend that we're demigods. Come on, you totally did it. If it makes you feel better, I wanted to be in Apollo's cabin. Anyway, it is a great feeling to be smacked right in again in this world. Camp Half-Blood felt like home to me.

The story starts with Apollo, who was cast out from Olympus by Zeus which turned him into a mortal, being bullied in an alley. He was rescued by Meg, a seemingly hopeless kid who turns out to be a demigod. As Meg claims Apollo's service, the two starts an adventure to Camp Half-Blood in order to remedy Apollo's situation.

This is going to be hard as I don't want to spoil this book for you guys, but the some characters from Rick's other books are here, most probably the ones you want to see so that is really a great treat for me.

The pacing of the story is consistent, yet I managed to devour this book for a day because it's really awesome! It is action-packed, thrilling, funny, witty, sarcastic, and nostalgic, a great starter for a series.

The characters are really well taken care of. Rick Riordan knows how to write his characters efficiently, each of them has their own unique abilities and wit. It was also great to see how Will and Nico's relationship grow, which leads me to my next point. Rick knows how to represent characters well. He's written POC and LGBT+ characters and the book proves how influential and empowering this is, especially for the younger generation.

WHAT LEFT ME WANTING MORE:

I'm definitely looking forward to the next book! It sucks that I have to wait for a year but I know it's going to be worth it. It deals with Apollo's character development and I'm excited to see more, especially with the other characters like Meg, since it's barely touched. I guess it's really good that this book focuses on his character first so we have a good anchor on him.

FINAL VERDICT:

Overall, this book did not disappoint at all. It is truly fascinating, captivating and an enjoyable read!