Review Detail

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.