Apollo: The Dramatic God | The Hidden Oracle

The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo) by Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release date: May 3rd, 2016
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Pages:  361
Source: Bought it
How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.

But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go . . . an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.
Review:

At first, when I found out about Rick Riordan's new book—new series!—I was part excited and part perplexed. I mean, yeay, another book! But I was also like, what? Another book?


 



But, you know what? Rick Riordan could write a hundred more series for all I care and I would still waste my money on each of them. Why? Because they never disappoint. And this book obviously didn't.


Okay, on to the summary first.

The Hidden Oracle starts off with Apollo plummeting down into a garbage somewhere in... well, I couldn't recall but it was clearly in the US. He was banished from Olympus by Zeus. He turned into a mortal. To regain his immortality back, he had to prove his worthy by dedicating his life to a demigod. Thus, his journey began with the demigod assigned (accidentally) to his service.

Next, the review.

The Narration

It was HILARIOUS.
I mean, seriously, I forgot how many times I cracked up between the pages. Probably only, like, a bajillion times. We have the almighty, narcissistic, self-centered, woe-is-me, and poetic Apollo in mortal form. That fact alone is funny. It was endearing how he frequently, no, constantly criticized humans for living in a place without godly bathubs and landing pod for flying chariots. He never got over the fact that he was a puny mortal—a vulnerable, average, and non-special 16-year-old teenager with acnes and stomach flab. The poetic side of him stays, though. We get to read a haiku instead of a title at the beginning of every chapter.

The Characters

Do I even need to talk about this? We'll get many new characters! And lots, lots, lots of dear old characters from Heroes of Olympus! One of the main characters of the story was a bespectacled 12-year-old demigod who kicked ass, yet dressed like a traffic lifght. If that doesn't sound interesting, I don't know what does.


The Plot

Do I even need to say anything about this? Of course it was ACTION-PACKED, FAST-PACED, INTRIGUING, AND UNPREDICTABLE. It was filled with adventerous (duh) heroic scenes (does that even make sense?) that will crack you up and keep you glued to your seat. It was flawless from the begining to the end. Just trust me on this, okay?

The Everything Else
  • There were many pop references! I recall Guardians of The Galaxy and many pop music references.
  • Nico di Angelo! Will Solace! No explanations required.
  • No romance at all on Apollo's behalf! The story was really focused on him trying to prove himself worthy of Zeus's forgiveness. We only got so much of his romance, like his angsty flashbacks and whines about his former lovers. If you're sick of lovey-dovey stuff like in typical YA novels, you won't get it here.
Well, I think The Hidden Oracle was a super legit novel. It was funny, adventurous, and action-packed. You will be entertained nonstop. Apollo as a human is everything you thought it would be and more. So, what are you waiting for? GO READ IT!

 

My rating:       

Reviewed by Inas

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