Rachel's Corner
The Lightning Thief
By Rick Riordan
Rachel's Rating: G
Being interested in mythology, and especially the Norse mythology *cough*, I just had to read this book. Actually it's just the first book in a series called "Percy Jackson and the Olympians", but so far I've only read this first book. Anyway, Norse mythology has become very popular lately, both in movies and in books, so I wanted to do some research, you know?
The story is about Percy Jackson who finds out that not only is his best friend someone (or rather something) else than Percy always thought he was — Percy's father is also someone (or something) else than he always thought. Yeah, Percy Jackson is a son of a god. In a series of events Percy ends up at a camp for half-bloods, children of gods or goddesses. He finds out there is a risk of war between the gods, and of course he is the only one who could stop it... So he starts his quest, together with his friends Grover and Annabeth.
I have to say that the characters didn't really feel like they had a lot of depth, and usually that bothers me a lot when reading. Characters with more depth are easier to bond with, to feel something for, to support or hate. But in this case, the story itself was so good that I didn't really care.
What I liked best was how the author has taken a lot of Norse myths, and then modernized them. I think it's done in a really good way! I knew all of the original myths already, so getting to read a modern version of them (like the part about Medusa) was very entertaining. He's chosen the perfect myths to fit in this story, and the book is written in a fun way as well. Highly recommended for a kind-of-light reading; entertaining, with a little suspense thrown into the mix.
The Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins
Rachel's Rating: PG-13
I bet most of you have already read this book, but it is simply too good not to get its own review here in my review corner.
The Hunger Games is the first part of the Hunger Games trilogy (followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay). I heard about it a long time ago and actually planned on reading it last spring. That didn't happen for various reasons. But since I decided to go see the movie when it was released here in this remote country, I finally read the book. And I was stunned. In a good way!
The story, for those who are unfamiliar with it, is about Katniss Everdeen, 16, who has grown up in the poor part of District 12 of Panem. She spends most of her time hunting together with her friend Gale, to put food on the table for their families. Prim, her 12-year-old little sister, is what Katniss cares most about in the whole world. That's why she volunteers as a tribute when Prim's name is picked during the Reaping. She just can't let them take her sweet innocent little sister. Each year, one boy and one girl is chosen from each of the 12 districs. They are sent to the Capitol to fight each other to the death in the annual Hunger Games. There can be only one winner...
This is an amazing story about courage, spirit, survival and doing what you have to do for the people that you love. The story is told from Katniss' point of view, and since she has a quite dark view of life, there's a sarcastic tone to most of the story. Which I really like! I also really like her spirit and her courage. She knows what she has to do, and she does it. She's a very strong character.
The story itself is very interesting and somewhat scary. I mean, it's about a future where the rulers force children between the age of 12 and 18 to kill each other in this huge outdoor arena — while forcing the people from all the districts to watch them doing it. And for the people of the Capitol it's just a kind of annual entertainment where they are betting on who's going to win, and discussing the innovative (or boring) killings they get to see. But at the same time it is a very captivating story. The way it is written makes me actually care for the characters, even some of the characters who are not main characters. I really liked this book and can't wait until I get my hands on the next two! And I do recommend it for those of you who still haven't read it.