A Return to my First Hyperfixation: Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods, by Rick Riordan

 

Good day, Potentially Happy Readers! It’s Jemina, and I finally had time to finish books over winter break, so I can actually do a full book review, for once! I foresee spoiling quite a lot, so if you plan on reading this book, skip this blog and come back to it afterwards. Here be dragons!

After long awaiting the release of this novel, I finally got my hands on Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan. Riordan is probably my og favorite author, despite reading the Harry Potter series first.

    

    In elementary school, I read COUNTLESS middle-grade book series revolving around Greek mythology. (Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, Myth-O-Mania, etc.) (Actually, I only read the Myth-O-Mania series once, and last I checked, during 2nd grade, there were only 7. Since then, there have been 2 more released, in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and I never even knew. I feel cheated.)

The three main characters of Chalice of the Gods are Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, who are also the three main characters of the original Percy Jackson series. I don’t have a source to explicitly cite here, but I remember reading somewhere that Rick Riordan particularly wanted to bring these original three back for a more nostalgic read, especially after he expanded so much with other protagonists in the following series of Percy Jackson, The Heroes of Olympus, and The Trials of Apollo. Interestingly, Chalice of the Gods actually occurs chronologically before The Trials of Apollo, which is just a redundant and useless little anecdote, but here you go. 

Percy has just started his senior year at Alternate High School, and has barely been a few days in before being whisked to the college counselor’s office, who is an ocean nymph working for his father, Poseidon. He hopes to attend New Rome University with Annabeth, his girlfriend, but the college counselor informs him that he’ll need three letters of recommendation from three different Greek gods. And despite saving the world at least twice over, Percy’s application to New Rome University still completely relies on finding three new gods to run errands complete quests for. 

The first of these gods is Ganymede, Olympus’ cupbearer and one of Zeus’ many lovers. As the title of the book implies, Ganymede’s chalice was stolen, and he desperately needs to find it before Zeus calls for a feast, which could happen at any time. Percy, Annabeth and Grover go on a series of little “side-quests” before they find the true culprit, whom Percy defeats by embracing old age, leading him to receive his first letter of recommendation. (Yes, he will still need two more! This is likely the first book in a trilogy, and I think the second is already being teased…)

Now, on to my commentary! Honestly, I find the real moral of this book to be incredibly sweet, and while I can’t quite remember whether or not I cried, I found that the writing of Percy’s love for Annabeth and Grover to be really heartwarming. Additionally, the throwback to Jason’s imagining of a happy, peaceful future growing old with his partner, Piper, was particularly painful. (To those who have read Trials of Apollo, I’m sure you feel the same :‘( 

Percy being able to draw on this same imagined moment as an incentive to keep fighting for his future was just so well-written and moving; I have so much respect for Riordan. 

While Percabeth’s romance in this book is a lot more fluffy and cute, I feel that some of the original chemistry has been lost between the years of Riordan’s hiatus from these characters, which is understandable. However, I do feel that their love for each other is palpable and real, and still very well-written, especially during the emotional, combat scene at the end. (As an og shipper, I still feel quite satisfied.)

Although, I do wonder whether or not Percy and Annabeth’s romance played a part in how long Riordan stepped away from the original trio of them, plus Grover. Because to me, Grover’s third-wheeling in this book is REAL. Although it is made a little less awkward with Grover’s own relationship with another character in the PJO universe, and the incorporation of said relationship into the plot of this novel, I do feel a bit unsure of the many instances where Grover is separated from Percy and Annabeth to be a “distraction” (during combat). It just seems to me that this only serves to make the romantic moments between Percabeth easier to write, as well as Grover and Percy’s own platonic moments. 

I can’t really complain though, since it seems that all the characters are happy with these predicaments, anyway. But I definitely wonder if there is an actual plot reason behind the important emotional moments (I’m referring to the dinner scenes) all centering around Percy and his family, if there is supposed to be an equal dynamic. With Annabeth, I think the excuse is that her family lives on the complete opposite coast, but I’m unsure about why Percy and Annabeth never seem to focus on Grover. I don’t know, I just feel a bit conflicted between wanting Grover to have some more emotional significance to this book, and relishing in Percabeth’s happy relationship. 

In any case, this book review has dragged WAY too long. I would be sincerely surprised if anyone’s read to the end, but thank you all for reading, and I strongly recommend the books in this series if you haven’t read them before! 

- Signing off, Jemina Feng