They go to see Annabeth's father, Dr. Chase, to ask for help. Percy notes that the Chase home is one that 'looks like it had been lived in forever.' Dr. Chase lends them his car, and before they leave, Percy makes a promise to Mrs. Chase to tell Annabeth that she still had a home there. As they drive up the mountain, the car explodes due to a lightning bolt that Kronos threw to make Thalia angry at her father. Yes, we still have Percy’s funny remarks but just like the Harry Potter series this series is growing as well. The characters get older and their quests get more dangerous and grim. The stakes are higher and our characters are forced to realize that not everyone can be saved by a hero. For instance we’re barely a few chapters into the book when Annabeth disappears with the enemy. There’s no trace of her left and for all they know she even might be dead. Not that Percy would consider such an outcome! He has to save Annabeth because he just knows that she’s still alive! ;-) So what to do when you’re stranded on a cliff? Right, you call for the sun gods help to hitch a ride. XD Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter, and he SERIOUSLY loved peanut butter.” *Percy’s acting like he doesn’t think so too, plz son, you aren’t fooling anyone*

We don't get much of Annabeth in the book as she's a prisoner for a lot if it. We get lots of Thalia (Zeus' daughter), a fair dose of Grover (a Pan-hunting satyr), and a lot of Zoe Nightshade (one of Artemis' hunting posse). They reach Gila Claw, Arizona, the "Junkyard of the Gods". Bianca reveals she and Nico unknowingly spent years in the Lotus Hotel, actually born in the 1930s, until taken to West Hall. Percy briefly has an encounter with Ares and Aphrodite, who warn him not to take anything from the junkyard. Bianca, regretting her choice to leave Nico, tries to take a figurine from the junkyard for her brother, awakening a prototype of Talos, giving her life to destroy it. The survivors sullenly travel to Hoover Dam, where Percy encounters Bessie, as well as Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a mortal who can see through the Mist, providing him an escape route by distracting the spartoi. The group fly to San Francisco with help from the dam's Winged Figures of the Republic.my eyes got a little bit teary when Zoë died. Why did she have to die?! Zoë was an interesting character and I wanted to read more about her but she died. why do this always happen to me? every time I started liking certain characters, they either get hurt or die. why have I done to deserve this kind of torment??????? I'm writing this review on my phone so I will add gifs and the quotes from the book later because I don't have the book with me right now.

I looked. And I couldn’t believe it. It was my car. Well, the car I wanted, anyway. A red convertible Maserati Spyder. It was so awesome it glowed. A powerful goddess has gone missing. The Greek gods are on the brink of war with the Titans. And there's the minor threat of a mystery beast that could destroy Mount Olympus forever. NICO DI ANGELO. Look, I'm the last children in my family, so I have always wanted to have a little sister or a little brother and OH MY GOD! NICO IS SO DAMN CUTE! I want him to be my little brother and he needs to be protected at all cost and OH MY GOD. at first I couldn't even guessing who his godly parent was but then when I was half way through the book or nearing the ending, I just had this thought that he might be the son of Hades and I WAS RIGHT and my heart was breaking for him. look, at first, I didn't even believe that Biance died. I just thought that she would somehow survive but then I realized that she died ... and my heart was breaking for Nico. I have a big sister who I love so much and just the thought of losing her scared me so much. A lot of the book is spent travelling by varied means from one side of the States to the other, a journey punctuated by encounters with monsters. We're set up for a big boss-battle on the Mountain of Despair and that's a fun battle with everything from gods and titans to dragons and bi-planes. Grover Underwood - A large-hearted satyr, whose favorite foods include aluminum cans and cheese enchiladas. He wants to look for Pan, the satyr god of nature and the wild, who fell into a deep sleep due to the humans' pollution of his domain.

Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead.”

The world building and writing style is as good as ever, there is a major improvement between the previous books in the series. The book is so humourous, the way Percy's mind work is so crazy. REVIEW TO COME TOMORROW. ( that was what I said a few days ago but I still haven't written the review 😭😭😭 hopefully, I'll write it tomorrow ) But we have some new characters that grow on you as the book moves on, so don’t worry, Riordan and his jokes are in full force.The group receives a ride from Artemis's brother Apollo who lets them use the sun chariot, with Thalia at the wheel. The combination results in a gut-wrenching experience for the group because Thalia is scared of heights and the sun chariot can fly. Soon, they arrive at Camp Half-Blood, almost crashing in the canoe lake.

On the positive side (I need to say something positive) the books do manage to show the pettiness and selfishness that was so prevalent in the character of the deities and heroes of Greek myth. It fails in filling that out, but it is there.

Retailers:

Percy soon encounters Apollo again when they get on another train headed west. Apollo advises him to seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. Percy soon has a dream, in which he is given the sword Anaklusmos by a girl. Unbeknownst to him, he is in fact seeing through the eyes of Hercules and the girl, he later realizes, is Zoë. Travelling to Washington D.C., Percy follows Thorn to the Smithsonian, witnessing Luke, Thorn, and a man called "The General" summoning spartoi to waylay Zoë's group. Percy warns his friends, helping them defeat the Nemean lion, claiming its impenetrable pelt as a reward. Zoë allows Percy to join the group, realising her prophecy implied this. They travel to Cloudcroft, New Mexico, where Grover senses the missing god Pan, who sends the Erymanthian Boar to help the group escape the spartoi. I had small issues with this book that brought down my rating a little. Firstly, this one definitely suffers from middle child syndrome. By this point in the series we know the stakes. We know that Percy's going to end up on an adventure that takes him outside Camp Halfblood, and we know that the end goal is seeing him reach his 16th birthday when prophecies abound.