a review: the burning maze (trials of apollo book 3)

"Remember what it's like to be human." - Rick Riordan, The Burning Maze

Rick Riordan is back.

As I mentioned in my review of The Dark Prophecy, the past few novels in this series haven't felt like Riordan's writing. It seems as if he's suddenly writing to a much younger audience, even when all the books in The Lightning Thief series were targeted to the same age group.

Until now. Wow. The Burning Maze makes me feel like I judged this series too quickly. It is, once again, that perfect mix of silliness, intrigue, and some pretty serious themes.

Like always, the writing flowed flawlessly, never leaving you confused as to what was going on. But the thing I appreciated most of all was the reality of this book. The previous two felt rather "fantasy" like in that nothing really "bad" ever happened to the characters in the present story. Sure many of them have dark and twisted pasts, but in the novel they're facing "polite" monsters, always have healing mechanisms with them, and the threat of death never seemed real. You knew no one was actuallygoing to get hurt.

However, The Burning Maze did an excellent job of making the danger much more, well, dangerous, and making the characters seem much more human. They didn't come across as invincible heroes, and I really appreciated that. There's very little "fluff" in this book.

Pros:

Villains are actually threatening. No more of the drawn out taunts and explanations of plans that allow the characters to get away. Sure, there was a little of this, but for the most part the main villains in this book are seriously threatening. They don't "beat around the bush," so to speak, but rather get right down to business. It's terrifying (and awesome).

Riordan brings old beloved characters back into the story. YES! This was, by far, the best part of the book. We get to spend time with more of the original seven, and I think it really helped in making this story feel more like Riordan. Something about the Apollo POV comes across as incredibly juvenile, especially in the first two books, but with our favorites characters back in the story, they seem to make it more serious and believable.

The reality of their situation hits--hard. No spoilers, so...I'll just say this book is hard to recover from. If you've read it, you'll know what scene I'm talking about. Now, while I'm still distraught over the unexpected turn of events, I put this under "pros" because I appreciated how everything isn't sunshine and rainbows in this book. For once, the characters are in realdanger where you are afraid if they'll make it or not.

Again, Meg McCaffrey. Not much I can say here other than I adore her sass, bravery, and straight-to-the-point attitude. We get to learn more about her backstory which was very well written and really explained more about why she is the person she is today. In my opinion, she's one of the most interesting characters Riordan has created.

Apollo's character journey. I'm excited for the final two books in this series to see the full arc of Apollo's character. As human Lester, he is incredibly self-absorbed and vain, always complaining about his appearance and how people aren't bowing down at his feet. But this is lessening as the series progresses, as he starts becoming more and more human--he starts really connecting with and caring about the other characters and less about himself. I love it.

Cons:

Apollo is still a vain, arrogant jerk (sometimes). Even though he is getting better, this is still frustrating because it is a part of the story sooften. I can't even tell you how tired I am hearing about Lester's flab and acne. Like we get it, move on.

The reality of the situation. This was a pro, but I have to also list it as a con because I'm devastated. :( This book is simply heartbreaking if you're a PJO fangirl/boy.

Very few cons for this book. Riordan did an exceptional job of reintroducing old characters into the story, bringing in new (and seriously threatening) villains, and really progressing Apollo's character journey, making him more likable as the story goes on. I loved it.

Rating: 4/5 stars