★★★★/★★★★★
I finally finished reading the series and I know I should be happy but I'm not. Because it means no more adventure for Percy Jackson and his friends. How sad is that? But snyway, I was looking forward on how this series will end and somehow I believe that Percy's adventures didn't really end there. Of course, he and Annabeth will always have adventures of their own.
So the last book picks up when Percy and Charlie Beckendorf have to blow up Princess Andromeda where Kronos/Luke and his army of monsters are. It's a sad scene since Charlie sacrifices himself just so he can blow up the ship which they know could delay Kronos' plan. Percy then comes back to Camp Half-Blood to deliver the bad news after a little visit to his father's palace underwater. There, Poseidon is having his own battle with the Titan Lord Oceanus. Percy wants to stay and fight with him but Poseidon insists that his place is not under water but above, with his friends and everyone else. At the camp, everyone mourns the death of Charlie. Everyone lost a friend but Silena Beauregard takes it the hardest because Charlie was her boyfriend. Also this time, Chiron and Annabeth finally reveal to Percy what the Great Prophecy is. Confused and emotionally distraught about everything that just happened, Percy takes a walk, accidentally meeting Nico di Angelo. Here, Nico assures him that Charlie doesn't blame him for his death. Charlie sacrificed himself so that he can save the camp and everyone believes that he died a hero. Aside from reassuring Percy that Charlie doesn't blame him for his death, Nico also came to ask if Percy is ready to find out what his ultimate plan is for defeating Kronos. Percy agrees to come and next thing he knew, they are standing outside May Castellan's house.
After their visit at May Castellan's house, Nico and Percy meet Hestia, goddess of Hearth, who then helps them get to Sally's house so Percy could get permission from her mother. Apparently, Percy needs his mom's permission if he wants to bathe in the River Styx and take on the curse of Achilles. They figured it's the only way how Kronos can live inside Luke's body, Luke bathed in River Styx. Nico thinks that if Percy bathe in the river too, he'll be invulnerable and only then they stand a chance in defeating Kronos. Down in the underworld, Percy is surprised to learn that Nico has betrayed him by giving him to Hades. But Nico means no harm, he just wants Hades to tell him about his mother, Maria di Angelo. Here, Nico learns that Zeus had killed his mother. Hades then orders his minions to confine Percy but later on Nico helps him escapes. After escaping from the underworld, Percy calls Annabeth and it's when the real battle begins.
Percy meets Annabeth, Chiron and the other campers at the Empire State Building, where on top is Olympus. They want the gods to help them defend Olympus but the gods are too busy fighting Phyton. Percy and Annabeth think Phyton is just a distraction but the gods think that Phyton is their biggest problem. And so Kronos and his army of monsters start the attack at Olympus, putting every mortal to sleep with the spell of Morpheus, the god of dream, who was also the one who put Grover to sleep for two months. But thanks to his empathy link with Percy, Percy was able to wake him from his deep slumber.
Without the gods, Percy and the others must save Olympus. And so Percy takes the lead, giving orders and trying to hold back Kronos' army. Each cabin is given a position to hold and defend. But even with the help of Thalia and Artemis' hunters, satyrs and nymps, and Chiron's centaur cousins, Olympian army struggles to hold back the Titan army. They have a number of casualties and even Annabeth is injured.
In the midst of the battle, Percy tries to call for reinforcements, Clarisse, Nico and his father. Clarisse, as stubborn as strong she is, decided not to help with the battle because of some personal feud with the Apollo kids. But in the end she doesn't have a choice but to join when Silena pretends to be her and leads her cabin to the fight where she is killed by a drakon. Now, enraged on what happened to Silena, Clarisse defeats the drakon and takes on the Titan army with anger and hate. It helps for while but the Titan army keeps on coming.
On the last stand at Mount Olympus, Nico with his father, Hades, and an army of dead finally arrive. The gods also defeated Thypon with the help of Poseidon who abandoned his underwater palace in order to help his siblings. Kronos gets distracted by seeing what happened to Typhon and it weakens him, giving Percy the chance to attack. But Kronos goes for Annabeth and for a moment he is Luke again. Luke tells her something and Annabeth seems to get it. It's something about Annabeth's dagger and at first Percy wants to drive it through Luke himself but Luke tells him that only he can do it. And so Percy fulfills the prophecy when he gives Annabeth's knife to Luke and he injures himself on his mortal point.
After the battle, the gods reward the brave heroes and they decided to give Percy Jackson a wish. They suggested immortality but of course, Percy has reasons why he doesn't want to be immortal. And so he wishes for the gods to swear on the River Styx that they will claim all demigods by the time they turn thirteen; have cabins and thrones built for all the minor gods; and reevaluate the punishment of innocent Titans and their former allies, such as Calypso and some of the minor gods who turned (a personal wish). Percy also relieves Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades of their oath to not have demigod children, as it never worked in the first place.
And then Rachel Elizabeth Dare becomes the new Oracle. Percy is against it at first because of what happened to May Castellan but Rachel believes that this is her destiny. She is meant to be the new Oracle. And of course, Percy and Annabeth's happy ending. They're really an odd pair but I love them both!
She raised an eyebrow. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?"
"You'd probably kick my butt."
"You know I'd kick your butt."
I brushed the cake off my hands. "When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable . . . Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."
Annabeth kept her eyes on the horizon. "Yeah?"
"Then up on Olympus," I said, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking-"
"Oh, you so wanted to."
"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought-I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking . . ." My throat felt really dry.
"Anyone in particular?" Annabeth asked, her voice soft.
I looked over and saw that she was trying not to smile.
"You're laughing at me," I complained.
"I am not!"
"You are so not making this easy."
Then she laughed for real, and she put her hands
around my neck. "I am never, ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it.”
Gosh, I really enjoyed this book with all the Greek gods and demigods and their adventures. I love Percy and Annabeth and Grover and Tyson!! Now I want to have a brother like Tyson! He's just so sweet and, yes, creepy being a cyclops, but he's still cute. I will surely miss their adventures and Percy and Annabeth's cute relationship.
Overall, I give it 4 stars. I should've read this when I was 14 but hey, I'm only 23 and it's never too late to read anything you want. :)
Before I could lose my courage, I said, "Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?"
I figured she would punch me. Instead, she drew her knife and stared at the army marching toward us. "Come back alive, Seaweed brain. Then we'll see."
Until next time, Percy Jackson.
