Friday, September 14, 2012

Review: The Flame of Olympus - Kate O'Hearn

The Flame of Olympus by Kate O'Hearn
Series: Pegasus #1
Genre: Middle Grade, fantasy
Published on May 22, 2012
Published by Aladdin
Pages: 385
Read From: 8.28.12 - 8.31.12











Review
~~~~~~~~~~~
Cover Blurb: I do like the cover; it’s well done and interesting. It caught my attention when I first saw it, and of course I picked it up, thinking, This sounds similar to Percy Jackson. Might be good.

What I Liked: Emily is a relatively good protagonist; she thinks quick on her feet and is practical. The rate at which she accepts what’s going on is a little fast, but I’m not going to complain, because a protagonist who insists on denying what’s going on just bogs a story down. Paelen was probably the best character, though - the one with the most personality. Joel was so-so; I didn’t dislike him, but I didn’t particularly care for him, either.

What I Disliked: The nickname Pegs really got on my nerves. And the agents of CRU being called “Agent J” or “Agent O” just reminded me of Men in Black, therefore it came across as silly and quite difficult to take seriously. And why didn’t the Author make Pegasus telepathic? It would have made things so much easier.

Believability: Not really applicable.

Writing Style: It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it did feel very juvenile; like the Author was writing down to her Readers. The plot itself was, quite frankly, silly. It reminded me of something a 12-year-old might come up with, or a Syfy original movie. A secret government agency dissecting Olympians to see if they’re aliens? Seriously? Poor attempts at horrifying torture scenes (which were anything but horrifying), and still further poor attempts at humor. That’s the thing with Rick Riordan’s books - he has drama and serious moments, but the majority of his books are just funny, and they’re meant to be. This Author tried to write an overall serious story, with strange smatterings of humor, and a plotline that could very easily be the plot for a Mystery Science Theater 3000 candidate.

Content: None.

Conclusion: The ending could have been so much more exciting and “epic.” It wasn’t, and it was therefore kind of boring. The sequel rather looks to be dull, if it’s about Emily trying to find her dad. My overall impression of the book was that it felt like a Syfy original movie. Rick Riordan was clever with his idea; I can’t say the same in this case.

Recommended Audience: People have said that this is the next book for Percy Jackson fans. I disagree; I think it would only disappoint them. Younger kids will enjoy it - that’s definitely true, but I wouldn’t recommend it to someone specifically because they like Percy Jackson. It’s a girl-and-guy read.

Others in the This Series:
1)The Flame of Olympus
2)Olympus at War
3)The New Olympians
4)The Origins of Olympus

1 comment:

  1. Lol, if you thought that was bad, just wait for her future installments. Not just in the Pegasus series, her entire catalogue. It gets worse. (Yes, I’ve read her entire catalogue except her dragon series I forgot the name of, despite not liking any of her works, yes, I have a death wish) Try the main character being the reincarnation who is essentially to me Jesus Christ alien sister who lives in her brain for the fourth and fifth installments, gets out of Emily’s body, thus resulting in Emily looking completely different in the sixth installments, another moment from the sixth where they move a planet using “the power of touching” (their words, not mine), a character someone named Frick, which as we all know, is just the polite way of saying f*ck, the introduction to an adult character being them making out with a teenager, and, from the latest installment (as of late 2023), “Secrets of Atlantis”, the villain calling the main character both her mother and her child. There’s a lot more, and it’s stuff like this that makes me want an online account, the world should know about this.

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