Book-Movie Review ~ THe Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Title: The Lightning Thief
By: Rick Riordan
Published Date: 2006
Page: 375

Summary: Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Thoughts on the movie:
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie but what I do remember from it was I didn’t like it. I know this because I only watched it once, I watched it and have never watched it again even on TV. I know there was a lot of times during the movie I found myself rolling my eyes and wondering how in the world was this supposed to work? I was annoyed with the set up and it didn’t make sense. I just didn’t feel that this was worth it. The CGI wasn’t very good, and I was annoyed by the actors. Needless to say, I think I had the mindset I had to like Harry Potter or this series not both and if I had to pick I will always pick Harry Potter.

Thoughts on the book:
The book was amazing. I have to say I stayed full 100% engaged and even though I had watched the movie first and knew who what was and what God belonged to whom and so forth I was still pleasantly surprised by the book. I really enjoyed learning about Percy and watching him come through and grow in the book. He really came into his own and matured a lot as a boy who had a lot thrown on his plate. This was an excellent first book and I can see how and why people compare this to Harry Potter series. I am looking forward to the rest of the series simply due to how much he grew in one book. The secondary characters were worth the read as well and were not as annoying as I anticipated either.