Introduction by Rick Riordan; essays written by various other authors, published by Smart Pop Books.

*NOTE: This review is on the new, updated version of this book, which will be published soon and is now up to date with the latest Percy Jackson book*

Goodreads synopsis: The #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson series—The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian—features a dyslexic boy who discovers he is the son of a Greek god, the target of mythical Greek monsters, and the center of a prophecy that could change the balance of power in the world forever. In Demigods and Monsters, YA authors take on the series’ Greek gods, demigods, monsters, and prophecy, to add insight and even more fun to Riordan’s page-turner series.
The book also includes an introduction by Percy Jackson series author Rick Riordan that gives further insight into the series and its creation, and a glossary of ancient Greek myth, with plenty of information on the places, monsters, gods, and heroes that appear in the series.

My Review: I’m not entirely sure how to review this book, seeing as it’s not a story, as such! This review will be quite different to my usual ones.

I’m such a big fan of the Percy Jackson series! I’ve been a fan for years, when my dad used to read The Lightning Thief to my brother and I at night. I was so excited to start this, because it contained a collection of essays on the books, and Greek mythology relating to Percy Jackson. The introduction by Rick Riordan was really great, and got me into high spirits about the rest of the book. As for the essays in there? Brilliant! Bar a few that I couldn’t really get into, because they were a bit too detailed for me, the collection was very enjoyable.

They touched on some really interesting subjects, exploring into the symbolism and history behind Riordan’s awesome trilogy. Many are really in-depth, giving some really intriguing (and shocking!) information on Greek myths. I was really drawn into them, because the subject is just so interesting for me. So, even if you’re not a fan of the Percy Jackson series and just a lover of Greek mythology, it’ll probably still be worth reading. Also, many of the essays are laced with a pinch of humor, livening up parts. I think that made the writing even more fun.

Quite a few of the authors, I haven’t read anything from, though I had heard of many. One author I’d read from before was Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verity. I especially liked her essay- it was very different compared to the mythological others. Her’s was all about dyslexia and ADHD, the disabilities that Percy himself has.

Lots of the other essays were great! My favourites were the ones not written like your standard essay. One was an author going over well-known Greek Gods and deciding which ones would be best as parents (She had an awesome choice!). Another author had the really imaginative idea of giving the Divine parents of some of the Half Bloods school-style grade (The American A-F), based on their parental skills. That one was pretty funny. My other favourite was by an author who had kinda fallen in love with Hades. That had a really good take on the Underworld God.

Lastly, I think that the glossary that took up the last quarter of the book. It’s a giant A-Z of all things Greek and mythological, mostly, and great for if you’re looking for answer to things in the Percy Jackson series, studying on mythology, or just an interested Geek like me.

Overall, Demigods and Monsters is not the kind of thing I read- it’s not a story, and  it’s kind of classed as Non-Fiction- because it’s basically studies on something. However, I grew to really enjoy it. The essays are fun, interesting, and give great insights into the background of Percy Jackson and Greek Myths. It’s a must for all Percy fans! I read the whole thing in about a day, really intrigued by the author’s takes on all of their subjects. The writing was really brilliant, serious and humorous at the same time. I’ll probably definitely read some more books like this, on books I like. I’ll also probably look out for some of these author’s books, too! I really enjoyed most of the writing, so I think I’ll enjoy their fiction stuff too.

My Rating:

I received a copy of Demigods and Monsters from the publishers via Netgalley, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.