The Heroes of Olympus #3: The Mark of Athena

by Rick Riordan

Hardcover, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

Fic Rio

Call number

Fic Rio

Local notes

Fic Rio (c.1)

Barcode

444

Collection

Publication

Disney-Hyperion (2012), Edition: 1, 608 pages. $19.99.

Description

"The Greek and Roman demigods will have to cooperate in order to defeat the giants released by the Earth Mother, Gaea. Then they will have to sail together to the ancient land--Greece itself--to find the Doors of Death"--

Awards

Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Teen — 2013)
Kids' Book Choice Awards (Finalist — Author of the Year — 2013)
Golden Archer Award (Nominee — 2014)
Children's Favorites Awards (Finalist — Author of the Year — 2013)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2012-10-02

Physical description

608 p.; 6 inches

Media reviews

isaiahl.b4
In the mark of Athena percy and his friends have to find the statue of athena. They try to make friends with camp jupiter and ghosts control Leo into starting war for camp jupiter. These same ghosts in the story control Percy and Jason into a big fight with each other. Percy and jason feel
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useless in one point of the book, cause golden boy is way to good for them in a sword fight. They meet hercales to get into the ancient lands and they have to tear a bulls horn off. Then as thy are leaving annabeth shoots food out of the horn and traps heracules in food.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: The great prophecy says that demigods from the two camps, Greek and Roman, must work together if they're to have any hope of defeating the giants and stopping Gaea from rising. But tensions between the two camps have been insurmountably high for as long as anyone can remember... and things
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aren't exactly improved when Jason and the campers from Camp Half-Blood show up over New Rome in a giant warship, and things really start going downhill when the ship starts firing. Soon, the seven demigods - Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Frank, and Hazel - are aboard the ship, on their way to their most dangerous destination yet: the old world, and Rome. They're supposed to be a team, but there are lingering trust issues, and each of the heroes has his own worries and agendas. Together they must stop giants from destroying the city, and rescue Nico di Angelo from his imprisonment... but Annabeth has a quest of her own, a quest that not even her closest friends can help her with, a quest that could make all the difference in their battle against Gaea.

Review: Aaaargh Rick Riordan why do you do this to me? Fall 2013? I have to wait an entire year for the next book?!? (Related: Aaaargh self why do you keep reading unfinished and super-addicting series?!?) So, yes. This book was good. Really good. Slump-breaking good. Can't-believe-we're-left-with-that-cliffhanger-ending-for-a-whole-year good.

For starters, this book was just as excellent as all of Riordan's other mid-grade/YA books (and I'd say it's more the latter than the former). They're silly, but they're also smart; they read like guilty pleasures but actually pack in a bunch of mythology and history and geography and clever humor. The jokes work on multiple levels, and there's practically non-stop action but also some well-done interpersonal relationships and coming-of-age character development. Basically, all of the books in this series are just a blast to read, and this one's no exception.

But, on top of all that typical Riordan goodness, I thought this book did a lot of things really well. There was some adjustment I had to make to the multi-narrator style of the Heroes of Olympus books after reading five novels with only Percy's POV. Riordan handles it well, but now that he's got all seven of his protagonists in one place, I was worried that things were going to get overwhelming, or that some characters were going to get sidelined and forgotten about. But Riordan juggles his increasing cast incredibly smoothly, keeping things moving in a number of different storylines, and making sure each character gets their share of screen time, and of development. He also handles the relationships and the dynamics between the characters extremely well, which led to some of the most surprisingly moving parts of the story. And, of course, the emotional core of this story is always well-balanced with stuff blowing up and Percy making snarky quips about it. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: These books are great, but not even a little bit standalone, so don't start here. The Heroes of Olympus books can ostensibly be read separate from the Percy Jackson series, but because this book deals relatively heavily with Percy and Annabeth's relationship, I really think they should all be read in order.
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LibraryThing member vis02124
The third book in the Heroes Of Olympus series. If you liked the Percy Jackson series, you'll like this one too. The adventure continues with the demigods making their way to Rome, where topsy turvy ensues. We're left wondering "What will happen to our heroes next?", but I gather we'll have to wait
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until October 2013 to find out, when The House Of Hades hits the market.
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LibraryThing member rhonda1111
5 STARS

I was excited to get the mail today The Mark of Athena came finally. I preordered it over a month ago. So today I just read and read. I was not disapointed except now I have to wait for the next book to come out.
The Mark of Athena combines the heroes of the Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune
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and starts thier journey or quest.
Its fun adventure and also learn more about the differences of Greek and Roman mytholgy and some history in fun and exciting ways.
The seven heroes together have to face many trials and foes, stop a another civil war the Greek and the Roman camps. Stop lots of Giants from raising Gaea's and destroying the Gods of Greece and Roman. Overcome fears and personal weakness.
Did not want to put the book down till I finshed.
Fans of Percy Jackson will be glad to see him back and will enjoy this adventure for teens and adults alike.
10/02/2012 Pub. Disney Imprint hyperion books 586 pages
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LibraryThing member bell7
**Third in The Heroes of Olympus series - spoiler warning for the first two books**

The Argo II arrives at the Roman camp, finally bringing Annabeth, Piper, Jason and Leo together with Percy, Hazel and Frank. The seven demigods know that Greece and Rome - or Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter - must
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work together in order to keep Gaea from rising, but when Leo is possessed and starts shooting the Romans, that plan is nixed. Instead, the seven demigods make their escape and race against time (and a Roman assault on Camp Half-Blood) to defeat Gaea, rescue Nico di Angeli - oh yeah, and Annabeth has to follow the Mark of Athena on a quest all her own.

If that sounds like a lot going on - it is. Added to this, we have not one but four perspectives - those of Annabeth, Piper, Leo and Percy, which seems mostly to serve as a way of telling readers what's going on when the gang's in different places. So this is another long, rambling book chock full of references to Greek and Roman mythology, a lot of over-the-top adventure and monster fighting, and a few one-liners thrown in by our heroes for good measure. I found the Percy Jackson series a lot of fun (I also checked - the books were shorter), but the format and story are starting to get old for me. A quick read, and fun when I'm in the right mood, but unfortunately I was underwhelmed with this one.
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LibraryThing member foggidawn
In The Mark of Athena the Prophecy of the Seven begins to come together as Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo are united in a quest that will take them across the ocean to Rome and beyond.

The quest does not begin smoothly. Mysterious forces are at work to ensure that the old
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conflict between the Greek and Roman demigods persists. The two camps seem to be on track for a deadly battle as the Seven travel together toward the Mediterranean, a sea that is home to legendary monsters and patently unfriendly to demigods. And conflict stirs in the angsty teenage hearts of the seven demigods who travel there, as well. . . .

So, of course I enjoyed this book. Naturally, I would recommend starting at the beginning of the Percy Jackson series and going from there, in order to appreciate all of the backstory, but fans of the series will find this book on par with its predecessors. A few caveats: the ending is more of a cliffhanger than we've seen so far -- not enough to be painful, but certainly enough to make me more than usually impatient for the next book. Also, as I rather snarkily implied above, there's more teenage angst in this book than in any of the earlier books -- mostly a product of putting seven teens together in a confined space, six of whom are couples at various stages in their relationships, and two of whom are boys who are used to being in positions of leadership, and don't take kindly to being put in second place in any given situation. Riordan has created seven strong and distinct characters, but not all of them get to be point-of-view characters in this story, which may disappoint some fans.

On the other hand, I'm always amazed at the depth and breadth of research that the author must do in order to keep coming up with authentic monsters, gods, and heroes to populate this series. I often booktalk the Percy Jackson books to parents and teachers as having a "sneaky educational" aspect to it -- I know I have learned stuff about Greek and Roman mythology from the series! I can't wait to see what happens to the characters in the next installment.
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LibraryThing member TLHelen
This book is a Greek mythology novel that I really like. Rick Riordan describes the characters and scene very well and reminds the readers of what happened to the characters in the books before just incase the readers forgot. There is quite a few lovelines for a fantasy novel so it is more
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interesting.
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LibraryThing member burnit99
Just as it seems the Greek and Roman demigods are on the verge of trusting each other after centuries of hostilities, Percy Jackson, Annabeth and the other members of Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood see this crumble when Leo is possessed by a spirit follower of Gaea and fires on Camp Jupiter. This
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is too bad, because now the Roman demigods are preparing to invade Camp Half-Blood just as our team of seven demigods are embarking on a near-impossible quest to find and liberate the long-lost Athena Parthenos statue, which is somehow crucial to their defeating Gaea as she readies herself to destroy the Greek and Roman gods and take her former place as ruler of the Earth.

A typically exciting and intriguing tale of ancient mythology in modern times from Riordan, with a compelling cliffhanger in this one, but Riordan seems to have found a winning formula that he is sticking with. I enjoy these books, but they do tend to run together in my mind.
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LibraryThing member ct.bergeron
I find this serie to be very interesting. I just find they don't come quick enough. We are now at the beginning of the quest of 7 that join the Romans and the Greeks. As usual we are met with familiar faces (Anabeth and Percy, Jason and Piper, Frank and Hazel and Leo) that need to work together to
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defeat Gaia. It will be a long process, this was just step one, but it is still very fun to read.
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LibraryThing member DarkFaerieTales
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: The seven demigods of the Great Prophesy have finally gotten together. Now they set their sights on Rome and rescuing their friend Nico de Angelo.

Opening Sentence: Until she met the exploding statue, Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.
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The Review:

It’s finally here!!! And it’s huge!!! But Mark of Athena was definitely worth the 400 some pages! Percy and the gang are back in this hilarious and jaw-dropping third installment. We finally get the reunion of Percabeth but of course nothing goes as planned and the seven demigods are already running for their lives by the end of the second chapter. Unlike most other Riordan books, this one lacks the usual structure of prophesy, quest, rescue the camp just in time. Now that the seven demigods of the Great Prophesy have finally grouped together, they journey across the nation and eventually the Atlantic to reach Rome, where Nico de Angelo (who might know where the Doors of Death are located) is trapped. Along the way the group goes on miniature quests to either repair the Argo II or find help along the way. Now that the group is together, can they close the Doors of Death before Gaea awakens? And will Annabeth be able to avenge her mother? Riordan spins yet another dramatically funny and unexpected novel about Greek and Roman mythology.

Ever read any of the previous Hero of Olympus novels? Mark of Athena will completely blow you away and catch you by surprise. Usually the stories are revolving around three characters, but this time there are seven demigods that have tone accounted for. Riordan does an excellent job of juggling all the action and conflicts that develop between all of the characters, plus timing each one to match the others. This story is narrated from four different points of views — Annabeth, Leo, Piper and Percy. Although Piper has a main part and I always love hearing from Percy, Annabeth and Leo stole the show. Annabeth has her own quest from her schizophrenic mother Athena/Minerva. She is to avenge her mother and find the Mark of Athena. Her own personal quest (with no help from Percy or the others) really shows how strong and resourceful she is even in the midst of her worst fear. Leo is amazing (I would say just because he is, but I don’t think that’s acceptable in a review.) He’s the seventh man out — the only one without a girlfriend or friends to talk to (yeah, he has Jason and Piper but they’re doing their own thing most of the time.) But the major plot twist that had me tearing up had to do with Hazel.

There was not a single part of this book that lacked pacing or had me bored. Yes, it is predictable but everything happens in the most unexpected way. Riordan knows how to capture the voice of a teen perfectly, keeping older ones like me still intrigued and laughing at the same time. He takes you across the nation (from San Francisco to Atlanta, Georgia) and then journeys across the Atlantic to Rome itself. Don’t get me started on the ending, though. Major cliffhanger alert! The worst one yet in the whole Percy Jackson series! Next fall seems so far away…

Spectacular scenes will make you laugh, smile and stay up late to finish it (at least I did.) Haven’t read the Heroes of Olympus before? Or even the Percy Jackson series? You poor deprived things. Just kidding! Go read the books now and fall in love with the mythological world and the demigods that inhabit it. I know I did.

Notable Scene:

Leo adjusted his goggles and smiled. He flexed is biceps though he didn’t have much to flex, and showed off his HOT STUFF tattoo. He had the nymphs’ attention, if only because they were stunned; but Narcissus was still fixed on his own reflection.

“You know how ugly Narcissus is?” Leo asked the crowd. “He’s so ugly, when he was born his mama thought he was a backward centaur–with a horse butt for a face.”

Some of the nymphs gasped. Narcissus frowned, as though he was vaguely aware of a gnat buzzing around his head.

“You know why his bow has cobwebs?” Leo continued. “He uses it to hunt for dates, but he can’t find one!”

One of the nymphs laughed. The others quickly elbowed her into silence.

Narcissus turned and scowled at Leo. “Who are you?”

“I’m the Super-sized McShizzle, man!” Leo said. “I’m Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme. And the ladies love a bad boy.”

“Love a bad boy!” Echo said, with a convincing squeal.

“Leo took out a pen and autographed the arm of one of the nymphs. “Narcissus is a loser! He’s so weak, he can’t bench-press a Kleenex. He’s so lame, when you look up lame on Wikipedia, it’s got a picture of Narcissus–only the pictures so ugly, no one ever checks it out.”

Narcissus knit his handsome eyebrows. His face was turning from bronze to salmon pink. For a moment, he’d totally forgotten

FTC Advisory: Disney Hyperion provided me with a copy of Mark of Athena. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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LibraryThing member LoftyIslanders
can't believe I have to wait til OCTOBER for the next one! They just get better and better. Love me some LEO.
LibraryThing member benuathanasia
Riordan has by-and-large laid off of the slapstick in this book (that thoroughly distracted me in the other Heroes of Olympus books). He really got down to business in this book; lots of character growth, personal revelation, action, adventure, and a respectable amount of time just getting more
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familiar with the characters. The ending annoyed me, but in a good "come on! What happens next?!" kind of way.
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LibraryThing member Zodac13
Really not to much more to say then that Rick Riordan has done it again. Fans of his earlier works willl ove the Mark of Athena. I definetly recomend it for people with a sence of wonder and a good sence of humor, though i think one needs to read the earlier works before this one or one would be
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lost very quickly.
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LibraryThing member julietearjerky
Rick Riordan never disappoints. I never thought a Middle-Grade Fantasy book can make me cry. A must-read for fans of mythology.
LibraryThing member br13olfr
The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan, is a book about action and mythology set in the modern day world, supposedly right along-side our lives. Percy Jackson has returned and his friends have teamed up with some of the Roman demigods to find and close the Doors of Death. To do that, they must travel
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deep into Tartarus, the darkest and most powerful prison for the most terrible monsters of the world. On the way, the must save the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo, whose life is hanging by a thread. This book brings the creatures and beings of ancient greek myths and legends to our world, and gives us a sense of what supposedly also lives in our world.
One of the main characters, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, reminded me of another character from one of Rick Riordan’s book series. She is similar to Sadie Kane, from the series Kane Chronicles. They both have the same stubbornness and spunk that makes much of what they do succeed, and they are both incredibly determined. They deal with mythological gods messing with their fates and lives, and also with ancient evils that have been, and should stay, dormant, imprisoned, or both. A difference between them is their interesting parentages. Annabeth is directly related to a greek goddess, Athena, being her daughter, but Sadie comes from a long line of magicians that have a history of being the eyes, or hosts, of the egyptian gods.
I enjoyed this book a lot, as I enjoy all good works of fantasy. I especially like both of Riordan’s demigod series and his one Egyptian series. He is an amazing writer and his work is fun to read. I bought Mark of Athena shortly after it came out and have purchased all the released books of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and Kane Chronicles. He writes very interesting stories and is great at plots that both intrigue and amaze the reader. This story was left on a particularly interesting cliffhanger, and I have waited all year for the next book. I am very excited to read House of Hades and I recommend all three mythology series to readers of all ages.
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LibraryThing member ayla.stein
When is the next book coming ouuuuut? *whines*
LibraryThing member Punkfarie
Ahhhhhhhh! Wtf?! That ending! I don't want to wait a whole year for the next book!
LibraryThing member scote23
What a cliffhanger ending!
LibraryThing member Punkfarie
Ahhhhhhhh! Wtf?! That ending! I don't want to wait a whole year for the next book!
LibraryThing member TheMadHatters
In this novel, the characters from "The Lost Hero" and "The Song of Neptune" meet up for one big adventure to Rome, where they try to stop Gaia from awakening and destroying the earth. Another gripping page-turner that left me anxious for the next installment.
LibraryThing member DebbieMcCauley
Good follow on for the series.
LibraryThing member ahandfulofconfetti
Hi. My name is Merin, and I am a Percy Jackson addict.

I love Percy the way a mother loves her child. I am blind to his faults, and adore him even when he's being a sarcastic pain in the ass. My feelings for him are such that I am physically incapable of giving this book anything less than five
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stars. Even though Percy isn't the main point of view character he was in his title series, these books are what they are because of him, and his involvement makes it nearly impossible for me to be objective.

That being said? This book is absolutely fabulous.

The elements that made the previous installments so great are ever-present in The Mark of Athena. You still have the humor, the action, and the emotional journeys of the characters. And most of all, you still have Percy being Percy. Except this is a more mature, more tested, more grown up Percy. He's still hilarious, still the character who says things he shouldn't. But he's also the guy who is totally in love with Annabeth, and their relationship is what's really at the heart of this book. Yes, they're trying to figure out how to keep Gaea from waking, and they're going to have to reunite the Greek and Roman camps. But what the previous two books have taught us is that their feelings for each other - their inability to live without the other - have created what is probably the best "One True Pair" of all time. NO ONE will ever be able to compare to Percy and Annabeth, and that's saying something when you consider that they're not even seventeen yet.

"Yeah," Percy said. "I learned a long time ago: Never bet against Annabeth." - 53%

Of course, I can wax poetically about how awesome Percy and Annabeth are together until the end of days, and it still will only encompass part of what made this book so fantastic. The truth is, Annabeth ROCKS this book. She is tough, headstrong, and stubborn, and while she is confronted with some very serious weaknesses, she never gives up, even when things are going against her. Honestly, if you have ANYTHING bad to say about Annabeth after reading this book, please do it elsewhere, because I will be like Octavian in that dock scene; I will be unable to hear you over the wax in my ears. I don't know what the next book is going to bring for Annabeth and Percy, but I have faith that they will be able to overcome whatever it is just because they are together, and as Annabeth said in this book, being with Percy always makes her feel braver. And she's definitely going to need a whole lot of that.

Now, just so this doesn't dissolve into a Annabeth and Percy lovefest, here were some other things I loved about this book. The return of the "dam" joke. The Jason/Percy bromance; I really think these two can be best buds forever. Leo being absolutely kick-ass, and the way he felt like an outsider and became such an integral part of the quest. Piper's brief moments of being awesome (I wish there was more of this and less of her waxing on about Jason). The Hazel and Leo backstory. Jason and Percy working together. The glimpses of the gods and goddesses. Aphrodite's tea party. The ever-present humor interspersed with all the action and adventure. The way that all seven demigods have realized that they can't do this alone and are going to have to work together. The way Riordan combined the Greek and Roman stories together. Reyna. The scene where Annabeth drops her dagger and Percy is awesome. Annabeth's ability to face her worst fear. The Percy/Annabeth reunion scene. All of the Annabeth backstory, which answered nearly every single question I had about her. All of the absolutely hilarious lines.

To sum up: this book was everything I wanted it to be, and more. I love that we got an Annabeth point of view, and I absolutely adored her voice. There were lots of achy-breaky moments in this book, but it just made everything seem more realistic, and it hurt in the good way. Be forewarned, though, that if you read this book, you're going to want the next one immediately. My only complaint is that we're going to have to wait another year to learn what happens next! I'm definitely starting the countdown for The House of Hades. How about you?
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LibraryThing member aldrichp.b3
This book is one of the best book in the heroes of olympus series. It has lots of action and mysteries. If u read the first book itll make you read greek mythology. You will love it. It keeps me up all night reading this. I don't usually read books but this series was an exception.

Te demigods on
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the Argo II go to kansas to try to find bacchus. Jason and percy get possessed by the eieolons and begin to fight. On their trip Annabeth and percy feel into tartarus.xcrcy tried to save themselves. The rest of the demigods were on the argo II.
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LibraryThing member edspicer
It's a great story that mixes the past with the present in terms of mythology. This book is great for people who love mythology and fiction. 4/5 JH (10th grade) I chose this book because I am a Percy Jackson fan and I have the whole collection. AG
LibraryThing member lexiechan
4.5 stars and rounded up!

First of all, I missed reading Rick Riordan's books! So when I finally started reading this one, I had this stupid grin on my face that I can't removed. :O I like how Annabeth was a bit sadistic when she met Percy. LOL. Really! Judo flipping?! :D

Second, I like how Riordan
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chose the four POVs. And thank the Gods he chose Percy over Jason for the other POV and Leo! Besides Percy, I really really like Leo from the start of the series. The four speaker balances the whole story. The way it was written is perfect.
“Blue elephants.”
“Blue elephants.”
“Kiss me, you fool.”
“You fool.”
“Hey!”
“Hey!”

Seriously, after Percy, Leo is the second best character cause he really made me laugh with all his sarcastic comments. I like how he deal with Narcissus. And btw, that one reminded me of JP cause he's sooo full of himself! I was aghast at how much they resemble. :O Really, that Narcissus have to look at himself at the pond or lake or whatever that has his reflection and mutters "I am so hot" or “I love him. He’s so gorgeous.”?! The level of Narcissus's self-confident is higher than the Gods. LOL.

And I know that I'm really slow with reading AND thinking about what would happen next or that I should have put two-and-two together with all that clues... But I had to say, I was like "AH! Arachne!", just when Annabeth was on her own. LOL. Also, I totally didn't expect the ending.

I got really teary-eyed cause of it. I know, crybaby, me. And so I am excited for next year! For the fourth book, The House of Hades. I really hope that Percy would be one of the POV again, so that we could have some insights about that place... Oh, another thing, Leo said something about doors. How they should be closed or something, and there will be someone at both end and it's like he's saying that one person will be left behind. Can't wait to find out. ;)
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LibraryThing member ZoeSNicholson
The long-awaited 3rd book in the series has arrived! And it does not disappoint - I thoroughly enjoyed it! Rick Riordan...you continue to astound me!

Just like with each book Rick Riodran writes, The Mark of Athena has LOTS humor, romance (cough * Percabeth * cough), and action! Fans will definitely
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not be disappointed with Riordan's new installment to the series.

This is, as I said before, AMAZING! It definitely will not disappoint fans! Can't wait to see what Riordan has in store for both the Greeks AND the Romans!
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Pages

608

Rating

(1321 ratings; 4.3)
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