The Blood of Olympus Review

SPOILERS FOR BLOOD OF OLYMPUS. Duh.
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I finally got the Blood of Olympus from the library. I really enjoyed reading it, but I was honestly a little bit disappointed with the ending. It would have been better, in my opinion, if the book had been in Leo's perspective when he died. There was just all this build-up for the final battle and then we didn't really get to see it. But, anyway, there were some things I really liked about the book. For one thing, it kind of made me ship Annabeth/Piper, which is amazing because I never ship things that aren't canon. I also really enjoyed reading Nico and Reyna's POVs. Reyna has become one of my favourite characters in the series. I really like that she did not end up with a guy at the end of a series. I was worried that would happen.

So, anyway, I'm going to look at the predictions I made before the book came out and see how true they are.

TO STORM OR FIRE THE WORLD MUST FALL.

My prediction: This is my favourite line in the prophecy. The two leading theories about it are that "storm" and "fire" refer to specific demigods or to the Greek and Roman camps. I don't think that this line refers to people. I can't really explain why I think that, I just do. If it were to refer to people, though, I like the idea of Frank being fire instead of Leo.
I like the camps theory better. I think it is probably true. The reason I say this is because it fits directly with what that random God told Jason (I can't remember his name and I'm too lazy to look it up).
Other possible theories: Storm and Fire refer to Gods?
The other part of this line is "the world must fall". What does "the world" mean? I think it means Gaea. That makes most sense. Whatever storm and fire are, one of them will probably be the thing that defeats Gaea in the end. The fact that the prophecy feels the need to mention both storm and fire makes me think that both will try to defeat Gaea and only one will succeed. If storm and fire means Roman and Greek, then perhaps this means that one of the camps will defeat Gaea. Which doesn't really makes sense, but whatever.
Could "fall" have a different meaning than we think? I doubt it. The prophecy says the world must fall. If that means Gaea, that's good news. If not... what could it possibly mean? The prophecies have always come true in the past, but is it possible that the seven demigods might be able to change fate?

Reality: I was totally wrong about what this line refereed to. I thought it didn't refer to people, but it turns out that storm is Jason and fire is Leo. I'm honestly a bit disappointed by that. I was right about "the world" being Gaea. I was also kind of right about both storm and fire trying to defeat Gaea with only one of them succeeding.

AN OATH TO KEEP WITH A FINAL BREATH.

My Prediction: Most important question: Whose oath? Probably Leo's. That's the most obvious one. I can't really see it being anything else. I like the theory that Leo will have to choose between saving Calypso and staying alive. I have only read House of Hades once, so I don't feel like I can make any guesses as to who else this line might refer to. It is possible, of course, that the oath in question has not been made yet.
Question: Does this line mean that the person mentioned will have to die in order to fulfill their oath or does it mean that the person will die because they did not fulfill their oath? It sound more like the first choice.
What does "final breath" mean? Does it mean death? I can't think of anything else it could mean. Maybe, instead of the oath-maker dying to fulfill their oath they must kill to fulfill their oath?

Reality: The oath was indeed Leo's, but I think we all saw that. He died and then came back to life. Basically the obvious explanation for this line. Again. The first great prophecy was so much better.

WHO WILL DIE?

My Prediction: I don't think any of the seven will die. The reason? No one dies in Percy Jackson. Sure, there were a few deaths in The Titan's Curse and The Last Olympian, but none of the very main characters died. This is a children's series.
That said, I do think that there is a possibility one of the seven will die. It is possible for this to happen in a children's book. Who is the most likely candidate? If I were writing the book, I would kill Leo. But I don't think Rick is going to do that. Leo is the fandom's favourite and besides, he deserves a happy ending. Okay, they all do. But if Rick had to kill one of the seven I think he would kill Frank or Hazel. They're not Percy and Annabeth. They haven't been in the series as long. And I can see one of their deaths meaning something. I personally hope Hazel doesn't die. If I had to choose between them I would kill Frank.
So, what about other characters? I don't think Nico will die. I don't think Nico should die. If he dies, I will be pretty mad, and not because he's one of my favourite characters. He isn't. I've never liked him much. But I think he is too important of a character. It's kind of difficult to explain. It would just be... wrong if he died.
I think Reyna is more likely to die than Nico, but I really hope she doesn't. I want her to continue to lead Camp Jupiter.
I don't think Coach Hedge will die, but you never know.
None of the main characters from the first series will die (like Grover, Tyson and Rachel). No one can kill of main characters if they aren't main characters anymore.
I don't think Octavian will die, unfortunately. But you never know. We might get lucky.

Reality: I was right. No one died (permanently)  which I am again unhappy about. The book really would have been better if a major character died. I was wrong about Octavian. He did die. This kind of annoys me also. The big death of the last book and it's my least favourite character. That isn't a very emotional ending.

CLUE PREDICTIONS:

My Prediction for Clue #1: A goddess says "One of you will die. One of you must die." That means one of them will die, right? Yes. I think so. Gods have always been right with their prophecies in this series. So, does this mean one of the seven will die? It certainly sounds like it. Of course their could be several ways around this. As in Hazel's case, dead people can come back. It's possible that one of the seven will die and become a god, or something like that. Or maybe Nike isn't talking specifically about the seven demigods. One of you must die. One of who? It probably refers to the seven, though. That makes most sense.
"You're magic will help you cheat in this contest but you can't cheat destiny." What contest? Does this just refer to the war with Gaea and the giants or is there some actual contest that Hazel is cheating in?


Reality: This did not, in fact refer to all seven demigods, it referred to the four that were present in this scene (Leo, Frank, Hazel and Percy). Leo did, in fact, die, but he came back to life. So I was kind of right. I was also right to ask whether there was an actual contest Hazel cheated in. There was.

My Prediction for Clue #2: No, Jason. Not again. Is this a dream? I mean, if it isn't, that means Jason dies, right? I find interesting that Juno makes an appearance. Is she going to help them kill the giants? I don't really have any good theories about this clue.



Reality: It was a dream.

My Prediction for Clue #3: What is Leo trying to do? Maybe it has something to do with Calypso.

Reality: I think this line was referring to Leo turning the ship into a dragon. It did have something to do with Calypso. Kind of.

My Prediction for Clue #4: Another Percy vs. Polybotes battle? Awesome. This clue doesn't really tell me anything interesting.

Reality: Um.

My Prediction for Clue #5: "You must bridge the gap between Roman and Greek, my child. Neither storm nor fire can succeed without you." This really does make it sound like "storm" and "fire" mean the Greek and Roman camps.
It sounds like Piper will play a major role in the last book. Aphrodite told her what she had to stop Gaea. That means that Piper will be the one to stop Gaea, unless, of course, she fails. But I don't think she will. It sounds like Piper will have to make some sort of sacrifice to defeat Gaea. Jason's life, maybe? Piper's own life? I'm very excited about this clue. Maybe after Blood of Olympus the fandom will stop saying Piper is useless.


Reality: Aphrodite just meant that Piper would talk Gaea back asleep. Technically she had to sacrifice Leo, but that wasn't really her choice.

My Prediction for Clue #6: I have no idea what this clue refers to. I'm not even going to make any guesses. One questions: What ghosts is Reyna talking about?

Reality: Well. I know the answer now. Reyna is awesome.

My Prediction for Clue #7: Why would Nico have to leave both camps? "If you let your anger rule you." Nico's fatal flaw is holding grudges. Will this have something to do with Blood of Olympus?

Reality: This quote is really not very significant.

My Prediction for Clue #8: This clue doesn't really tell us much. Except that the giants are healing faster. Hmm...

Reality: This quote is from the very end of the book. The giants were healing faster because Gaea was waking.

My Prediction for Clue #9: I can't really get anything new from this clue. Only one question. Go down where? Where are they?

Reality:The Piper and Annabeth battle is my favourite in Blood of Olympus.


So, anyway, Blood of Olympus was definitely not my favourite in the series. House of Hades is. I am excited to read The Sword of Summer (first book in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series) and also the third Kane Chronicles/Percy Jackson crossover.