Review: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket, Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving command: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader—but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side

Audiobook
Narrator: Joshua Swanson

550+ pages

Listening Time: 15hrs 8min

Third person, alternating POV
(Four narrators)

Yes...
You kinda need to have listened to the first two in the series. Book 3 of 5 is not the place to start.

Actually, yes!
Not a huge one but I'd have been screaming if I couldn't go straight onto book 4 after finishing this one!

Lots of monster fighting.
It's not graphic or gratuitous. 

Book three in The Heroes of Olympus series and the book where we finally see all seven of our heroes share the page for the first time!
It was awesome.
I was a bit worried that with so many heroes, thus so many potential pov’s, that the book would become chaotic but it didn’t. Riordan limited the narration to four of the seven and interweaved the pov’s beautifully to create a book I could not stop listening to.
The story is as fast paced as usual and takes us from the arrival of the Argo II at Camp Jupiter to a perilous journey across the Atlantic, through the Mediterranian sea and into the heart of the ancient world itself: Rome.
Our heroes need to learn to work together, for the two ‘teams’ to come together as one team, to not only survive the trials they face but in order to save a friend and ultimately move forward in their quest to defeat Gaia.
Oh my poor little heart felt like it would burst so many times while listening to this… Our brilliant heroes have been through so much and they have so much more to go through. They’re all brave and wonderful characters full of heart, pulsing with so much life that they become real to you. Their struggles are your struggles, their sorrow your sorrow, their joy your joy. You truly go on a journey with them and that is why the ending of this book is so damn cruel! OMG, I’d have died if I was reading these as they were published and I had to wait a whole year to find out what happens next after that ending!
That ending… That ending is a thing of evil. Of perfect evil genius. It hurts, it shocks, it motivates. It’s an ending that makes you scream defiantly at the evil gods that they will not win! No matter what and it’s an ending that immediately makes you pick up the next book.

Meh.
I do like the Argo II though. It's pretty.

“I try not to think. It interferes with being nuts."

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“Hercules, huh? Percy frowned. "That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn--there he is.”

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“Being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed.”