Review : The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Title : The Hidden Oracle
Author : Rick Riordan
Series : The Trials of Apollo #1
Genre : YA fantasy
Release Date : May 3rd, 2016
Publisher : Penguin Random House UK

GOODREADS | PURCHASE

How do you punish an immortal? By making him human. After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favor. But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters, and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

It's been almost 3 years since I last read anything Percy-Jackson-related! The last time was when The Blood of Olympus come out in 2015. I have to say that I kinda forgot how funny and engaging this world is. Even though we got a whole new main characters and enemies, Rick certainly didn't disappoint and still deliver the story in his usual sassy way (complete with bad haikus!)

In the Trials of Apollo, Apollo was cast down to be human by Zeus because of something he did while in war with Gaia (which I unfortunately forgot). He literally landed in trash bin, where he was saved by Meg, a 12-years-old demigod. Together, they went to Camp Half-Blood, which is in a "bad" conditions since the Oracle stop working and demigods kept disappear mysteriously. So naturally, it's Apollo's job to fix things, seeing that he's the former god of prophecy. Honestly, at first, I thought Apollo and Percy Jackson were pretty similar. They were both sassy, and Apollo reminds me of Percy when he first came to Camp Half-Blood (read: clueless and often rely on instinct). However, as the book goes on, I realize they're not that similar. Apollo's jokes is more about himself, and also he's super childish, which makes me didn't really like him at first. I think it was intentional that Riordan made him like that, so we could see how he changes throughout the book--from a spoiled ex-god to someone who starts to appreciate humans. By the end of the book, you could say he starts to grew on me, though I still prefer Percy 😊.

As for the plot, just like Riordan's other books, it was awesome and funny and amazing. If you have read a lot of Riordan's books, you would notice that he almost always end each chapters with cliffhanger, so I'm practically glued to this book. Oh, and of course there's plot twist here (one I did not expect at all, tbh). But frankly, as good the plot is, what I really really love from this book is the appearance of old characters. There's Will and Nico, who's really adorable as a couple (I think this is their first appearance as couple?). I mean, just look at these passages :

“Nico," I said at last, "shouldn't you be sitting at the Hades table?"
He shrugged. "Technically, yes. But if I sit alone at my table, strange things happen. Cracks open in the floor. Zombies crawl out and start roaming around. It's a mood disorder. I can't control it. That's what I told Chiron. "
"And is it true?" I asked.
Nico smiled thinly. "I have a note from my doctor."
Will raised his hand. "I'm his doctor.” 

“In the meantime, no one should roam the camp alone. Use the buddy system.""Understood." Will looked at Nico. "Will you be my buddy?""You're a dork," Nico announced.The two of them strolled off bickering.” 

 Aren't they the cutest? And of course, there's also Percy Jackson, Rachel Dare, Chiron, and other old characters that better not mentioned since it'll ruin the surprise. Even if most of these characters are cameos, I'm still pleased to see them again.

In conclusion, you definitely should read The Hidden Oracle if you miss the Percy Jackson world! It really brought back my love (and obsession) toward anything greek myth. And if you haven't read Percy Jackson, I suggest you start now by reading this.