Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro

97 reviews

melaschnie's review against another edition

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5.0

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Nico and Will take on a rescue mission that brings them back down into the depths of Tartarus, where they face everything from actual monsters and the environment to their own inner feelings. Another fun romp in the world of demigods and reimagined Greek mythology! I wish more was done with the split timeline.
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val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

One word to describe the whole book is CUTE. Which is funny considering this is a Nico Di Angelo story, but his relationship with Will is just so cute, they’re my babies, I want to protect them from everything and I loved them from the very first pages 🥺💛 

This book is basically Nico’s quest to go to Tartarus and save “the one who calls his name” and Will knew it was going to dangerous for him to go too because he’s a son of a Apollo and needs the sun, but that would not stop him and he goes along. I loved seeing both of them protecting each other, their strength, their determination, their loyalty, their love 🤧 

I know sometimes their dialogue and nicknames could seem cheesy, but to me it was just so cute and sweet and funny. They’ve been together for a year and I was so happy that we got to read some stories between them at the beginning of their relationship (the moment they knew they liked each other, how one asked the other on a date, their first kiss). There were moments where I could’ve cried of how cuteness and how happy and proud I am of them 😭❤️ 

As always, even the smallest appearance of Percy and Annabeth makes me happy, and is so cheesy and funny that their only advice for them on Tartarus was that they would be okay because they had each other lmao but it’s true! That’s how Percabeth survived after all. 

This is so coming of age, so cute, being proud of who you are and loving who you want, coming out... I feel like this book can be SO important for so many kids out there who want and need someone to feel related and safe. And this book is perfect for that. 

I’m going to miss Nico and Will so much, this is easily a 4.5 ⭐ for me. 
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vreadsalot's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

CAWPILE: 9.50/5*
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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I really loved the themes of the book - about trauma, accepting your darker elements, letting people in, grief, etc. but dear god the plot was so long and boring. I know we all want to know about Nico and will's relationship, they are very cute, but this was too long for this, it should have been a much shorter novel. 
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akswhy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I expected more from this book. I was really looking forward to diving into the minds of Nico and Will, and I think we got a good amount of Nico’s inner life, but Will still feels very two-dimensional. He’s a sunshiney healer! With a boyfriend! Aaaaand that’s about it. His conflict is about having a boyfriend with whom he doesn’t have a lot in common . To me that reads very “…then break up” instead of the desired outcome: learn to love someone even when you don’t understand them. In conclusion, flesh Will out properly or let Nico do better (because from where I’m sitting, he can).
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julesadventurezone's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The beginning was really slow and i just don't like humor derived from mispronouncing things and brand names. I also thought the character arcs were pretty obvious. 
Nonetheless, I was very invested toward the end and liked Will and Nico's relationship very much.
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thesvnthsense's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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ronan900's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jojo_fiction_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
3.5 Stars

I love the Percy Jackson world, and with the TV show currently airing, I am falling (no pun intended) right back into my PJO phase. So I figured, what would be a better time to read the Nico and Will standalone that has been sitting on my shelf for months than this?

And like most Rick Riordan books, I breezed through this in under 2 days. The writing style was a bit different as it is also co-written by Mark Oshiro, but overall didn't make too much of an impact on my reading experience. 

As for the story itself, I have a lot of thoughts, so bear with me. 

The overall plot itself…was kinda weak.
The threat of Nyx, who, despite being stated as being more powerful than Gaea, was underwhelming.
I feel like this book was mostly for the characters and their development, which is fine! But for a Percy Jackson book, I expected just a bit more plot, or at least more stakes. (Although I'm sure for standalones it must be much harder to do so I'm trying not to judge too harshly on that.)

The main conflict of the story seemed to be between Will and Nico and them becoming more secure in their relationship 
(as opposed to the literal goddess of darkness)
. They seemed to be annoyed at each other for the majority of the book. Their lack of trust within the relationship, and inability to see each others’ perspectives on a few things, added more to the conflict than 
Nyx 
for the majority of the book.

The real place this book shines is in its themes and in the development of the characters. 
The emphasis of taking care of one's mental health (especially for demigods who have been through so much), is something that really needs to be seen in more middle grade novels. 
Discussions of grief, depression, loneliness, guilt, shame, and the fear of change were all subjects that were touched on. The concept of processing grief was really a wonderful aspect of this book, as Nico, who had lost basically everyone who was important to him, was finally able to begin to work through these emotions, and learn to rely on others for support. 

The concept of change was an interesting aspect to the book that I really liked. Change is difficult for anybody, things like changes in environments and situations, the change in how you view yourself, how others view you, and the ability to make the conscious choice to change. And I think for a book that focuses around two queer characters it was a fitting topic. As the conversation with Piper at the end shows, sexuality and/or gender expression is fluid and can change as you grow and there is nothing wrong with that. It was a good way to end the story with this final acceptance of change not being a bad thing, but an opportunity to grow into yourself more fully depending on your stage in life. 

Since the book was focused around queer characters, the co-author, Mark Oshiro, was absolutely needed. As Riordan said on his website about the book: “It was really important to me that writing a book entirely from the perspective of two queer characters, I collaborated with a great queer author who could bring perspective, authenticity, and a different set of writing strengths to the project.”

When writing about experiences that are not your own you absolutely need to look to outside sources who do have that experience and/or knowledge. One thing I appreciate about Riordan’s growth as a writer is that despite his rough start with proper representation, he is very open to the fact that as he now includes new characters from a variety of backgrounds, sexualities, and genders, he reaches out to those who can help him portray these characters properly.  


I can't finish this review without including my one big critique of this book. Which is an issue with consistency which can be seen in other Percy Jackson books. 
In Son of Neptune, Bianca is said to have chosen to be reincarnated, which leads to Nico finding Haze and helping her leave the underworld. But in this book, during the last dream Nico has, she tells him that she is in Elysium. In this book the change allows for Nico to receive some type of closure. However, in regards to how that impacts the overarching story, it complicates it a lot. If Bianca never chose to be reincarnated, Nico would have tried to bring her back from the dead instead of Hazel as he claimed to have tried. I am confused on how this plot line could have slipped through the cracks, but in terms of how it affects this standalone, it's not too big of a deal. 
 


In conclusion, I did enjoy this! Going back into the world of demigods made me feel very nostalgic, and the book was fun for what it was. I wouldn't put it on my list of favourites, but overall I think it was a fun read with important messages. 
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