#BibliophileRants: Why Tower of Nero is amazing and Trials of Apollo should be read by all.

Last month I got my hands on the Tower of Nero and might I just say it was one of my best reads of the year? As a fangirl who has been following the Camp Half Blood series for seven years now, this book was perfection printed in pages. This book saw Rick give a wholesome yet extremely raw and powerful finale to a wonderful series.

Many Percy Jackson fans have felt that The Trials Of Apollo doesn't really live up to the levels of the earlier series; I felt this a little at first too. But as the books progressed, I was proven wrong and I'm so glad I was. This series may not feature any of the leads from PJO or HOO in a prominent role but it fleshes out the other characters present in the series and gives us an insight into their lives. This series also has enabled us to see the seven from Heroes of Olympus deal with their unresolved issues as they get some time off; I really appreciate him doing so as we got to see them try and adjust to normalcy. And those who found a few romances too rushed should definitely read this series, he spends quite some time on the characters and we can see if they make or break as time passes. Rick Riordan addresses quite a few issues and upholds diverse representation in his characters without sounding preachy or misrepresenting in his books and this series is no exemption as well. People didn't like Apollo as well, but that's the whole point of this: he isn't meant to be likeable at first. So, as much as you want to hit him with a brickbat, stick around. His character transformation is one of the best I've seen yet.

Coming to Tower of Nero, I absolutely loved each and everything about it. It was the perfect finish to the series. I really loved the parallel drawn between Meg and Lester as they face their own demons. I loved how he showed the effect of familial abuse on a person and the long road to feeling loved and accepted.I enjoyed how the final showdown went down, treading a fine line between comedy and serious action. The character of Lu was amazing, and man, Rick Riordan does keep adding new favourite characters to my list! He really managed to round off the character arc for everyone, sticking to his word of this most probably being the last book in the whole Camp-Half Blood series. But he did drop quite a few subtle hints indicating a probable crossover with other mythological worlds so I'm not losing hope yet. Plus he did announce a possible Nico Di Angelo spinoff, so fans, you will have to read this series for that book to have a better impact! :P

The entire book made me laugh, cry and made my heart feel so full. So, to my fellow fans of the series (or of previous series like PJO and HOO) please do start on the journey with the not-a-god God! And to those who haven't read Percy Jackson yet, please do! (I'd save my rant for this later :P)

Rating: ★★★★★