Rating: Not for me

I can see why the Percy Jackson series is so popular, but there are several reasons I can’t recommend it for the adolescent readers it was intended (SPOILER ALERTS!):

  • Idol worship. This takes the form of praying to Greek gods, and offering sacrifices to them at meal times.
  • Normalizing out-of-marriage sexual affairs. The main kids are “half-bloods,” which means a Greek god hooked up with a human in a romantic fling. The way the kids talk about it, this book normalizes sex out of marriage. All the kids struggle with abandonment by their divine parent or some other deep identity issue. For example, Percy’s dad says Percy was a mistake and he regrets it.
  • Normalizing breaking a covenant if the temptation is just too irresistible. Percy’s Greek-god father, Poseidon, has made a covenant with Zeus and Hades that the three of them would no longer mate with humans.  Other gods can do it, but for those three powerful ones, it causes wars and other troubles. Yet Percy’s dad broke the covenant by mating with Percy’s mom.  His explanation: Percy’s mother was just so gorgeous; he hadn’t seen a human that wonderful in 1000’s of years.  The message: breaking covenants via sex is ok if the person you do it with is just so amazing to you that you can’t help yourself.
  • Poor relationships with authority. Percy hates his math teacher, calls her names (e.g., “old sot”), and resents her. She ends up being an inhuman messenger of Hades hunting him down.  The step-father is described as a walrus without tusks, and he is a no-good slob who criticizes his stepson, steals his money, and treats his wife like a worthless slave. Percy calls him smelly Gabe, fatso , and other disrespectful names, and talka about wanting to “kick him in the soft spot.” Later we find out the stepdad has been abusive to his wife, and she eventually puts an end to him in a mythological twist.
  • Generally sassy and defiant attitudes; the kind of cynicism I hear about and which we all dread from teenagers. Things like making fun of thrift store clothes, commenting that someone has gained weight,
  • Violence and Creepy gore. There is sword fighting, physical abuse in the family, revenge, skeletons that come alive to speak prophetic oracles, Medusa with snakes for hair, slicing off heads, and poisonous scorpions.
  • Lying/keeping secrets from your parent or teacher. This is just part of a larger narrative where the kid just doesn’t make wise choices. He lies to his mother to “protect” her from things, ignore important details when taking with mentors, etc.
  • Disillusionment. The opening paragraphs pretend it’s all actually true.
  • Substance misuse. The step dad tends to have a beer, and Percy refers to magic mushrooms at one point.

Why then is it so popular?

  • Hope for an outcast kid. A kid with ADHD and dyslexia who has been rejected from schools finds out there is a good reason for it: he is half divine and isn’t meant to fit in this culture. It turns out he reads Greek perfectly and it turns out he is actually a hero-in-the-making. I can imagine kids love to identify with someone who seems worthless in our society actually becoming a hero.
  • Greek mythology integrated with modern times. I can imagine some classics teachers liking a story that will help kids remember that Ares is the god of war because they’ve seen him hopping on a motorcycle all tough-guy style, or that Athena is the goddess of wisdom because she’s the one who fell for a smart history professor and their half-blood child always has a clever plan.
  • Action-packed.  Even the chapter titles pique the reader’s interest and suggest something wild is going to happen.

Overall, I see the draw of building on Greek mythology to bring vibrant characters into an outcast kid’s surprising journey of identity. The book is exciting and mysterious. But the cynical, critical attitude of the main character, worship of false gods, and the loose treatment of sex makes me think twice about recommending it.

This book is also reviewed on ChristianParentReviews.com: https://christianparentreviews.com/book-reviews/Percy-Jackson-and-the-Olympians-The-Lightning-Thief