My Fantabulous Bookshelf: House of Hades

"Hazel stands at a crossroads. She and the remaining crew of the Argo II could return home with the Athena Parthenos statue and try to stop Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter from going to war. Or they could continue their quest to find the House of Hades, where they might be able to open the Doors of Death, rescue their friends Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus, and prevent monsters from being reincarnated in the mortal world. Whichever road they decide to take, they have to hurry, because time is running out. Gaea, the bloodthirsty Earth Mother, has set the date of August 1 for her rise to power.

Annabeth and Percy are overwhelmed. How will the two of them make it through Tartarus? Starving, thirsty, and in pain, they are barely able to stumble on in the dark and poisonous landscape that holds new horrors at every turn. They have no way of locating the Doors of Death. Even if they did, a legion of Gaea's strongest monsters guards the Doors on the Tartarus side. Annabeth and Percy can't exactly launch a frontal assault.

Despite the terrible odds, Hazel, Annabeth, Percy and the other demigods of the prophecy know that there is only one choice: to attempt the impossible. Not just for themselves, but for everyone they love. Even though love can be the riskiest choice of all."

This book just has all of the feels. From Percy to Bob to Nico to Leo. It makes you cry and laugh and everything in between. Props to Rick Riordan for the writing in this. I don't know if it evoked this much feeling in me primarily because I am so invested in this series or just the fact that the book was written so well. The only problem I have is the fact that each character has their own personalized backstory and problems which is somewhat difficult to keep track of.

I've been a Percabeth shipper since the very beginning, since the first encounter "You drool in your sleep". So seeing them progress through their relationship is just such a journey to watch. Annabeth hating him in the first book to loving him in this one. Watching them go through tartarus together and make it out alive, along with all the small dialogues in between. Even in the deepest and darkest pits of hell, Percy can still make Annabeth smile.

Moving on to the new breakthrough characters: Leo, Bob and Nico. Ever since Caleo happened, I can't stop loving him. He is so perfect. I literally have nothing else to say about him except GO TEAM LEO! Nico. Oh god Nico. Why Rick why must you torture me? Everyone saw it coming, I couldn't believe it. But it all makes sense. Even then, you have to feel some kind of pity for the guy. He just doesn't belong, in any world. Some will argue it's because he doesn't try others will completely disagree with me, but it's true. He's not from this time period, he's gay (spoiler) and he's a son of hades. As for the whole 'loving-percy-and-not-being-able-to-have-him' I completely understand (except for me he's not real). He saved Percy so many times, in so many ways but Percy will never feel the same way. I can feel the hurt he feels whenever he sees percabeth together and its so heartbreaking.

AND BOB. OHMIGOD DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HIM. I was legitimately sobbing when Bob stayed back to let Percy and Annabeth go. He is so innocent and adorable. He made Percy look like a complete jerk, who forgot to visit him. And the last line "Bob says hello." had been sobbing. He and Leo need to get their own spinoff series so I can fangirl some more, like I haven't enough already.