I have finished reading The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Book One. This is the start of the Percy Jackson series written by Rick Riordan. I was given this book by Bradley Smith, Thank you Bradley!

This book has a great plot. It was full of suspense, had some surprising twists and left me wanting more. It is exactly what a first book in a series should be. in my opinion the plot is the best part of this book. I hope the rest of the series can stay at this level.

The Lightning Thief is set in modern day New York, Long Island to be precise. Rick Riordan describes this setting in a way that makes it easy to picture in my head. I felt like I could almost see the lunch tables at the boarding school in the opening of the book.

The characters in this book are well developed. It is easy to understand their purpose and motivations. I like the way that they interacted with each other, it seemed very realistic. I also liked the way they resolved the problems they encountered.

Overall I would give The Lightning Thief a 9 out of 10 rating, because nothing is perfect, but this book is pretty close. I would recommend this book to friends but think it is best for ages 12 and up. It is 375 pages long, which might be a bit much for younger readers, plus the story has some advanced grammar.