The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Book: The Hidden Oracle
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: The Trials of Apollo
Goodreads

Plot:
How do you punish an immortal?
By making him human.
After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.
But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

My thoughts:

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I am an absolute sucker for Greek mythology.  The Percy Jackson books (also by Riordan) are among my all-time favorites.  I loved revisiting Camp Half Blood and discovering Camp Jupiter in the Heroes of Olympus books. So I was beyond thrilled to find out Riordan had written another book in this universe.

The shining star of this book for me (pun was really not intentional bus I'll keep it) was Apollo.   I found him both irritatingly vain and increasingly endearing.  He was the same Apollo - with the same ego - from the Percy Jackson books, but this time suffering from mortality and acne. I loved the way each chapter started with a haiku, as a throwback to the Percy Jackson books where Apollo spoke only in haiku.

Apollo as narrator is what kept this book interesting for me.  The plot, though different than the norm due to Apollo's condition, didn't feel THAT different or fresh. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed getting immersed in the world of the demigods again (though since this was Apollo narrating, I would have loved some more first-hand accounts of the gods of Olympus) and the cameos of old favorites made the book feel like home.  But the plot didn't grip me the way I expected it to.

 I liked this book, but I didn't love it as much as I absolutely adored the previous two series.  But I will still be eagerly awaiting the next instalment!