Untitled Middle Grade Novel 1153

An okay installation. I haven't picked up a Rick Riordan book for at least a year now and was looking forward to this book. It was definitely more emotionally deep than I expected, with a more detailed look into Nico's past scars, with some mentions of the struggle with coming out as well. There was also much more relationship-related stuff than Percy Jackson novels.??

The book was able to juggle both the quest with the heavier topic of facing your inner demons. Will and Nico are one of my favorite couples, and I'm glad to see their characters develop throughout the book. And yes they fought, but talked it out later (communication for the win!!). I was surprised to see the villain was Nyx, since she was ancient, powerful, and one book was definitely not enough to defeat her but I was wrong and she was dealt with nicely. I also really liked the inclusion of Will and Nico's little ‘stories' about their relationship. The struggle between Will and Nico and trying to accept each other's different judgments on the Underworld was real. Persephone, though, unexpected savior??
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But some issues held me back. First, Will. I didn't like that Will's POV suddenly popped up in chapter 10. As the book went on, Will's POV kept popping up randomly. It was really abrupt and hard to adjust, especially if the last couple chapters were all Nico. Also, I feel like Nico's portion took over most of the time. Will didn't really get to shine as much. Persephone said Will should share his darkness. That never happened or was elaborated on. Will felt alone sometimes too. What? When? Why? Answered only briefly and in one sentence.

Second, the pacing. The plot dragged on for the first half because they were all dominated by dreams and flashbacks, so the quest barely made any progress, then really accelerated in the second half. Plus the switches between the present and the dreams were a bit messy and confusing.??

Third, the writing style. Maybe it's just me because this is YA and I've basically been consuming adult fiction for the past months, and now I'm older than when I first came upon Percy Jackson, I feel that the dialogue did get cringey at times. Naming the cacodemons ‘Cocoa Puffs' ? Really? And the babyish nicknames...please. Imo it was too childish. I believe that Nico, who's about 14-15, and Will, who's a year older, would use more grown-up vocabulary.?? Especially since they've been through multiple battles and should have a more mature mentality. And honestly the fighting just felt...anti-climactic. Maybe because it was co-authored? I haven't read a Mark Oshiro ever before, so the writing may be understandably strange. It didn't help that a lot of the plot entailed of trudging back and forth and sleeping.
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Another thing: this book is best for people who've read the all prior series (Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Trials of Apollo). There were a lot of mentions and appearances of other characters from those said series that new readers would definitely not know about. I didn't read the last 2 books in ToA, so there were characters and events referenced that I didn't get.

I know that many people loved this book, but it didn't hit the spot for me, so 3.5 stars it is.

can goddesses even??get hay fever?