The Sun and the Star

by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

This one is from the Percy Jackson universe, and it’s about one of my favorite characters, son of Hades, demigod Nico di Angelo. I unabashedly love Rick Riordan’s books—they feature kids with one godly parent and one human parent. They begin with Greek gods, and that’s where we are again with this adventure. Nico di Angelo, as the son of Hades, has visited The Underworld many times and feels quite at home in “the darkness.” Poor Nico has been through a whole lot in his 15 years, and he unfortunately has a lot of experience with grief. He cannot seem to get a moment of peace as he is summoned back to the scariest realm in The Underworld by a prophecy. He knows he has to go save a good soul trapped in the worst place.

I wanted to like this book. I love Nico. I want him to find happiness and joy and light. But oh gods, as Nico and friends would say, this was a slog. Saccharine at times, boring at others. I could tell when I was supposed to feel suspense or joy or whatever, but I just never felt much. Keep in mind that I love the YA genre, have no problem reading books meant for “kids,” and love Riordan’s other books. My suspicion is that the extremely busy Rick Riordan is truly the secondary author here, as this is the first of his books to disappoint me so badly. I can’t remember a Riordan book I wasn’t at least glad to have read. He has a knack for creating characters who come to life, but these were flat on the page. A plot summary of this one would have been nicer and saved me some time. Skip it. I’ll tell you what happens if you want to know more of Nico’s story—I really did, which is the only reason I finished this book.