I'm Ranking Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series Because I Crave Chaos

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Hi, how's everyone doing today?

If you’ve ever dived deep into RHRML, then you may know my first ever post was a review of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. The Percy Jackson series was my jam back in middle school. Like so many others, I absolutely love this series. So much so that I don’t think I will ever finish reviewing the series. I don’t think I could ever give it an objective review. So that’s why I’m ranking it instead!

Yes that’s right, I am ranking all five of the original Percy Jackson books. No Trials of Apollo or The Heroes of Olympus here. Perhaps one day I will rank those series as well, but it is not that day. First I must actually read the Trials of Apollo series.

Before I get to my ranking, I have but a few notes. This is my personal opinion, this is all very subjective. My thoughts will likely differ from the majority of all of you. Don’t get offended when my favorites aren’t the same as yours and I end up ranking them at the bottom. But please drop your ranking in the comment section. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this iconic series. With that, let’s get ranking.

5. Kicking off my ranking is The Titan’s Curse. In five book series, I tend to find the middle book to be my least favorite. I don’t have an overarching answer as to why. I simply find book three out of five tends to drag no matter what series I’m reading. In the case of The Titan’s Curse, I dislike the book for the lack of Annabeth. She is one of my favorite book girlies, she is my favorite main character of the Percy Jackson series, and she’s sadly missing from the action in The Titan’s Curse. So for the lack of Annabeth, The Titan’s Curse has to sit at number five; even though it’s not bad by any means.

4. For the next two spots, the titles are kinda tied. They aren’t my absolute favorites, but they definitely aren’t my least favorites. So at number four we have The Battle of the Labyrinth. Based on my thoughts of The Titan’s Curse, you would think an Annabeth led book would rank higher. I am nothing if not inconsistent. I only rank book four this low because I have preferred reads, and because of the love triangle drama between Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel. We all know Percy and Annabeth are soulmates, Rachel as a possible love interest is pointless. I knew that way back when during my pre-teen years when I read the series for the first time.

3. Tied for the fourth/third spot is The Sea of Monsters. It is a great second entry to the series, but again, I have preferred reads in this series. I think The Sea of Monsters does a great job at expanding the world, lore, and adding in new characters. I have no qualms with this entry. The top two just can’t be beat.

2. At number two, we have the one and only: The Lightning Thief! The book that started it all. It is utter perfection. It’s funny, it’s clever, it’s everything I want from an urban fantasy book. Had this book sucked, the rest of the series would have never been born. Putting The Lightning Thief any lower would be sacrilege.

1. Finally, in the number one spot, is The Last Olympian! You know how I said The Lightning Thief is perfection? Well The Last Olympian is a step above perfection. I don't know what that would be called, but The Last Olympian is indeed whatever that word is. I have never read an ending of a series that has ticked all the boxes. Most series finales make me sad because they don’t live up to my expectations, but this one does! The Last Olympian is a beautiful, satisfying end to the Percy Jackson series.

Thus endeth our list! Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. It's time I bid you all adieu. I will see you all again next week with a new review. If you can’t wait till then, then you can always check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. Me and two of my dearest friends talk everything under the sun. Wanna hear us talk about Scooby-Doo? We’ve got you covered. Wanna deep dive into weird moments of history or hear about some weird people from history? We have a whole playlist. Wanna talk Disney? We have a whole series on that as well. Wanna talk Barbie? Don’t worry, we talk about her too. You can find Nothing to See Hear on both Spotify and YouTube.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!