Skip to main content

The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2) by Rick Riordan

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Thor's hammer is missing and Magnus and his team must get it back or the end of the world will commence. 

 Category: YA 
Why I chose this book: Enjoyed Riordan's previous works, was trying to give the series a second chance 
My personal opinion (the review): Awful, awful, awful! I didn't like the first book in this series, but I have enjoyed Riordan in the past so I wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself. How wrong I was. First, Magnus is a terrible character and is written poorly. The pop culture references are so dated. There is quite a bit of LGBT references. This is the scene where I put the book down. Magnus has just met a new character - Alex:
“What did you mean earlier?” I asked. “When you said—”
“Call me she? I’m gender fluid and transgender, idiot. Look it up if you need to, but it’s not my job to educate—”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh, please. I saw your mouth hanging open.”
“Well, yeah. Maybe for a second. I was surprised. But…” I wasn’t sure how to continue without sounding like even more of an idiot.
The gender thing wasn’t what surprised me. A huge percentage of the homeless teens I’d met had been assigned one gender at birth but identified as another, or they felt like the whole boy/girl binary didn’t apply to them. They ended up on the streets because—shocker—their families didn’t accept them. Nothing says “tough love” like kicking your non-hetero-normative kid to the curb so they can experience abuse, drugs, high suicide rates, and constant physical danger. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
What surprised me was the way I’d reacted to Alex—how fast my impression of her had slingshot, and the kind of emotions that had stirred up. I wasn’t sure I could put that into words without turning as red as Mallory Keen’s hair."  

 This has no place in literature that is being marketed to middle schoolers. It just doens't. 

 I can't vouch for the validity of this since I didn't finish the book, but I found another review on goodreads that worries me further:

 "Final complaint, and this one guys is the taker of the cake: this series is apparently Rick Riordan's political and social platform and that's unacceptable. He starts us off with Transgenderism. Okay, I get that. He's progressively added things into his series' in the past so I can see and accept adding one new issue. But then he quickly moves onto religion. All of a sudden we're discussing the ins and outs of the Muslim religion and atheism... ok, it took me by surprise, especially considering I'm barely 1/4 of the way through the book. We're really discussing heavy topics. But then he takes a GIGANTIC stab at police officers. I was incredibly offended by this. I kept reading to see if he'd explain himself or share both sides of the issue??? Nope. He just says they are racist and out to hurt people if you're not careful. That's it. We're DONE. In the Kane Chronicles, we touched on race issues and I thought it was done in a classy low key kind of way. I admired that. This series though, ripped that admiration away. "

 I will not be picking up any Riordan books from here on out. He has lost a fan. 
Language: I seem to remember that there were a few words, but I'm writing this several months after reading it
Violence: The usual for Riordan
"Adult" situations: LGBT
Death: Nothing through the part I read

 For series:
Independent or integral: Integral 

Series review as a whole: Don't bother

If you only have time for one, read: Don't bother 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

By
Summary: Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. (Amazon) Attention Span/reading level: Perfect for my three year old. I would say that ages 2-10 would really enjoy something like this. It really keeps kids engaged and makes them feel like part of the story. There is one word to one sentence per page. Good uses for book in teaching: Interaction, that the reader takes part in making the story, what a tree can do (leaves, blossoms, fruit) Favorite part:      Child: The fact that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

By
Summary: Two mice make a teeter totter. Soon a frog comes along and wants to join. Can the mice balance all the friends who want to play with them? Attention Span/reading level: 3-6 years old, usually 5 or less words on a page Good uses for book in teaching: Balance, science Favorite part:      Child: When the frog joins in     Mine: That the mice keep playing at the end  Least favorite part: None:   W arnings/negative feedback: None.  Review: This is a really simple but fun way to introduce the idea of balancing and weight to kids. It's fun to show them how it must be equal on each side to balance. Showing that size can affect weight is shown on the page where all the animals are on one side with the big bird on the other. This could be a fun activity to replicate with toys if doing a science lesson at home. 
Post a Comment
Read more

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Vin relies on her fighting skills, and a little extra "luck" to survive in the thief's world. Then comes Kelsier, a master thief and planner, showing her that what she calls luck is really much more. Kelsier and his crew plan to use a variety of special powers to free an entire population of slaves, including themselves, from tyranny. But, as always, there's far more to the story. Category Science Fiction or Fantasy Why I chose this book Rated highly on the library site My personal opinion (the review) Definitely the best story I've read in the past year. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series. Special abilities, fighting, romance, social justice - this has it all. And not a single bad word or uncomfortable situation. Warnings Language: None Violence: frequent, some mildly graphic "Adult" situations: None Death: Some, and of major characters Movie rating equivalent PG-13 Protagon...
Post a Comment
Read more