The Burning Maze : The Trials of Apollo book #3 by Rick Riordan - Book Review (no spoilers)

I had started reading this series years ago, and I honestly did not remember which book I was on. So I decided to read the plot summary of the first two books and started the third, not fully understanding what was happening. As I read this book, I began to realise that I had read it before (and definitely NOT read the second), but thankfully I didn't remember what was going to happen next, and merely had faint recollections of the characters and places while I was reading a certain part.

I love Rick Riordan's books, and this was no different. As far as plots go, this one wasn't the best, but it didn't matter. His writing style is such that it keeps us hooked to the story no matter what. He is witty, and all his jokes are actually funny. I loved the haikus at the beginning of each chapter. They summed up the chapter perfectly, without spoiling it, and were hilarious. The Arrow of Dodona's 'Shakespearean lingo' was fun to read. The author's books are rich in situational comedy, and the occasional pun adds to his already amusing books. 

It was funny how much Apollo hated his human body, aka Lester Papadopoulos. He never failed to point out its shortcomings and got exasperated whenever he failed to perform. The occasional references to his time on Mount Olympus and random incidents with the other Gods were cleverly written. Every so often something reminded him of Ares' embarrassing fails or Hereme's style (or lack thereof) and the details made the book nicer. Meg was well developed too, and her dialogues always suited her personality. We had enough details about her to get an idea of how she was. I had never liked Piper much in other series, but she seemed better in this book. 

Well, this book was great. The story was good and certain things really surprised me (yeah I'd read the book before but turns out I didn't remember anything). Most things were predictable but it was satisfying when they happened, and the feeling of knowing that Apollo would win in the end, no matter what happened, was somehow not as frustrating as I would've thought. The main characters kept getting into seemingly impossible situations and it was exciting to read about how the author got them out. 

I am definitely reading the next book sometime. Everyone was excited about having Reyna in the fourth book, but I don't remember her much despite having read Heroes of Olympus thrice. Maybe I should read it again.