Percy Jackson and the Olympians: A Guide to Gods & Monsters

by Peters True Stephanie

Genres: Mythology, Middle Grade, Fantasy

128 pages, Hardcover

Published June 3, 2025

Reviews

[Ana Beatriz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty shallow. I guess makes sense considering the target audience would be younger children who were introduced to the Riordanverse/Greek mythology in general through the Disney show, as it doesn't even mention anything that could be a spoiler for Sea of Monsters and the rest of the series. I mean, some of the illustrations are straight up scenes from the show.

It was not written by Rick Riordan so (obviously) the writing does not have his characteristic humor. There were some attempts to mimic it but in my opinion they were not successful.

That being said, I loved the illustration and the book's design. I do think that the Greek Gods and Greek Heroes books written by Rick are way better and wish they would have made hardcover illustrated editions of those instead of writing a new guide.

That being said, I do think it is successful if you ignore the books and consider it to be a companion to the TV show. It only contains the very basic information which is displayed in an intuitive and organic way so it's easy for kids to understand. Besides, if they haven't read the PJO books they won't know what they're missing out on in terms of the writing.

[helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

gorgeous, gorgeous illustrations

[Alexis Coy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay book if you never interacted with any of the Percy Jackson books :/

[Cassie G. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should’ve paid better attention to the cover of this book, because this is just a cash grab for those whose only exposure into the Percy Jackson universe thus far is the show on Disney+.

It’s not even written by Rick Riordan, for the gods’ sake!

Information given in this “guide” is faithful to the show rather than the books. Many of the added notes about the gods and/or monsters are specific to additions or changes made within the show.

“The Ultimate Guide,” “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods,” or “Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes” are far better reads.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ricks books and Greek Mythology

[Raquel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not an actual Percy Jackson book. I got tricked by the cover and logo. It was the most meh book ever. A mid 2.5 stars but rounded down. It is extremely shallow and just a surface level of Greek Mythology content. Not engaging and nothing new. I would highly prefer any actual Rick Riordan book over this one.

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun little book that makes you feel like your in the Percy Jackson world. The guide books seems to be 'given' to us right after the events in the first book of the Percy Jackson series. I think there is a lot of tie ins with the show, mainly the imagery. I may be a little confused about how persephone and Dionysus are connected. this is the first time I've heard of her being his mom. I mainly know Persephone to sometimes be Zeus's daughter. I know of one story where Zeus disguises himself as Hades and sleeps with Persephone resulting in Zagreus (although their is some connection between Zag and Dionysus mainly because of a rebirth aspect they share). Other than my own confusion on that, this book was really fun.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't realize this wasn't written by Rick Riordan. I never would have purchased it if I had. The author fell incredibly short in all aspects, especially literary talent. They failed to capture even a slight bit of Rick Riordan's enormous talent at spinning a tale and engaging readers of all ages. If you just want a ridiculously short overview containing practically zero information about the Greek gods/monsters/myths, however, you might enjoy this book. I doubt it, though. Honestly, I would recommend just skipping this nonsense entirely and finding something that's actually entertaining and educational. Better yet, just go read or re-read any of Rick's novels - it's a better use of your time.

[Talia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally what it says. A guide to gods and monsters in the Percy Jackson universe. Well the show for this one but you know what I mean. Very interesting to read about ig? It's just info about Greek Mythology guys! As a Mythology lover, I enjoyed this and the illustrations. I don't know what else to say.

[RC DoMinion · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh