Book Survey: Greek Mythology Style!

Hi guys :)

A few days ago, I saw this thing over at panda hearts books, and since I thought it seemed fun, I decided that I wanted to try it out myself. :)

This survey was created by Flip That Page, and the main idea of the whole thing is that you have to answer a number of questions, one for each god/character from Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson and the Olympians-series.

Great, right? :)

To narrow it down and make it a bit easier, I have decided to only pick my answers from the books I read in 2013, and also, I can’t pick the same book twice, though I can use characters from a book I have mentioned elsewhere. You can, of course, do it however you like :).

But yeah, let’s get started :)

Gods of Olympus

Zeus (Jupiter)

God of the Sky and Thunder / King of the Gods

Favorite book (choose your own category!): I think most of us readers have, at one point or another, come across the so-called “curse of the second book”. You know, when the first book is absolutely stunning….and the second is just..meh. Not necessarily bad, but somehow less than its predecessor. Well, my chosen category for this question is: Favourite second book in a series. And for that, I’ll have to choose The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. It was just as amazing, if not even more so, than The Raven Boys, and I absolutely loved it!

Poseidon (Neptune)

God of the Seas and Earthquakes

Book that drowned you in feels: 2013 was definitely an emotional book year for me, so I have quite a few to choose from, but I think The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is the one that hit me hardest. I cried while reading it, I cried for like an hour after I had finished it, and thinking about it now almost makes me cry again. This book is mother freaking beautiful and horrible, and if you plan on reading it (like you should), prepare yourself!

Hades (Pluto)

God of the Underworld

Favorite book with a dark / ominous plot: For this, I think I’ll have to pick The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. The whole book is so dark, eerie, and just plain creepy, and I don’t recall there being a single moment of pure optimism. Awesome!

Hera (Juno)

Goddess of Marriage and Family

Cutest fictional couple: I think you can agree with me when I say that Eleanor and Park, from Rainbow Rowell’s amazing book Eleanor & Park, is one cute couple. I mean, really, like bake me in a pie and feed me to a unicorn-adorable. They were so awkward and sweet, and their relationship just felt so…real.  Aah, teenage love.

Athena(Minerva)

Goddess of Wisdom, Handicraft and Strategic Warfare

Series with the best world-building: One series with, according to me, absolutely gorgeous world-building, is Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Seriously, the war machines, the beasties, and well, everything. Honestly guys, I can’t express my love for this series enough. Scott Westerfeld’s  twentieth-century Europe is definitely a place I would want to visit (though, after the war is over)!. (please, someone make this into an anime!)

(Plus, the absolutely brilliant Keith Thompson has made this world reality through his illustrations!)

Aphrodite (Venus)

Goddess of Love and Beauty

Most beautiful cover on a 2014 release: Dude, have you taken a look at Cress by Marissa Meyer lately? 

I rest my case.

Ares (Mars)

God of War and Bloodshed

Most violent book you’ve ever read: VIOLENCE, WOO!

Just kidding, kids, violence is bad, bad, bad…but when it’s in books, I LOVE have no problem with it. And, though it isn’t the most violent book I have EVER read, Blood Red Road by Moira Young definitely has a lot of violence, action, fighting, and kick-ass characters in it. If you’re into that sort of thing, and haven’t already read it, go check it out ;).

Hephaestus (Vulcan)

God of Blacksmiths and Fire

Scorching hot swoon worthy character: Aah…boys in literature, I do love you so. The problem here is that most of you are so awesome in your own personal ways, that it is real hard for me to only pick one. If I had to, though, I think I’ll have to go with mr Adrian Ivashkov from the Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy and Bloodlines-series. Adrian is so charming and funny, and I’ll always have a soft spot for him. Honestly, so far I don’t think I’ve ever come across anyone who haven’t loved this guy. Swooon!

Artemis (Diana)

Goddess of the Hunt and Virginity

Favorite Kick-Ass Heroine: Oh, dear. Why would you ask  this of me? Hmm…maybe? no…or…but she…and she just BAM…damn it! Okay, yeah, I think I would pick Deryn Sharp (or Saba, Tris, Annabeth, Scarlet, Cinder…sshh, don’t tell anyone I cheated) from Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan-trilogy. She’s so cool, confident, brave, funny and daring, and I absolutely love her!

I mean, no problem, I’m just going to sit here in the sky like a freaking badass.

Phoebus Apollo (Apollo)

God of Light and Healing

Sequel book that redeemed its series: I’m not one of those people who keep reading a series even though I didn’t like the first one, so I don’t have a lot to pick from here. I guess…it would have to be The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. Don’t get me wrong, The Lost Hero wasn’t bad or anything, I really liked it…it just didn’t manage to make me super excited about the series, which the second one did. Now I love The Heroes of Olympus just as much as Percy Jackson and the Olympians. :)

Hermes (Mercury)

Messenger God of Thieves and Commerce

Book with the best message: To me, Eleanor & Park is a book with a very important message. It talks, among a lot of other things as well, about accepting yourself, learning not to care what other people think about you, and just do what makes you happy and comfortable with your own life. I also think it shows the reader that someone out there will always find you beautiful, and that there is someone who is just right for you. God, this book is amazing.

Hestia (Vesta)

Goddess of the Hearth and Home

Book with the most relatable story: Well, this is easy. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is, hands down, one of the most relatable books ever. Sure, yeah, I can’t say that I can relate to Cath’s life (not in college, don’t write fan fiction, never been very close to my sibling, etc) that much, but I can relate to the things she feel. I’m not the kind of person who’s comfortable about meeting new people, and I’m still best friends with the same person that I went home with every day in kindergarten. If I went to college, there’s a huge chance I would just hang out in my room alone and read, even though I’d secretly wish for someone to come and drag me out into the real world. I can also really understand her obsession with Simon Snow, I feel the same about basically…everything. Seriously, I don’t “like”, I obsess.

Demeter (Ceres)

Goddess of Fertility and Agriculture

Favorite bookish setting: I love the 19th century. I love England. I love supernatural stuff. I love steampunk. You see where I’m going with this? Yes! Of course I’m talking about the world of miss Alexia Tarabotti, created by Gail Carriger. This world is sooo much fun and ridiculous, so proper and scandalous at the same time, and I would do anything to visit there myself.

Dionysus (Bacchus)

God of Wine and Celebration

2014 / 2015 release you are most anticipating: The Blood of Olympus, duh ;). This book can seriously not get released soon enough! October, please come quick!

Heroes of Olympus

Percy Jackson

a brave, spirited natural leader with a sarcastic sense of humor, and a will to save friends and enemies alike

Favorite protagonist: Oh, man, and I thought favourite heroine was a hard one. So..many…awesome..protagonists…to choose from. Ugh! (this is very serious business to me) Oh, well, I don’t want to pick Percy or one of the other characters I have already mentioned, so I guess I would have to pick…Kami Glass from The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan. She’s very different from, let’s say Tris or Deryn, but kick-ass in her own way. She’s so resourceful, funny, adorable and super likeable, so yeah, I would definitely say she’s one of my favourite protagonists from last year. :)

Annabeth Chase

intellectual genius with a strong mind, brave heart, and a love for architecture

Series / book with the cleverest plot: You simply cannot talk about clever plots without mentioning the amazing Percy Jackson and the Olympians-series by Rick Riordan. All the prophesies, the adventures, the mythology…it’s all so damn cleverly put together! Seriously perfection!

Jason Grace

 has a moderate sense of humor, but a strong sense of honor, justice and compassion, often described as perfect

Book with an epic finale: I don’t want to get into any spoilers, but the finale of The Mark of Athena, again by Rick Riordan, was definitely epic. Let’s just say that it ended with a real cliff-hanger…(yeah, I know, that joke has never been made before)

Piper McLean

aggressive and persuasive but down to earth, caring and loving towards Jason, her friends and family

Book with a tempting synopsis (one you haven’t read!): One of the books I’m most tempted to read at the moment, is Vicious by Victoria Schwab. The synopsis sounds really intriguing, and exactly like something I would enjoy. :)

(Taken from Goodreads)

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

Leo Valdez

good-natured and energetic, funny but intelligent, honest and witty, and is skilled with machines

Book that made you laugh: When it comes to books, it’s kind of rare that I laugh out loud (most of the time I just blow out air through my nose a bit harder), but there are some exceptions, one of them being Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. I’ve already talked about how much I love the main character, Kami, and she made this book so much fun to read. I laughed quite a bit while reading it, and some of the more bizarre parts were just hilarious. :)

Hazel Levesque

bright  and outgoing despite an unfortunate childhood, is mature for her age and has a love for horseback riding

Favorite character with a tragic past: For this one, I’ll have to pick Seth from More Than This by Patrick Ness. Reading about his life before made me really sad, and at one point it caused me to cry by my locker at school…

Frank Zhang

somewhat shy, cynical, and clumsy, though he possesses a strong sense of duty, loyalty, and love

Book you loved more than you thought you would: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld…yeah, I know right. I was absolutely certain I wouldn’t like it, and almost returned to the library without even cracking it open, but since so many people seemed to like it, I decided to give it a fair chance to impress me. Thank you people who talked about it on the internet! Without you, I would have seriously missed out on something.

Nico di Angelo

grim, solitary, powerful and mysterious, highly unpredictable and selectively affectionate

Most mysterious character you’ve ever encountered: Definitely the Grey Man from Maggie Stiefvater’s The Dream Thieves. Man, that guy was mysterious alright! What I found so interesting about his character, was that I really had no idea what he looked like. In my head, he was just this grey kinda faceless guy, and it was a really fun reading experience. :)

Grover Underwood

cheerful, upbeat and protective satyr who chews on furniture when he gets nervous

Book you won’t read due to warnings against them: Hmm…I guess that would be Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Though some people absolutely loves it, I’ve heard that it’s really similar to Vampire Academy (like, reeaally similar, to the point of almost being the exact same), and ever since I heard that, I completely lost any interest in reading it.

Clarisse La Rue

arrogant and hot-tempered, but brave, strong and protective of camp

Most annoying character: No question about it, the most annoying character I encountered last year, was Jeb from Splintered by A. G. Howard. 99 % of the time he was either in the way, held back the awesomeness that was Alyssa, or was a pain in the ass. No, if he’d stayed home instead of tagging along, I would have done cartwheels.

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And that’s it! :) See you again soon. :)

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