Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Another thrilling adventure, this time in the underworld.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
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Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 15 parent reviews
Based on 141 kid reviews
Kids say that this book offers an exciting and intense adventure that captures their imagination, but also includes themes that may be scary for younger readers due to its violence and dark settings like Tartarus. Additionally, many reviews emphasize the importance of representation, celebrating the LGBTQ+ characters and encouraging acceptance and understanding, while expressing frustration at the negative responses from some adults about these themes.
- adventure
- representation
- mature themes
- acceptance
- character depth
- emotional impact
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
Seven demigods on an ultimate quest in THE HOUSE OF HADES to keep the Earth goddess Gaea from rising again hit the most dangerous leg of their journey so far. At least, Annabeth and Percy do when they fall straight into the underworld of Tartarus. They must cross the most miserable place imaginable, which is teeming with scary monsters, and somehow get to the Doors of Death on the other side without being noticed by all those scary monsters. Their guide: Bob the janitor, a now-jovial giant whose mind was erased of all demigod-related ill will in the Lethe River. He can wield a broom against evil enemies like nobody's business. Still flying along in the Argo II, Leo's fabulous ship, are the rest of the demigods who have promised to meet them on the outside of the Doors of Death. They have only a couple of weeks to get to the town of Epirus at the House of Hades, where the living try to connect with the dead. Standing in their way: mountain giants hurling rocks, giant hungry turtles, jilted wind gods, flying twin dwarves who love shiny things, cow-like monsters that spew poisonous gas ... the list goes on. Everyone must use their talents to get to the Doors of Death on time, or the monsters will keep coming into the mortal world, and Percy and Annabeth could be stranded on the other side forever.
Is It Any Good?
There's something about reading every single Percy Jackson book that feels as if you're at a sporting event, rooting for your home team (Rome! Greece! Beat those Titans!) with loads of pride. Each season the players get better and better, some coming off the bench for the first time and scoring the winning whatever—basket, touchdown, giant death blow. It's time to get out those pom-poms again: The home team brings it in THE HOUSE OF HADES, especially Frank and Hazel in the mortal world and Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus. And Leo—yes, he finally meets someone! No more brooding over Hazel. And Piper with those wind gods? Rah, rah, rah!
It's a Herculean task to put all seven demigods in the spotlight at least once and make it count. Rick Riordan somehow manages to keep everyone's story pretty interesting, though Jason's role seems slightly less compelling considering he's the son of Zeus. It's also a huge task to take two favorite characters into an abyss of misery and despair and keep it a book for tweens and teens. Here's an extra rah-rah for Bob the jovial janitor for lightening things up in the underworld.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about their favorite demigods in The House of Hades. Of course it's hard not to root for Percy and Annabeth, because they're in the worst place imaginable, but who else is a standout in this book?
Why do you think Rick Riordan added more diversity to the Heroes of Olympus series, with characters of different races and backgrounds and a gay character? Do you prefer to read about characters similar to you, or different from you? Why?
Cupid doesn't appear as a cuddly baby in diapers to the demigods. How is he portrayed? How does his portrayal fit this story?
Talk about the deep courage the demigods show in their time in Tartarus. How do they continue to be brave in the face of such scary and hard circumstances? When have you had to be very brave? How did you manage it?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Superheroes , Friendship
- Character Strengths : Courage
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Disney-Hyperion
- Publication date : October 8, 2013
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 10 - 17
- Number of pages : 608
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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