Parents' Guide to

The Titan's Curse: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Exciting, fun sequel, but some sad deaths, too.

Book Rick Riordan Fantasy 2007
The Titan's Curse: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 7 parent reviews

daviddzapata
daviddzapata Adult
April 4, 2016
age 12+

Percy Jackson The Titans Curse Book Review

Percy is a half mortal half human he lives in camp half-blood where a lot of kids like himself go there. Percy is the son of Poseidon and is a hero at camp half-blood. He and three other friends are on the hunt to save a Goddess. I recommend this book to any kids 12 and up.
unknown65917
unknown65917 Adult
January 24, 2015
age 15+
Very good book. Too much violence and death, as well as sadness. A girl goes missing and another one dies, leaving her brother in grief. Mild cursing with words like heck, stupid, idiot, darn, a joke revolving around the word damn, and a boy who tells someone to shove something up their (rest was cut off). A mention of Thalia's mom being a heavy drinker that died drunk driving, and an activities director at camp forgets not to offer the underage campers wine.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In THE TITAN'S CURSE: PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, BOOK 3, Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover take a detour at winter break to pick up some half-bloods at a boarding school. It seems like an easy enough job: invade a school dance, pick up a brother and sister, be on their way back to camp. Only there's something fishy about the principal -- rather, something monster-y. And when he ambushes Percy outside the school as a powerful manticore with poisonous darts, everything goes wrong at once. Help arrives in the form of Artemis and her hunters who've been tracking the manticore, but it's not enough to save Annabeth who flies off the cliff with the evil principal. Percy is desperate to run after her, but Artemis convinces him that it would be no good, that she alone must go that night and track the big monsters that are being awakened by the stirring of the Titans. Artemis takes off and sends Percy, Thalia, Grover, and her hunters back to Camp Half-Blood. Like always, they await the guidance of the oracle in order to start a quest. And like always, what the oracle says doesn't sound good -- two heroes are meant to die!? As expected, Percy, who wants nothing more than to find Annabeth, is told to go home for Christmas instead.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (88 ):

While the monsters are getting deadlier and the stakes higher in this third book in the series, there's still plenty of fun to be had in Percy's third adventure. Zombie-like gun-toting warriors are on the chase across the country, but can be easily distracted by a good burrito fight. And in the middle of the desert in a very dangerous scrapyard, Aphrodite pops by with some astute warnings and, of course, embarrassing love advice for poor Percy who never asked.

These are all great distractions from the dire prophesy and all that wondering the reader will inevitably do about which two heroes will be the ones to die. The identity of the doomed is never clear, nor is it clear who the mysterious General is or why exactly the San Francisco Bay Area is such a dangerous place for half-bloods, not until the nail-biting finish. Author Rick Riordan's mythological world continues to build in intriguing ways, always headed straight toward Book 5's inevitable Greek gods vs. Titans showdown. And with all the burrito fights and other fun detours, readers will be in no hurry to see the saga end.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about fatal flaws in The Titan's Curse. In Book 2 we find out Annabeth's is hubris. Why does Athena say Percy's fatal flaw is personal loyalty? How can this be a bad thing?

  • While this series stays lighter with the use of humor -- and burrito fights -- there are two major deaths in Book 3. They are mentioned in the prophecy many times, but is it still jarring? Did you expect the deaths that happened?

  • Will you read more of this series? What do you think is next for Percy and friends? What other mythological monsters do you think they will fight?

  • If you had to cross the country on one of the magical modes of transport in this story, which would you choose? Apollo's train? A giant boar? A Pegasus? A sea cow? A monster-infested cruise ship?

Book Details

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