Benjamin Knepp

Percy Jackson was my absolute favorite book series for all of my childhood. I read the series over and over, and my love for the Percy Jackson books lead me to read all of Rick Riordan’s other works in his mythological universe. Needless to say, I am a huge fan of his works. With that said, I do not like this (his) show. For a man who discredited the movies for being inaccurate to the books, Riordan could’ve listen to that sentiment closer in making the show. It does a much better job than the movies of sticking to the plot and events, but the majority of my time watching the show was spent shaking my head because they got events or plot lines wrong. I was so excited because in the creation of the show it was advertised to be in essence just a live action version of the book, but it’s definitely not that. The disappointment from the build up was horrible for me. Almost all of the characters were also wrong in their defining features or personalities. The inconsistencies in characters between the book and series are not just a racial thing either- that’s not what bothers me. I just don’t see the people that the book portrays them to be in most of the characters of the show. Lastly, it feels very rushed. I understand that it’s hard to fit all of the book events into a show, but I feel they could have done it better so it flowed more. There are redeeming qualities, however. Chiron, Sally Jackson, and Percy are casted well. Chiron and Sally fit their characters perfectly in both physical description and personality. While Percy isn’t how he was physically described in the books, Walker Scobell naturally has Percy’s sarcasm and demeanor, so he fits the character well. It is also not a terrible show all around. I don’t like it because it isn’t the story that I grew up loving. To anyone who hasn’t read the books I’m sure it is a good series. The future of the show is also exciting because the seasons are supposed to align with each of the books in the Percy Jackson collection, so it will likely be a very rounded show overall. This is a lengthy review no doubt so I will sum all this up by saying: The show is disappointing. It doesn’t follow the books as closely as advertised and leaves more to be desired from the directors and actors. It’s not the worst show in existence though, and is not that bad of a kids show for anyone who didn’t read the books.