The Serpent's Shadow, a review by cutiegreek333

The Serpent's Shadow (Book 3 in the Kane Chronicles)

Author: Rick Riordan

Format: Hardcover

Price: $19.99 @ B&N

Dear Blog Reader,
This book is about Carter and Sadie Kane saving the world from an impending apocalypse. The chaos snake, Apophis, is planning on swallowing the sun, and Carter and Sadie must capture it's shadow and drive it from the our world. Plus both of them have their own challenges to face. Carter must accept that he was chosen for power, his crush (Zia) might be lost forever by hosting Ra (the sun god/king of the gods), and he is in charge of a psychopathic ghost magician who is basically the only one who holds the key to defeating Apophis -- the catch -- this magician will do anything to gain power including dealing with an evil apocalypse snake and killing Carter and Sadie. Sadie has to deal with her mortal crush, Walt dying from an ancient curse that has no cure, and her immortal crush, Anubis, the god of death, being declared off-limits. Sadie also must save her godly friend Bes (the god of dwarfs and ugly) by saving his shadow, she needs Walt's help but the spell might be too much for him. With the help of the hunting goddess and Sadie's quick thinking (who knew Jelly Babies were evil?) Sadie and Walt must track down Bes' shadow. But will that be Walt's last stand?Add this plus a giant blue god named Hapi, an old god retirement home, and a murderous ship captain whose head is a double sided axe and you get another great work of Riordan fiction.


Theme:
I believe the theme is stick together and you will endure.

Strengths/Weaknesses:
I believe the strengths of this book are the multi-pov between Sadie and Carter. Another strength is Riordan's descriptions of Anubis from Sadie's perspective, and from Carter's perspective. The only thing I see wrong with the book is how much it is alike to the Percy Jackson series, but no worries, they are different enough to be separate books.

Ending thoughts:
I thought the ending was kind of abrupt. But other than that it was beautiful.

Rating:
I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 chocolate bars.
This book is appropriate for any age but it is about 6th grade reading level or higher.
Cover thoughts: The cover accurately describes one of the climactic scenes in the book but doesn't give away too much about that scene or the book in general.

Yours Truly,
Cutiegreek333