Where do I start? I am a huge Rick Riordan fangirl. And I think he knocked it out of the park again. Magnus is much like original Percy. He's snarky, he's sassy and he has no respect for the gods. But he's not an exact Percy clone, he has his own personality. He spent the last two years of his life homeless after his mother's death. He's looked after by two other homeless guys, one who is deaf and uses ASL. The main characters all sign and it's talked about as if it's no big deal. I love that. Magnus's Valkyrie is a Muslim girl who wears a hijab, but that's not the ONLY thing about her. Sam can and will kick your ass if you threaten her friends and family. 
 I LOVED the PJO series, and Riordan brings back some of that fun with the chapter titles again! I love his chapter titles, especially chapter 48 titled "Hearthstone Passes Out Even More than Jason Grace (Though I Have No Idea Who That Is)". He went back to first person narration, which I think works. I loved the multiple PoVs in HoO but I'm glad to be back to first person narration with this series. 
 I also liked the connection to Annabeth, but where was my mention of Percy?! I can't wait to see if there's going to be a full on crossover or if it'll be more like Percy/Kane Chronicles. Either way, it's going to be a fun ride, and this was a great first installment.