I loved this book. I was a little hesitant at first, simply because everyone I have asked about The Lighting Thief has raved about it and you see all the fandom postings on Pinterest and Tumblr. I've become wary of such fanaticism especially over a book or series I have yet to read for myself. But Lighting Thief lives up to the hype. It is excellently written to the point where I forgot I was reading. I forgot I was sitting in my bedroom with the wind uprooting the trees outside my window. I was at Camp Half-Blood. I was battling monsters and reaffirming my belief that Cerberus isn't such a bad dog after all. 
 The way the words were placed together made this book so easy to read. I could see everything that Rick Riordan was describing and even some of the things he left out. I'm left with a lot of questions and not a lot of answers which would normally frustrate me, but there's several more books left and I have all of them already, so I'll find out rather soon what I want to know. 
 The premise reminded me of Harry Potter in a way (kids going off to a camp/school because they're different etc.) but the way the mythology has been woven into this story is magic and kept me from falling out of the reality of the book. 
 Honestly if you love Greek Mythology, snarky main characters and quite the tin can loving satyr you should definitely check out this book.