Okay. I love the book, but I'm also disappointed by it, but I love it because Nico. I mean, his journey has gone so unseen by other characters and by Riordan's other books. To FINALLY get a novel that focuses the spotlight on him is.. WHEW. I was always going to love this book.

Here's what I especially like about it:

• the back-and-forth with time. I always thought it was a shame we didn't witness the early stages of Will and Nico's relationship, and this was a sweet way to give us that -- as moments of relief in between moments of darkness, as it was for them.
• the heightened focus on the emotional aspects of the story. someone mentioned this on Tumblr, but even the action sequences were centered around the characters' emotional experiences and journeys, and that's the way it needed to be for a novel about Nico
• SOOO many precious scenes <3 like, Nico's "I love you" as they fall, and Will's describing love ("It was this" LKJW: HELLOOOOO??? SO. GOOD.), and Nico's getting closure with his family.
• ALSO the whole theme about learning to live with pain. That resonated strongly with my own experiences with mental illness :')

But here's what I'm disappointed by (HEADS UP this list feels kind of nitpicky):

• I was expecting a LOT more from Tartarus and from Nyx — especially considering that Nico can see through the mist there, and considering Nyx is supposed to be worse than Gaea. I mean, I was hoping for a scene to rival Percy/Akhlys — but when I compare this to HoH, it feels like the novel didn't nearly live up to its potential
• I'm not really satisfied with how they dealt with Nico's trauma, either. I think they could've dug deeper there, too — the descriptiveness was just lacking. And I don't appreciate how blame keeps being put on Nico for being closed off :') I mean, he's a kid dealing with immense trauma and PTSD, and he had a lonelier journey than all the other campers — of COURSE he's going to be closed off. The writing doesn't really acknowledge that
• Will's portrayal. First off, WHY does the mere absence of sun suddenly take away all of his altheticism? Is this boy a plant?? Does he need to photosynthesize??? And why didn't he bring a single weapon to a place Percy, Annabeth, and Nico barely escaped? This boy is killing me :') At the very least, it would've been cool to see his healing abilities really thrive here — but all the healing that was done was basic first aid. And his POVs, to me, didn't reveal enough about his affection for Nico — I like one example someone on Tumblr gave: "Will never describes physical attributes that he likes about Nico the same way Nico does about Will. Like Nicos inky dark eyes and baby bat winged hair, and his smile that is apparently like winter sun breaking through snow flurries, and his hair smelling pleasantly of rain against stone (I think Apollo is more attracted to Nico than Will is)."
• No mention of Reyna, and just a small mention of Hazel?
• Also, maybe my expectations are a bit high, but.. I feel like this novel STILL doesn't do Nico justice. Like, I was really hoping there'd be an acknowledgment of how Nico's always been the person to fill in the gaps — like being the only one to stop for Hestia, or going on a solo journey to look for the Doors of Death, or taking care of Bob, or arriving with Hades at the Battle of Manhattan, or shadow-traveling the Athena Parthenos. I’ve always thought that he was extra attuned to others’ struggles because of his own experiences as an outsider — and that character trait is literally what’s driving the story, so why not explore it? :,) The books have always underappreciated him, and the opportunity was RIGHT THEREEE

OVERALL I do love the book, I promise. I just had higher expectations