The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Genre: Children's, YoungAdult, Independent Reader -- Fantasy Fiction
Source: Purchased

I tried to write my own synopsis for this one, but found it to be a bit more difficult than I expected. So I'm going to use Amazon.com's if you don't mind ;)

Synopsis from Amazon.com: Carter and Sadie have nothing in common but their parents: their father Dr. Julius Kane, a brilliant Egyptologist, and their mother, a famed archaeologist who died under mysterious circumstances when they were young. The siblings barely know each other, but one night, their father brings them together at the British Museum, promising a ‘research experiment’ that will set things right for their family. His plans go horribly wrong. An explosion unleashes an ancient evil – the Egyptian god Set who banishes Dr. Kane to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Now orphaned, Carter and Sadie must embark on a dangerous quest – from Cairo to Paris to the American Southwest, to save their father and stop Set from destroying everything they care about.

Review: Being a huge fan of the Percy Jackson series, I just had to get my hands on this on the day of its release. I have to say, I'm incredibly happy I did so. I'm going to go straight to the point: I LOVED THIS BOOK and I highly recommend it to readers of all ages.

Now that I got that crucial part out, it's up to you if you would like to continue reading this review. The truth is, I only have positive things to say about this addicting novel. The only negative thing I can think of is that this is just too incomplete -- it is torture that we have to wait for the next chapter of The Kane Chronicles to come out! Nevertheless, I'm here to explain exactly why I loved it so.
First off, there's no doubt about it; Rick Riordan can write. Once again, he does an awesome job combining mythology with the modern world. His wordplay is still as effective, most especially when he gives details, whether they're on the story's settings or on character descriptions. This allowed me to truly have a clear and vivid depiction of what's going on. Also, I appreciated the fact that there was just enough background information on Egyptian mythology, without it sounding like a boring lecture -- this is important, actually, as I certainly don't want to feel like I'm reading a textbook!

The main thing that I loved about this though, are the main characters themselves; Carter and Sadie. I love them, because they seem so real -- I was able to empathize, root, and feel for them. I also liked that in the book, they both get to be narrators. I thought at first it wasn't going to work. Fortunately, it did. Having two completely different POVs let me get the entire picture, and get both sides instead of just one. You also really get how distinct the two of them are -- and their personalities -- through their voices. By the end of the book, I felt like I truly had a grasp of what this series is ultimately all about, and who the characters truly are. So overall, I loved this novel because it is well-written, exciting, believable, and is rich with complex and multifaceted characters. It is a series I will definitely be looking forward to.

If you are to read this, try to take it for what it is, without high expectations, and you might enjoy it even more ;)
Please note also: try not to compare it to the Percy Jackson series, because this is really different, even though it is still about mythology. The characters and their voices are absolutely different. But okay, maybe some of you are still wondering: Was it better than the Percy Jackson series? Hmmm... the truth is, I think I'm just incredibly biased, because Percy Jackson and Greek mythology will always have a special place for me. However, I also can't deny how much I enjoyed and loved this one as well. You decide. For me, The Red Pyramid gets 5 stars.