The Hidden Oracle is the first book in the Trials of Apollo series and is written by Rick Riordan. In this series debut, the god Apollo finds himself in the mortal body of a teenage boy, which is a drastic change from his usual divine and godly self, due to him angering Zeus. Now, Apollo must try to survive the mortal world without his powers until his father finally finds a reason to see Apollo as redeemed. First, I must say that readers should read the Percy Jackson series and Heroes of Olympus series before reading this book. The reason why this book series exists stems from an event from the Heroes of Olympus series, so that’s reason enough to read the other books.
Fans who’ve read the aforementioned series will probably want to know if The Hidden Oracle is any good, and to that I say… sure. It’s not at all a bad book, but it’s definitely flawed. Apollo is really annoying as a protagonist, and I know Riordan made it like that so that we can see Apollo transform as a character throughout the series, but Apollo is so annoying that it can make the book unbearable to read at times. Meanwhile, his costar, Meg, isn’t much better as a character either and they aren’t really that good as a duo. Also, there are times when characters change their motivations out of nowhere, and it can be a bit jarring at times. I won’t point out when I thought that, but it should be obvious to readers. Riordan’s style of writing carries this book, and cameos from fan favorite characters are great. The humor is good, if not overdone at times, and the plot isn’t too bad. It’s not a bad book by any means, just a messy one.