Cover Cosmetics: The Blood of Olympus - Rick Riordan

Today is the day - The Blood of Olympus, the final book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, has been released! For the past three days, We Live and Breathe Books has been counting down to this glorious day, starting with a Stuffed Animal Saturday from Amrutha, then a playlist inspired by the Percy Jackson series from Noor, then some of Marlon's favorite fanart. Now today, in honor of the release, I decided to do this Cover Cosmetics!

The cover:

The makeup:

I really liked doing an abstract look when I did my Cover Cosmetics for Unmade, so I decided to do another abstract makeup look for The Blood of Olympus! For the makeup, I focused mostly on the sky. I really liked the way the clouds looked, so I tried to replicate that. From the darker clouds, I transitioned to lighter clouds and then to the lighting from Jason's sword.

Even though I won't be able to read The Blood of Olympus for a while, I'm so excited that the wait is over. Here's to hoping there won't be a cliffhanger... Happy reading to all the half-bloods out there!

- Kiersten

Do you like more wearable or more creative makeup looks?

Let us know in the comments!

Countdown to Blood of Olympus: 1 Day

TOMORROW! TOMORROW IS THE DAY WE COME TOGETHER TO BE BROKEN ONCE MORE.

SO LET'S DO SOME FANART!

First, and this is going to be obvious to anyone in on tumblr, is Viria.

To me, Viria is the literal queen of Percy Jackson-related fanart. 

I mean just look at this:

Viria's deviant art. Go. Visit. Click link
above. Now.

How can you not look at this and be crying. Leo Valdez has been my favorite character of the Heroes of Olympus books since it began. He's charmingly messy, temperamental, witty, hilarious, loyal -- he's fantastic. I chose this fanart because it showcases to me one of Leo's most amazing qualities -- determination. He'll work himself near to death out of not just curiosity, but of a need to protect and help his friends as he's shown time and time and time again with Festus, the Argo II, and so on. Leo does not stop, he's a fire (excuse the obvious metaphor) that burns the midnight oil. And might I say he's got damn good fashion sense in this piece of art.

AND THIS ONE

THIS IS THE BEST BROSHIP EVER.

AND THIS PAN OF THE GANG

Since I don't want to make this a Viria-fest, I must tear myself away. But really, just go. She adds so much to the characters simply by drawing them -- like adding a charmander shirt to Leo because he's obviously a pokemon nerd. 

This is a Piper fanart from Neaveria

Most of Neaveria's work speaks for itself. It's so striking and beautiful, especially the eyes. It's almost as if Piper is staring off into the world. It reminds me quite well of Piper's ability to charm, and though one would think to show Piper's mouth to highlight that quality, I think it shows rather well in her gaze.

Finally, the perfect fanart for this scene by Taratjah:

Next to the Calypsleo and Jaco subplots in the last novel, this is one of my favorite scenes of the series:

Annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement. Romans cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted, “Hold! Stand down!”

Annabeth put her knee on Percy’s chest. She pushed her forearm against his throat. She didn’t care what the Romans thought. A white-hot lump of anger expanded in her chest—a tumor of worry and bitterness that she’d been carrying around since last autumn. 

“If you ever leave me again,” she said, her eyes stinging, “I swear to all the gods—” 

Percy had the nerve to laugh. Suddenly the lump of heated emotions melted inside Annabeth. 

“Consider me warned,” Percy said. “I missed you, too.”

I think the rawness of this scene is really captured in the harshness of Anabeth's features, the sharpness of her nose and elbow, her knee juts right into Percy yet he's so happy to see her. I can't help but sob recklessly when I read those lines or see images like this one, because it reminds me how damn hard these two have worked not only to save the world exhaustively, but how much they've worked to be with and save each other. It's one of the greatest friendships/romances I've ever had the pleasure to read and this scene captures it so perfectly.

- Marlon

What's your favorite Heroes of Olympus fanart?

Let us know in the comments!

Countdown to The Blood of Olympus: 2 Days

Hello, there. I would just like to start off this post by letting you know that I am trash. No. I am not just trash. I am garbage disposal. I am a garbage truck emoji next to a poop emoji next to a fire emoji. And the poop emoji isn't even smiling. Why am I so awful, you ask? It's because I haven't actually read any of Heroes of Olympus yet. I know. Blasphemous. It's on my list, along with a million other books. I have read the Percy Jackson books (and also The Kane Chronicles if that makes me any less irrelevant) so this post will focus on the parts of Percy and company's lives I've been around for.

You may or may not recall a while ago, we did countdown posts to City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. One post I did was a playlist inspired by the contents of one of the books, which can be found here. 

I thought I would make another one in preparation for Blood of Olympus, focusing my song choices on all the Percy Jackson and the Olympian novels and characters, of course. 

NOT SPOILER FREE

1. Go the Distance - Roger Bart

I'm sorry. This is why I'm trash. I really had to put Go the Distance as the first song because I'm so lame. Anyway, I guess I'm going to be even lamer and explain the choice even though I'm sure anyone reading this understands the lameness right off the bat. First off, the fact that it's from Hercules, a movie about the son of Zeus. Totally great, right, because Percy Jackson is built all around Greek mythology and Percy himself is Poseidon's son? I also like it because the whole song is about literally "going the distance" and doing what seems impossible and unachievable, which is a big theme in the Percy Jackson books. In the first book, I feel like it's the most prominent, because that's when he's just a boy who hasn't been claimed by any god and he's trying to do this huge impossible quest with a satyr who's failed bigtime before and a girl who might be super smart, but IS just a 12 year old. I think it might seem like a cliche choice but it really is apt to describe the essence of their journeys. 

2. Battle Scars - Paradise Fears 

I think this is another song that really embodies everyone's journeys throughout the multiple books rather than identifying a specific book or character or scene. With lyrics like "This is a call to the soldiers, the fighters / the young, the innocent, the righteous / we've got a little room to grow / better days are near / hope is so much stronger than fear" and "no you're not alone / keep marching on / this is worth fighting for / you know we've all got battle scars" this song resonates well with what Percy and his ever-rotating crew of companions are going through. 

3. I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie 

You knew a Percabeth song was coming up. Don't lie. I think this is a really good one because there are a lot of popular cheesy love songs used as Percabeth songs and I think this one is a little mellower and less harsh synth pop sounds and shrill voices and more depth, which isn't to say that none of those songs are any good, just that Percabeth is a relationship that has developed over a long time and a lot of books and has gone through a lot of ups and downs and I'm sure a lot has happened with it in the books I haven't yet read so I really think a song of this tone is good for describing them. The reiterating line is the title line, and they really WOULD follow each other into the dark, but definitely not blindly, and the song comes with a lot of emotion and packs a punch, which is why I feel it's so fitting. 

4. DESTROYA - My Chemical Romance 

Well, this is kindof taking things a little literally but I wanted something for the villains and I feel that whenever things happen, they happen with a bang, or a lot of bangs, and kindof go down in a huge show with lots of things getting destroyed in the wake. Even when the good guys are trying to accomplish something, they end up doing things like setting off volcanoes on the way. In the chorus of the song, the word "Destroya" is repeated with much enthusiasm and I just picture the villains using this as an anthem as they figure out a way to wreak havoc and make everything go to hell in a handbasket. 

5. I'm Just a Kid - Simple Plan

Everything considered, they're mostly just kids. I mean, Thalia's never hitting 16, so she's REALLY just a kid. Percy and Annabeth are 12 when the books start and even though years pass, they're still kids who haven't had normal childhoods, and now things are about to get HELLA weird and nothing ever really gets easier and so they're just kids but their lives really are nightmares and a lot of good comes with it and they get their happiness eventually but man is it tough being a demigod. 

I uploaded the playlist to Spotify here, so check it out and let me know how you feel about my song choices!  

- Noor

What songs remind you of Rick Riordan books?

Let us know in the comments!

Stuffed Animal Saturday - The Blood of Olympus Countdown Edition

Stuffed Animal Saturday is a meme that we post here at We Live and Breathe Books to showcase the book we're currently reading with one of our favorite stuffed animals and discuss our stuffed animal's opinion (well, it's really our opinion, but that's besides the point). We hope you enjoy our quirky feature as much as we enjoy writing it!

Hi guys! This is my friend Teddy, who has actually been with my dorm-neighbor, Brianna, for a very long time. Because I left all of my stuffed friends at home when I moved into school, I needed a buddy to go over some of my favorite parts of the Percy Jackson series with before the big release of The Blood of Olympus in THREE DAYS!

So I began to reminisce with Teddy, and turns out, he was a big Rick Riordan fan himself!

So far: So far in the world of Percy, Annabeth, demigods, and more, a lot of craziness has happened. Teddy and I felt the inclusion of characters like Leo, Frank, Hazel, Jason, and Piper, only added to the insanity that is this series. It added more romantic complications and familial issues, and the bigger the group traveling is, the more accommodations that must be made. For those of you who haven't gotten on the latest book in this series yet, we don't want to give away any spoilers, but we STRONGLY SUGGEST you read it as soon as possible. You can read my liveblog of House of Hades with the rest of my fellow bloggers on our site here!

Sneak Peak:

Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake.

The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it "might" be able to stop a war between the two camps.

The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea's army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.

But this is what we know. We know that this is the last book in the series and we know that so many things to be resolved, like JASON AND REYNA NEED TO BE A THING LIKE OK PIPER IS COOL BUT REYNA IS WHERE ITS AT. And also Percabeth needs to happen and the camps need to figure their shit out and an awesome finale and also more books. Teddy and I can't wait for The Blood of Olympus, get ready to hear from us very soon!

- Amrutha

Are you and your stuffed animal reading anything interesting? 

Let us know in your own Stuffed Animal Saturday!