YOU SHOULD BE READING... HEROES OF OLYMPUS

I recently finished reading Mark of Athena and now I'm questioning what in the world took me so long to get into the Heroes of Olympus series. When I first picked up The Lost Hero, it took me so long to get into. I started reading The Lost Hero (according to Goodreads) on March 16th, 2015 and finished it January 30th, 2017 - that's almost two years!
The thing is, I picked this series up immediately after finishing the Percy Jackson series, and I can see now how bad an idea that was. The Lost Hero doesn't follow Percy (I mean the series does, eventually... but SPOILERS! but completely new characters. Going right into Heroes of Olympus after the Percy Jackson series left me wanting the other characters back but only in the last chapter of The Last Olympian where they're safe and happy.
So after distancing myself and getting over my unfinished business with The Lost Hero, I jumped back in and I'm absolutely loving it. So this post is for the people who've read Percy Jackson and haven't moved on to Heroes of Olympus yet. Here's why you should be reading Heroes of Olympus:
Cool New Characters!
These characters are freaking awesome, y'all. As individuals (through what I've read so far) they have such unique personalities and diverse backgrounds. (I'm struggling with what to say and what not to say because of the set up of this series and I can't decide what is spoilers and what is not.) There's a lot of characters and they're all super cool with their own unique talents and personal history. Plus, if you know me, you know how much I love lots of characters all together so I can watch (or read, rather) their dynamics!
Greek and Roman Gods! 
I can't say much but you need to know how much the godly world (is that the right term?) expands with these books. It's so cool learning more about the Greek gods and their stories, as well as their Roman counterparts! More gods, more fun! ... sort of. As much as the gods took a part in the Percy Jackson series, that was Percy's story. In the Heroes of Olympus, the gods really play a huge part in this series and it's freaking awesome.
Percy and Annabeth are literally the ultimate and the only OTP
I mean, this sort of speaks for itself but I just can't get over how healthy their relationship is. #GOALS #Percabeth
Life lessons!
I love that these characters are a bit older than those in the Percy Jackson series, and it's really fun to read their coming-of-age journeys and the lessons they learn. Yeah, they're monster-fighting demigods, but there's some real world shit in there, which is great for everyone, children and adults alike! The Percy Jackson series obviously has lessons as well, but I feel like this one is packed with many different characters, each having to take their own path and learn about themselves.
Rick Riordan is awesome!
If anything, I just want you to read Heroes of Olympus so you'll support Rick Riordan. His writing is fun, but he's also amazing with fans and their concerns. He's just a cool guy that cares about people. He also is doing his own imprint with Disney-Hyperion to publish stories that have other types of mythology that he doesn't feel qualified to write about.
Do you have to read the Percy Jackson series?
Now that we've addressed how awesome Heroes of Olympus is, you might be considering reading it without having read the Percy Jackson series. I'm here to tell you that you should read it - because it's fun and you get to love the characters in that series and know all the background stuff. However, you could always look up the wiki or something and spoil yourself to be able to read Heroes of Olympus. The Percy Jackson series is necessary for back story, but I suppose you could skip it if you really wanted to.
That's that! You need to go read this series now! Go forth and read!

I'm thinking of making "You Should Be Reading" a series of some sort on my blog, and I've got plans for other series/books for the future, so make sure to look out for it. This was really fun to put together, so I'm looking forward to doing more!

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