The Stray Reader

I love a good book mail! A part of me is so impatient when I preorder these limited-edition book sets because they’re usually weeks or months away from getting in my hands, but the moment they come it feels like a huge, wonderful surprise.

Today I received Illumicrate’s Percy Jackson series and I am ecstatic! I read these when I was young and I’ve never had the opportunity to own any physical copy due to financial restrictions but you bet I loved it so much I made it my whole personality for at least two months. I wanted to be Annabeth so bad that I learned about Greek gods and goddesses on my own time. As someone who was always vying for the position of being first in academic pursuits back then, I was quite obsessed with Athena at that short period.

Spines: ⭐5/5⭐

I love it when a book series has a uniform design on the spines especially when they’re numbered. As someone who arranges their bookshelf by series, the spine design of this special edition is 100% approved! I really like the Greek column touch because it represents the spirit of the books so well.

Front Covers: ⭐5/5⭐

The front cover illustrations of the dust jackets present Greek mythological creatures that are prominently featured in the book respectively. I think this is a risky choice considering most people are drawn to the beautiful illustrations of the protagonists in the covers but as a reader I love this detail. Judging by the demand for this edition, a lot of others did too.

The front covers of the hardcovers are also very aesthetically pleasing! The design feels classic, Greek, and symmetric – a great contrast to its flowy dust jackets but still in keeping with its spirit. Also, I personally have a hard time not having appreciation for foil embossing. It creates a beautiful shimmer!

These details show that that the artist(s) put in the research and embodied the Greek spirit of the entire series. Not to mention they’re beautifully drawn targeted for the younger audience which the series is intended for. Brilliant!

Edges: ⭐4/5⭐

It’s been a while since I read this series, but I believe the picture featured in these digitally printed edges is Camp Half-Blood. I love a beautifully decorated book edge but I’m especially weak for when all the books in the series form a complete picture like this. I docked one star from the rating because the colors are more muted in person, which is just the sad side effect of digitally printed edges.

Font: ⭐5/5⭐

I have a minor beef with big books but have small fonts. Seriously, please consider us readers with poor eyesight. I’m happy to report that this special edition has friendly font size and relaxing margins.

Illustrated Endpapers: ⭐5/5⭐

Front and back endpapers for ‘The Lightning Thief’

Front and back endpapers for ‘The Sea of Monsters’

Front and back endpapers for ‘The Titan’s Curse’

Front and back endpapers for ‘The Battle of the Labyrinth’

Front and back endpapers for ‘The Last Olympian’

In keeping with the childhood theme, I like the artistic style of the endpapers of the books. They’re scenes right out of their respective books and it’s just a great addition to the reading experience.

Author’s Touch: ⭐4/5⭐

Majorly, for me, what makes a great special edition worth the big bucks on are the author’s special touches on them. That’s why it was so amazing to see Rick Riordan’s signature on all the books plus an author letter in book one (albeit all digital). It just makes the books and the entire set more special.

Final Thoughts

Would I recommend this to hardcore Percy Jackson fans? Heck yes. As far as I know it’s already sold out but if Illumicrate happens to do a reprint with all the features in this set, I highly recommend checking it out at the least. I saw this from Illumicrate’s Instagram announcement which you can also see for yourself here. I am not in any way affiliated with Illumicrate. I just like sharing bookish things especially when they’re worth the hype.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off rereading this wonderful series from my childhood.