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I enjoyed it. It definitely wasn't great, but I thought it was good. Say 3/5.
It was less good than I hoped it was going to be, given the ratings and reviews. It seemed aimed at a younger audience than I expected, with not a lot in it for adults, but it did no harm. And given my mood, and how busy I've been lately, I was okay with that.
fantasyfan, your comparison to the first Harry Potter book is interesting to consider. I'm a big fan of those books, but mostly when viewed as an overall series, if I was just looking at the first my estimation would be lower. That said, I do still think the first book offered more for adults than this first Percy Jackson story.
As for the use of mythology: it is common enough in fantasy that I would not expect young audiences to have much trouble. I think that for some this sort of story may be how they first get a taste of mythology. This book seemed fairly middle-of-the-road in its use of mythology (compared to others that I've read), but I thought Camp Half-Blood was good.
And the mythology also explains the casual violence. Firstly, violence, often extreme violence, is part of the mythology. And secondly, almost anything can be fixed if you can find a god to help you fix it, although there are often nasty complications in doing so, which is also part of how the mythology works. So it lands the reader somewhere between cartoons and real life. (I don't know if it's just me, but I've often thought that Greek and Norse mythology read like particularly savage cartoons - and considering how violent cartons can be, that's saying something.)
I'm thinking that things may settle in more in subsequent books, so I'm tempted to try a few and see.
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