I actually disagree with you — it was the Percy/Annabeth parts of the book that I disliked; Riordan seemed to make them dangerously co-dependent to the point that it was annoying.
I agree with you on Frank, though, but I don't have much of an opinion on Nico. I don't think that just because he's queer the focus had to all be on that. It made sense character-wise, but not so much pacing-wise.
Well I agree with the first comment, I felt that the Percy and Annabeth chapters were more riveting because of the philosophical aspects of good vs evil, and that there is always retribution for anything that you do. The character study and deconstruction of the infallible good hero as evidenced by Percy's breakdown is highly interesting and necessary —if you see the series as just an extension of PJO where Percy is still the main character. Rick should have just been honest with himself and called the Heroes of Olympus as Percy Jackson v.2, it would have made much more sense.
Though as a consequence, the other characters just feels underdeveloped and had a lot of rushed moments with too little buildup to be deemed believable. Leo/Calypso scenes in particular that I disliked.
Percabeth: I liked them in Ho H. I thought that their relationship showed a different side to them, something more akin to primal need to protect their loved ones (basic survival instinct, as one might also say) rather than co-dependency. Remember that they are fighting for their lives in a highly dangerous territory, they *had* to depend on each other. I'm pretty sure it's an emergency-only behavior because in normal circumstances (the Demigod Diaries, for example) they do not exhibit any co-dependent traits.
(Sorry, the word 'co-dependency' is a pet-peeve of mine, because people are just flinging around the word without taking into consideration the context of the scene.)
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House of Hades: Professional Fanfiction
I was completely on board with Heroes of Olympus until this book brought to my attention everything that was wrong with the series. Months after my initial reading, I've come to the realization that the magic I felt in every book prior may be irretrievable.
To start, the perspective changes. It worked in every other book because it never got unwieldy, but when Riordan got it in his head to give every single character a point of view in this book, he should've planned it better. Firstly, Percy and Annabeth's chapters are exempt, they were standard and high quality. Leo's were also very good. But what made me gag were Hazel's chapters, along with Piper's sole turn as point of view character. When everyone is in the limelight, no one is, and the pacing of the non-Percy-Annabeth chapters become schizophrenic and unpalatable at how breezy they are.
Second are the easy ways out. This is a particular ding on Frank. After having his size be part of his character, Riordan has that particular feature waved away. It's not whether or not he earned it, but that becoming more conventionally attractive was somehow considered a proportional benefit to overcoming a huge challenge.
Another big issue with the book was Nico being gay. After an entire series of brooding culminating in about a dozen other reasons for him to be distant and upset, Riordan pulls this reveal completely out of left field. It felt tacked on and phony.
All these issues put together just make me feel as though Riordan is trying too hard. Too hard to hang on to two completely separate demographics and letting them both slip away.