User blog comment:Hermione Chase/"The Blood of Olympus" Expectations/@comment-9703010-20140717001552/@comment-5927468-20140719230000

Like I said, Festus isn't a mindless machine. Your car has no brain, no soul. It cannot be considered alive in any way, literally or philosophically. I didn't mean that Festus was only alive because of Leo's affection, but that their bond was evidence that he was a living, thinking being. For example, when they're at Boreas' palace in TLH Leo says that Festus doesn't like to be turned off. A mere machine would have no such preference. So Piper's love didn't turn on a piece of tech. It, to quote the book, woke a metal dragon. And there are plenty of stories out there about love waking people up. So I'd be willing to concede that it was a tad cliche, but never cheesy.