I'm pleased to submit my review of the Blood of Hercules audiobook by Jasmine Mas. This dark fantasy romance, a reimagining of Hercules set in a Titan-dominated world, presents a unique listening experience that I believe has strong potential in the market.

Strengths:

Engaging Narration: The audiobook features a cast of talented narrators, most notably Meg Sylvan, who delivers a compelling performance as the protagonist, Alexis. Sylvan adeptly captures Alexis's emotional journey, bringing depth and nuance to the character. The other narrators also contribute effectively, creating distinct voices for the supporting cast and enhancing the overall listening experience.

Enhanced Storytelling: The narration elevates the source material, particularly in its delivery of dialogue, inner monologue, and comedic elements. The narrators' pacing and tone effectively convey the story's humor, tension, and drama, drawing the listener into the narrative.

Production Quality: The overall production quality is high, with clear audio and a professional finish.

Weaknesses:

Multi-Narrator Consistency: While the use of multiple narrators generally enhances the audiobook, there were instances where the transitions between male narrators could have been smoother. Some listeners might find the shifts slightly disruptive, though the narrators' individual performances remain strong.

Overall Assessment:

The Blood of Hercules audiobook is a well-produced and engaging listen. The strength of the narration, particularly Meg Sylvan's performance, significantly enhances Jasmine Mas's imaginative story. While there is a minor issue with consistency between the male narrators, this does not detract significantly from the overall listening experience.

I adored this audio! I could not put it down and found myself unable to sleep until I listened some more! The FMC Alexis was strong, sarcastic and funny, very dark humor. Her internal monologue had me cracking up throughout the whole book and I loved it. This is a dark romance with a spicy finish that slowly builds and you aren't drowning in spice the whole book. Greek Gods with a twist, a Spartan War Academy She has to attend pass for immortality and a snake BFF Nyx who's dialogue was just as funny. I'm only sorry I waited so long to read this! I loved all the narrators, for me this was a hit!

If you don't vibe with sarcasm, this may not be for you. I however, loved it and am highly anticipating the next book.

It was chunky book.
I really wanted to like it but there was way too much smut in it.
Unfortunately this book was not for me but I can see a lot of people might like it. Especially TikTok girlies

Vibes, this book is straight. Vibes.
If you’ve read Zodiac Academy book 1 and thought “what the heck did I just read” but also “you know what, hell yeah” simultaneously, this book is for you 🤣

I really enjoyed both male narrators (Teddy Hamilton & Aiden Snow) as well as the female narrator that played Alexis. I did NOT vibe with the character narration for the fate (especially in the prologue). It nearly made me DNF because of the over sexual tone and rasp. It was… just not placed well.

As for the content of the book. Um… it was a TRIP. I highly recommend going into this one 100% blind lol that made it even better.

I do feel like there was a bit of a disconnect with the romance aspect of the novel. It kind of felt like it was written as a YA fantasy and that the romance and spicy-ness of it was an afterthought and last minute addition. Like the tension was there, but ultimately kind of fell flat. The pure hatred towards the MMCs and the whole mystery/secret plot is fantastic!

The way these Cthonics and Spartans were played up to be absolute HORNDOGS and then they gave absolutely ✨nothing✨… 😵‍💫 The one group “party” scene also gave YA turned orgy vibes.

THAT BEING SAID, the potential for the next novel has me NEEDING it right now.

I wish I had listened to the audiobook sooner because I would have fallen in love with Alexis sooner. A human girl living in a dystopian world finds out she's not exactly human and is thrust into a world where Gods are real and the Crucible weeds out the weak. The pacing of the story was great and major props go out to Meg Sylvan for masterfully portraying Alexis at all levels of consciousness. Another shout out to Teddy Hamilton for being the best bad boys to life; his voice suited his roles perfectly.

Thank you to Harper Collins & Harlequin Audio for the gifted ALC, I am counting down the days until book 2 is out!

This audiobook was amazing!!! I was really intrigued while listening to it. The book was so amazing and also full of details so I was able to imagine what was going on. I would definitely recommend the book and audiobook!

I definitely understand the hype of this book that will clearly be the start of a series. Honestly I think it could be a good series but I think I should have started it when there were more books out. Or not heard as much hype around it first.

This book starts off like many other romantasys. Our female main character, has lived a hard life of poverty and being ostracized and a simple blood test changes her whole life. I do not want to spoil anything but it's pretty obvious our young main character turns out to be Hercules. She is quickly whisked away to a new world and life and expected to just let go of anything from her human life. That's hard seeing as the only person who she has ever trusted or loved is her brother who she was not able to take with her.

I think my biggest problem with this book is there is so much going on and yet nothing going on all at the same time. You want to know more about the family she was taken from, you want to know more of why our male main characters are drawn to her, you want to know how she will bring her brother back, how she is fitting in with her new peers and so much more. You start to see the beginning of so many things but it felt like there wasn't enough happening in any one element of the story which made it fall a little flat for me. I say that but honestly if the first two books were released at once and there was a little more pay off with what we started to learn I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I am not saying I will not complete the series but if I do I will definitely wait until there are multiple books out so that way I can get a better feel for the story itself.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good start to a why choose fantasy romance. Thank you NetGalley for the opporunity to read this series.

I loved Blood of Hercules - I listened to this as an audiobook. I think that made a huge difference between finishing this book and getting distracted by other books on my TBR. The main narrator was charming and glib, and the full cast narration helped move along the plot (especially in a 16-hour audiobook).

I did find there to be some humor from Alexis’s inner monologue. I found myself chuckling more than I typically do while reading a fantasy book.

I did want more depth to the characters, especially Alexis and her mentors and her brother. As this is book one in a series, I am optimistic that more character building will occur in future books.

There is some steamy parts at the very end. I’m still not sure how Alexis went from “don’t touch me” to being okay with that steamy-touchy-multiple men situation.

The blurb says this is a dark romantasy for reader who loved Zodiac Academy or When the Moon Hatched, but to me it felt like Greek Gods meets Hunger Games.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook!

This was excellent! Just want I want from a romantasy! We love an academy setting. We love a gender bent retelling. I ate it all up and the narrators were like excellent. Our FMC really drew me into the story and kept me laughing. And slow burn and why choose?? My favorites. Can’t wait for book 2

The first installment in the Villians of Lore series, a dark fantasy gender bent Hercules reimaging and I ate it up!

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world, overrun by Titans and ruled by the Spartans. Humans are barely more than slaves, left to scrabble together whatever they can to survive. Our FMC is an orphan, raised by abuse foster parents and just trying to keep herself and her brother alive through graduation. When she goes through the blood testing every citizen must pass, she is pulled into the world of the Spartans.

While facing the brutal Spartan Academy, she is forced to endure the hate, obsession and extreme possessiveness of her "trainers" as well as academy staff. Death surrounds her, daily mental, physical and emotional torture. There is also a dark, sexual tension building throughout the book.

This book has some witty, funny and sarcastic characters but most are very much morally black. The themes are dark and intense. We also get into a semi forced why choose situation that will likely be explored further throughout the series. I certainly do not believe this book would be a good fit for every reader.

That being said, I did enjoy it! I look forward to future books to see how our FMC overcomes these absolutely oppressive men!

I could not finish this book. The characters were insufferable. The language was very immature. There was nothing I enjoyed about this book, and I tried so hard to give it a chance. I got 52% through it

This book was surprisingly fun!!! I say surprisingly because I expected it to be a lot darker and smutty, but the hunger games meets olympians and the slow burn made this book addictive. I cannot wait for book 2

This was such an amazing book. I am so happy for Jasmine Mas that she is transitioning from indie to traditionally published.

I was able to read this by a audiobook from NetGalley UK. This was such an unexpected book. Jasmine has unexpectedly been able to convey her book through an amazing narorator through her audiobook.

I am so thankful to NetGalley UK for an opportunity to read this book before it came out.

I absolutely cannot wait for Jasmine’s next book. It was absolutely amazing and should be added to anyone’s TBR NOW.

In a dystopian world, Spartans rule while Titans ravage the mortal lands. Shy foster-child Alexis gets dropped in the middle when she is entered into the Spartan War Academy. I went into this mostly blind and enjoyed it even though it was not at all what I thought it was going to be. There is a why choose aspect to it that I wasn’t expecting that really takes off towards the end of the book. Will I check out the sequel? Probably.

Respectfully, this is not good.

This book, like me, says a lot, but nothing of substance. But at least I'm self aware. I fear this book...is not.

I guess it's supposed to be funny? But it's too heavy handed with the sarcasm and the jokes, and it's every single line and it's exhausting and really ruins the story.

Nothing actually gets explained. Like nothing. At all. And it's 16 hours long. Plenty of time to give me some world building but alas. Or hey, even character development, but double alas.

Why are they in togas? Why do they have guns? Why are they all obsessed with her? She hasn't actually done anything to create any kind of intrigue. Like, she doesn't even have conversations with anyone.

There are, genuinely no conversations in this book. At one point they call her a spoiled human who is at the trials of her own free will. Only that's totally wrong and she doesn't correct them at all. She never brings up her brother or does anything to get back to him. Her mentors literally don't do any sort of mentoring. They just bring her back to their house every couple of weeks, act exasperated with her, and then slink off to hook up. Her professors are also very interested in her, but why? She, again, hasn't even really talked to them. She gets good scores in class, but that's it. Not really enough to make FOUR men want to commit to her. She has a snake, but no one else can see it or hear it. And apparently that's not HER creature she's bonded to, but we also don't know any background about Nyx the snake, and it's just this...weird friend she has. She also then bonds with some weird dog thing which she annoyingly names "Fluffy Jr" sorry, who was Fluffy Sr? I must have missed that. She's in some type of trial, but again, those aren't explained really....or if they are, not well. Also, she's constantly deteriorating. It's well done with the narrator, but I was also constantly thinking, why are you falling apart NOW? Just exhaustion? And why are you falling apart so much worse than the others? Aren't you supposed to be just as strong? Or like...stronger? She is literally falling out of her chair...constantly. Like, genuinely, actually falling out of her chair. Not hyperbole. And what is the Carl Gauss obsession? Okay, she likes math, but then we hear 0 about math in the story. We hear about it in a very uninformed vague way. I would have loved some real math happening in the book, even if I didn't understand it. We never really get an explanation about why she's obsessed with Carl Gauss, except she likes math. But like, why is she writing Carl Gauss fan fic. Also, it's like 1000 years from now, and we're still...talking about fan fic and calling it that? These men are all happy to share all of their lovers, and even share her, but also if anyone talks to her they are wildly jealous and territorial? But we get ZERO CONTEXT FOR THIS. Every now and then there are some chapters from the male perspectives and it would have been great to hear more from them because we actually get a tiny bit of context for things and why they like her or relate to her.

She's also being threatened and being told to leave, and yet all she does is complain about how much she wishes she could leave and go back to being a homeless orphan living in a cardboard box with her brother. But...then she never...literally ever....tries to leave.

And the twisted manipulation of the men at the end. Like, there is definitely a way to get to point X without hitting the A, B, and Cs of toxicity. Maybe go L, M, and N, ya know?

This book is a lot of yap. And it's too much. It's supposed to be a dystopian book, where it's the real world, but the Spartans and Titans have shown up in like several centuries. Yet she's using very very modern, TikTok style language.

This just...isn't that well written at all.

Audio rating - 4⭐

Thank you to Harlequin Audio, HTP Hive and NetGalley & Jasmine Mas for providing me with the ALC copy of the audiobook. All opinions in this review are my own!

This was my first introduction to Jasmine Mas's work in 'Blood of Hercules,' but I have to say that upon listening to the first few minutes of the audio, I had already linked this book to the Gladiator movies, as it was giving me the same type of vibes. The story is Greek mythology as we are introduced to Zeus and other gods, who are prominent in the plot.

Adding onto that, the narrators of the audio are Meg Sylvan, Teddy Hamilton, Aiden Snow, and Tristan Morris, who did a fantastic job in bringing the characters from Blood of Hercules to life. The different voices used by each narrator in the story made the characters so distinguishable for me to know who is who in the story. Moreover, I had an enjoyable experience getting to live in a different period via Jasmine's story in Blood of Hercules. By the end of the story, we are left off with a cliffhanger, which I believe was a great point in which it puts the reader to think of what might happen next in the follow-up book.

I really loved this unique premise of putting Greek gods in a dystopian world. Alexis’s inner monologue and sarcastic comments are some of the funniest and wittiest writing I’ve read in awhile. I love that she is a math nerd and outsmarts her competition. The author does an excellent job writing Alexis’s trauma experience and how it influences her thoughts, choices, and behaviors.

While this is marketed as a why choose, it’s still unclear which of the four (or all of them) will be the ultimate love interests. I’m still undecided on if I even like some of them, as they are on the furthest side of the morally grey scale. I am excited to see how the story develops!

I absolutely love full cast narration and all of the narrators did a wonderful job (Meg Sylvan; Teddy Hamilton; Aiden Snow; Tristan Morris). The audiobook is about 16 hours long.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the audiobook. This review is voluntary, and all opinions expressed are my own.

OOh this was one of my favorites so far this year. I struggled a bit with Alexis's internal monologue as I felt that it was repetitive and pulled me away from the story. As the story progressed, that manner of dialogues settled a bit and I was able to focis more on the story but that might have been me getting used to the authors writing style. Regardless, I loved all the characters and the roles that they played in Alexis' story. I think Nyx was my most favorite character. Her dialogue had me laughing so hard. The world building was great and the twist that came towards the end of the book had my jaw on the floor!!!! I actually cannot wait for the release of the second book!

3 stars

Okay, I have a few thoughts on this book. I ultimately enjoyed it, and I’ll check out book 2.

HOWEVER, I feel like this book dragged on for so long. When the storyline was moving, I was at the edge of my seat. The characters were complex and quite intriguing. I also loved Alexis’s and inner monologues add sarcasm. Listening to the audiobook version definitely made this book better. I don’t know if I would have liked enjoyed it as much if I just read it.

I just wish there was not as much unnecessary filler. It felt almost like a chore to get to the more interesting parts, and that is not something I want to feel when reading a book for enjoyment. The storyline was so promising. I was just hoping for more.

I will say that this book surprised me a lot. It’s very different (in a good way) from a lot of Greek Mythology retellings. I’m interested to see how this series continues. Hopefully book two has a bit more substance.

“Blood of Hercules”—where muscles, mythology, and mayhem collide! Imagine Hercules on a caffeine binge, punching his way through history. Action? Plenty. Logic? Optional. But hey, it’s a wild ride, and I had a blast. 5/5, would wrestle a lion for a sequel!