I loved being able to have this as an audio book. Between work and slow times I was able to just turn it on and listen to the story being told to me. It was a bit different then I was expecting but I love a good ol' mythology style story. I did find myself chuckling to myself more than a few times as Alexis was in her head. But there were times I wish she would have spoken up. Being dark and why choose, made sense with it being mythology. Though some things went well and some felt like they fell flat for me. But given the chance for book two, I would happily read it as usually book one is setting up for something more.

Jasmine Mas’s Blood of Hercules is the kind of audiobook that pulls you into a world where mythology collides with dystopia, wrapping you up in a story that’s equal parts action, intrigue, and slow-burning tension. Narrated by Meg Sylvan, Teddy Hamilton, Aiden Snow, and Tristan Morris, the audiobook delivers an experience that feels immersive and cinematic—I could practically see the crumbling world around the characters, hear the echoes of ancient gods, and feel the weight of destiny pressing down on them.

The story follows a heroine who discovers she carries the blood of Hercules, throwing her into a dangerous, power-fueled conflict in a world teetering on the edge of collapse. There’s something gripping about the way Mas weaves Greek mythology into a dystopian setting—it feels familiar, but fresh. And the romance? A slow burn with just the right amount of tension. If you love the kind of dynamic where you’re waiting just for the moment the sparks ignite, this one delivers.

The narrators deserve a special shoutout because they brought it. Meg Sylvan especially nailed the emotional beats of the heroine’s journey—her strength, her doubts, her determination all came through so vividly. Teddy Hamilton and Aiden Snow brought the kind of gravelly-voiced intensity that made the male leads compelling without feeling overdone. And Tristan Morris? He rounded out the cast beautifully.

That said, the pacing did drag in a few places, especially in the beginning. There were moments where I wanted things to pick up a bit faster, but once the action got going, I was in. I also think the "morally grey" aspects could have been pushed further—I was expecting something a bit darker, but it leaned more into the tension of the slow-burn romance than anything truly ruthless.

Overall, if you love mythological retellings, strong heroines, and romance that simmers before it ignites, Blood of Hercules is absolutely worth a listen. Just maybe don’t expect full darkness—this one plays more in the realm of tension and intrigue rather than outright villainy.

War academy ✅
Why choose ✅
World building ✅
This was really good! I thoroughly enjoyed it on audio and the narrator cast was perfect. The banter was really fun and this was a great mix of fun, sexiness, and fantasy badassery.

This book is brutal in his descriptions of fights and violence!

Alexis became one of my favorite heroines, I loved her sarcasm and innocence and resilience.

As for Achilles, Patro, Kharon and Augustus... sign me up for that!! I would go through the Spartan War Academy for them!!

The banter, the funny scenes were amazing and compensated for how graphic the descriptions were.. but at the same time I feel like we needed them to be that way to fully appreciate Alexis's strougle and her victories.

This is definitely more fantasy than romance, but these toxic, manipulative men were so good, fun and interesting, that I'm more than interested to see where this new aliange will go.

I'm so curious for the next book and really want to get to know what happens now.

3⭐️

I am 100% sure this book is OVERHYPED.

It was SO funny for the first 50% but then it just became so repetitive. Did we actually need to spend so much times knowing the main character was tired and near dying????

I was excited to know the MMCs but all we got was the FMC tired inner monologue..

There was 0 characters development and the smut at the end made no sense.

However.. I admit I’m curious enough to read book two so 🤷🏽‍♀️😂

This was so fast paced and crazy, I just couldn’t put it down. It was filled with so much excitement and mystery that it truly was the page turner that I didn’t know that I needed.

It is unlike any other Greek re-telling that I have read and I gobbled it up. Such an interesting take on Hercules and the world of Greek gods. I loved Alexis and her back story and there is definitely more to it that I hope we learn about in the next book. The dark themes were also a surprise and I am intrigued.

As of right now, this isn’t really a romance….yet. I am sooo interested to see where this goes.

Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5

Read this if you like:
🏛️ Stalker romance
🏛️ Hidden Identity
🏛️ Dark Greek mythology

Wow. I absolutely loved the storytelling in this book. The narrator is fantastic, and the story itself is so rich and engaging that I was genuinely lost in the world. I did stop halfway through and wasn't sure if I'd pick the book back up. This was not a reflection of the book or author but my problem with a certain trope. I became annoyed with everyone being so awful all the time, especially since I couldn't find compassion for the characters being jerks. I'm so glad I finished the book! The ending was perfection. And I can't wait for the next book.

An unusual take on Hercules. The book is a little slow to start, but finishes strong. Meg Sylvan; Teddy Hamilton; Aiden Snow; and Tristan Morris do a phenomenal job as narrators. If you're looking for hot scenes, it is a little lacking until then end, then jasmine Mas knocks it out of the park. I will say it's probably one of the hottest scenes I've ever read. I hope book 2 has a lot of the same

I am not usually an audio girly because for whatever reason, I tend to check out when I listen to a book. But there was something about this one that just clicked with me. Interestingly enough, it took me a bit to get into (around 20%). But after that, I was completely obsessed and incapable of setting it down for even a minute and ended up binge listening to it in one day. Suffice it to say, I was obsessed.

Having read and absolutely LOVED Jasmine's Cruel Shifteverse, I was so excited for this new world and I was not disappointed. I love Mas's combination of self depreciating humor, wit, and world building. And I especially love how she crafts these fierce FMC who survive hell to become legends. And Alexis has definitely survived hell. As an abandoned baby, she grows ups with abusive foster parents who she finally escapes at a young age when her foster mother brutally dies at the hands of a mysterious entity and her father is blamed for the death. Being left homeless with her foster brother, she is desperate to finish school so she can place herself in a situation to provide for them. But then she receives the shock of a lifetime when a standard school test finds her to have spartan blood and placed in the midst of a grueling challenge.

I enjoyed the narrator bringing Alexis to life with personality and found it fun and engaging. But I especially loved when we finally get the small trickle of POVs from 3 of the 4 men. We have Alexis's two mentors; Achiles, who doesn't speak because of his voice powers and muzzle and Patro. And then we have Augustus and Kharen, who we get the most of. There's a small snippet of Patro's POV in the end which I definitely devoured.

The story and world building was deliciously enchanting and gripping. And the romance is very much slow burn. If you've read anything by Jasmine, you're already familiar with her brand of humor. And I for one enjoy it thoroughly.

I hope book two brings us more of the male POV because I am absolutely dying to hear Achiles. If you're looking for a slow burn romantasy with unique spin on greek god mythology, this one hits just right.

A dark fantasy romance with a dystopian twist, this reimagining the Hercules myth held my interest and left me with all sorts of feels. Alexis, a desolate foster care teenager, is chosen to attend the Spartan War Academy after finding out she has royal blood. Along with its coming of age vibes, lots of action, a ton of mystery and deceit, classic villain vs hero vibes, I appreciated that Blood of Hercules also broached tough topics and the extremes one would go to protect those they love. Although the overall story was captivating and it was a retelling like I’ve never experienced, and most likely due to my inexperience in fantasy reads, I did find myself a bit confused with the numerous characters, forced romance, and a somewhat rushed plot line.. but I’ll definitely read book two !
The full cast narration was spectacular, especially the narrator voicing Alexis, with each having a depth of emotion particular to the scene(s) and their heroic or villainous character.
3.75 stars
Thanks to HarlequinAudio and NetGalley for the listening copy. Thoughts are my own, honest and voluntary.

I went into this book more or less blind so I found a lot of the story surprising. I loved Alexis's character, and her inner banter had me laughing out loud. There were bits in the middle that were slow for me tho and I wasn't a fan of the ending. I do plan to continue this series, and the audio narration was terrific!

I really jived with this book. It's exactly my brand of humor and usually I don't connect with books written in this style but it scratched the itch for me. I 100% can see how this isn't for everyone but it is incredibly entertaining for the right person. I highly recommend either print or audio (I did a tandem with both).

This was not terrible, but it wasn’t good either. At no point did I actually like the FMC, she doesn’t do anything to further the plot. The story had pacing issues and felt repetitive more than once. The most interesting characters, Achilles and Patro, aren’t given any purpose besides shock value.

I listened to the audiobook 7 months after reading the book when it was indie published. YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIOBOOK! It lifts the entire story - yes, even with Alex's constantly revised thoughts! If you've read it on the page, you know Alexis thinks a lot like Juliette in "Shatter Me" (Tahereh Mafi). I really enjoy the comedy in this style and was worried about how it would translate into an audio performance. But narrator Meg Sylvan does a fantastic job layering the snide commentary. In fact, the narration is less distracting than the text and allowed the true experience to shine through.

I had missed the romantic intentions that developed with Augustus and Kharon when I read it on my own (maybe I'm more like Alexis than I realized). But in the audiobook, I clearly gathered their growing interest and the machinations implemented to save Alexis from her trials. And I now know the correct pronounciation of "Kharon" hahaha...

"Blood of Hercules" is a contemporary greek tragedy which thrusts 19-year old Alexis Hert into an arena of demigods. Though she's grown up abused and homeless, her blood test revealed Spartan heritage so now she has endure one year of Spartan training. Misunderstood by her dark mentors and darker professors, she suffers brutal physical and mental trauma. But she does it with the nihilistic attitude of Gen Z that's really entertaining. She's survived worse... well, she's survived with less. And if she survives the year, she'll have the power to flee and save her brother.

The romance is a slooooow burn so be prepared to lock in for a full series. But I'm excited by the original and chaotic mind of Jasmine Mas.

This was SO GOOD !!

I loved the style of the narrators as well as the story im super excited for the next book.

10/10 please keep the same audio style for the next book !!

Oh my goodness did I absolutely DEVOUR this!! The narrators were SO GOOD and did such an amazing job. I definitely wish we had gotten mode of teddy and Aiden but hopefully book 2 will have more of the males POVs since this was mainly told from Alexis’s POV.

Alexis’s inner monologues had me cackling 😂 this book was so fun & unserious and I loved it. I love that she was actually Hercules & not one do the men. I also loved the dystopian/post apocalyptic vibes of the story mixed with the fantasy and Greek mythology elements. This was definitely a SLOOOOOW BURN 🔥 but I love those so I was eating up every bit of it. Hopefully we’ll get more romance and more interactions between the MC’s and more of the men in book 2 cause sheesh were they hawt 🥵

This definitely breaches on some heavy topics so definitely check TWs but if you’re of books with darker themes, fantasy, trials & morally grey men, then definitely add this one to your TBR! I can’t wait for the one!

Thank you to Harlequin Audio for the gifted listener’s copy 🎧💛

Tropes:
- Why Choose
- Slow Burn
- Enemies to lovers
- Greek mythology elements
- Morally grey MMCs
- Trials

Absolutely loved it! The voice actors and actresses kept me engaged. Anything with Aiden Snow or Teddy Hamilton is a go to for me! I can’t wait for book 2! Thank you so much for the chance to listen to it on NetGalley!

This dark romantasy had me hooked me with its academic vibes, morally grey men, and I’m a sucker for Greek mythology (set in more modern times). Alexis’s death-wish energy, self-deprecating humor, and slow rise to confidence had me both laughing and rooting for her. Nyx? The ultimate un-alive-your-enemies bestie. The men went from ‘we hate you’ to ‘we’d die for you’ with psychopathic flair, and while the romance didn’t fully hit yet, the sequel will. Predictable twists? Sure. But the 100 pages? Couldn’t put it down.

I was not gonna give feedback on this book because the first time I listened to it I had to DNF it in the content warning page. Then I saw that it went viral on Booktok, mostly due to dark romance readers and I gotta say that the FOMO won over me and I started listening again. But I realized Im not a dark romance reader so this one is on me. Didn't like it. Sorry :(

I have to say that this review is going to be so hard to keep it short. Many people will think this is a cute fantasy romance but it’s not and beware it’s a dark romance. This story follows a young girl who finds out she is a Spartan and must attend the academy where she runs into problems. I do have to say that the dialogue in this book is outright cringy and corny but just made the book so much better. It was honestly like reading a wattpad book. I enjoyed the writing style because I was entertained with how the FMC thought. The pacing is fast but the chapters are long. I really enjoyed the world building of this book and am excited to see the author expand on it more. This book is mainly told from Alexis’ pov with a few from the male leads.

Alexis has been through a lot and she isn’t getting a break. She does develop and I can see her growing but she is not there yet. She’s very sarcastic and not the typical FMC. Then we have Patro, Achilles, Kharon and Augustus. They fit the dark fantasy romance male leads so a bit hard to love but somehow loveable? I feel a connection with Kharon because I believe that he understand Alexis more than we are led on. There are many side characters in this book but mainly they are the other immortals in the academy or Nyx who is the bestie we all need. This book isn’t in the romance side yet as it’s mainly Alexis trying to figure herself out. The last chapter is the spicy one but other then that it mainly just angsty tension on the male leads. And I’m super excited to see how it all plays out.

The ending was great and honestly was just hooked with this book. I know many won’t enjoy this writing style but for me the storyline, world, and morally grey characters. I’m really excited for the next book which I will be reading once I hear there are arcs of it.

*this book was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*