This book was so good! I was a little nervous at first because I am not super well versed in the history of Greek Mythology (I literally love all this so idk why I’m not) but the author did an amazing job explaining everything in the beginning and a little throughout the book. 

Alexis, the main character had me dying the whole time. Her sarcastic tone throughout the book was so great. I know her personality was based on the absolute worst childhood of being an abused orphan. And it didn’t help that she then had to go learn the ways of the Spartans. But she continued to make light of awful situations and I cannot wait to read more and see her grow to be the badass she is! 

Thank you so much The Hive, Harlequin and NetGalley for this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

|QUOTE|
“If evil is unnoticed does it still exist?”

4.25⭐️ 2🌶️

What a whirlwind!! And omg do I need more! This was oddly addictive???

I had moments where some of the language and some of Alexis’ behavior pulled me out but other than that, call me obsessed!!

This is sarcastic and filled with self depreciating humour, something I appreciate being French! While some things may have felt obvious, I honestly was just so enthralled by the story and the vibes that I forgot to put my fantasy reader hat on and just enjoyed a damn good ride.

The narrators absolutely aced this and I cannot wait for book 2, which should hopefully feature the male cast more prominently because oh lord were they hot! And just in general, I need more interactions between them all and I desperately need the romance to start making its way through the plot! One can only hope this will maybe become duet style with such a fantastic full cast.

The FMC has some growing to do. I understood her traumas but I also felt like sometimes the self depreciation took over her whole character and then all of a sudden transformed into self confidence and murderous tendencies without any gradual growth. She oblivious and naive to the point where it got a bit frustrating. All in all, I’m excited to see her journey in the next book.

Little warning - if you’re getting into this looking for romance and spice… it’s not this. It’s a SLOW SLOW burn and similar to the legacy series, lust comes before any feelings and nothing really happens on that front in book 1. However, it’s set up very nicely for the sequel!

This is my first book by this author and I was really excited by the premise. However I have decided not to finish it after reading about 40%. The writing style is not working for me and I don’t feel connected to the characters or the plot.

I was reading this via audiobook. I thought the narrators did a nice job.

This book was so much fun and unserious in the best way. I love the setting, the main character’s personality, and the twist on Greek mythology. Great for fans of romantasy, morally grey men, and darker action & themes. Excited for book two!

I loved this story. The narration was good and engaging. It was a perfect balance of fantasy and romance. The FMC had sass and I loved that.

Thank you so much Harlequin Audio for the gifted ALC!

Dnf 53%

I want to start by saying the narration was STUNNING! I was hoping it would be duet narration, but it’s almost entirely the female narrator. However, she did AMAZING! Her voice changes and emotion kept me in this story longer than I would’ve if I had been reading a physical copy.

As for the story itself… yikes 😭 it really is giving brain rot, I’m so sorry. “Pussy power”?? Bsffr. And the characters are giving me absolutely ✨nothing✨. Like I feel zero investment in these characters after 50%? The world building was also very quick and not very thorough so I still don’t understand this world 😩

Oh my gosh this book was so good!! I'm not normally a reader of dark romance or who choose books so I wasn't sure if I would be the target audience for this book. I appears I absolutely am. I ate this book up. It was an absolute delight to be in Alexis's head. Her internal dialogue was full of hilarious quips and she refused to be cowed despite being thrown into an overwhelming competition. I was rooting for her right away and it was a delight to see her roll with the wild things the plot threw at her. The world itself fairly violent which but the tone was never dark which made the story really work for me. Our heroes are alpha, extremely possessive, violent, and morally grey. They took "touch her and die" very literally and I had a ball with it. That last line left me so curious about book 2. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!! I'm sure I'll always devour it in a day as well.

If you get the opportunity to listen through audio I definitely recommend! This is a world with different kinds of speaking creatures and Alexis's narrator did a fantastic job bringing the different species to life. I'm definitely going to get the audio for book 2!

unfortunately i could not get into this book to save my life. i love greek mythology so i thought a spicy chaotic version would be a great time but something about this was just not clicking with me.

I was very excited for this book but something about it just was not working for me. I struggled with the characters and the world. I did not love the audiobook narration which also made me struggle to get into the book. I found the world interesting but some of the depictions of figures in Greek Mythology were hard for me to enjoy. I really wanted to love this book but sadly it was just not for me.

I loved every moment! The pacing was fantastic, the action scenes, the brutality of the world, the characters. I have mixed feelings about the romance, but I feel like that’s how you’re supposed to feel. I have no idea who I’m supposed to trust!!

The audiobook made this book so enjoyable. Truly loved every single narrator.

Teddy Hamilton & Aiden Snow stole the show for me. They demonstrated the crazy & possessiveness of their characters perfectly. Wish they had more chapters!!!

Meg Sylvan’s narration was incredible. She made Alexis crash out and inner thoughts so funny. She absolutely killed it as the FMC and was able to really evoke Alexis’ bizarre thoughts and actions through her voice acting.

Moving on to the book…

Blood of Hercules was literally so entertaining and like not true to Greek mythology at all but so unique and fun. It had a contemporary feel to it and had albeit sometimes cringe language but that’s what made the book so different. I am def so intrigued on what Jasmine has in store for us in the next book.

Thank you HTP for the audiobook!

I feel quite let down by this book. I was so excited to read it as I had heard it raved about but this was SO not what I excited and not in a good way. Our FMC was so self deprecating and made sarcastic remarks in this regard literally every other sentence. None of the MMCs had grabbed my attention…in fact I actively wanted less of them. Even though I didn’t like any of our main characters I feel like I could have pushed through for a good plot…however this was missing that as well. I felt like we went in circles, lacked emotion, had the most frustrating conversations, and had little to no action. At the 50% mark I knew I just couldn't keep going with this one and had to DNF.

The perk of this book was that I thought the audio production was quite good. I loved the voice actors and the inflections their voices had throughout. I would love to hear more books narrated by them.

The Blood of Hercules is a story of a woman who rose from the slums and out of her abusive foster home in a Titian infested world to... wait what did her blood test say? She's a Spartan? She's as surprised as we are. Alexis quickly shows how tough, and smart, she is at the war college. All she needs to do is not die and she will become an immortal. The challenges seem impossible and with people out to get her, that is much easier said than done.

I enjoyed this loose retelling. I had fun with it, but you really just need to let go of reality. I was intrigued throughout and loved Alexis. The MMC's were a little cringe with the instalove but that's not my favorite trope. This audio book was SO well done. The expressions were spot on. If Alexis was tired, you could hear it in the narrators voice. I simply cannot wait for book 2!!

Alexis has found herself in a world she never imagined growing up being physically abused, then it was just her and her foster brother on the streets the two of them against the world, so they thought. But now Alexis needs to not only fight to get back to her foster brother but for her very life. I love Alexis’ snarkyness, and inner monologue, she is funny and kept me engaged in the book. The voice actor picked to narrate the book was just awesome she was a perfect Alexis. The action never stops, and the suspense builds up all the way to the end. Now to wait for the second book.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Blood of Hercules
Author: Jasmine Mae

Thank you so much Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for this audiobook copy! This was fantastic! I had to try savor it because I knew it was going to be an automatic favorite series from the first line. I love books based around Greek Mythology (I am actually a quarter Greek so it means alot to me). This is a dark fantasy, why choose romance read. It centers on our main character who is an abused foster child, that basically ends up having Spartan powers and being entered into a competition at the Spartan War Academy. It was silly and funny while also being dark, and plot driven. I loved the easy way it reads, and I felt connected to the FMC. It was a borderline bully romance, so think along the lines of Zodiac Academy’s earlier books if you were into that. I am dying for the second book, and it comes out in October. Highly recommend this one! It was about 🌶️🌶️/5 on the spicy scale.

Audio narration was fantastic!!!!!!

Okay normally, I don't really care about the narrators of any audiobook and they don't make or break a story for me but I LOVED the people who did this one, especially our MFC, the way she changed her tone and stuff was so good and really kept me engaged in the book! This is a HELLA slow burn and I was not expecting that, but it was a lot of fun! Essentially our girl Alexis, finds out she has gods blood so she has to go to a fancy academy, where her mentors are Patroclus and Achilles, who I really wish we got to see more from but it's only book 1! There are also two hot professors that are of course obsessed with her and she can't see it. I don't know if I'd really classify this as a romance cause there's hardly any in the book, but it definitely explodes at the end so I think book 2 is going to SLAP and fill our hearts up with smut and maybe love! This isn't the best written book out there but I do think it's engaging and intriguing, I'll definitely be getting book 2!

There is a very thin line between a quick witted super sarcastic FMC and annoying. Many sit in the gray area, but it’s very easy for one to be unlikeable. Thank you Jasmin Mas for making a character that made me nod my head, laugh at the self-deprecating jokes, and have an all around good time.

Does that make it seem like this is a light-hearted tale? It’s not. This is a Greek retelling that merges with dark fantasy romance that makes for a fantastic story. I was hooked from the start from the FMC Alexis younger self of being immersed in a world of dark times, Titans that are on the loose, and struggling to survive. You get caught up in the whirlwind of what enfolds for Alexis as she discovers she’s a Spartan and now is being thrust into trials at the Spartan War Academy. Also add in a dash of slow burn romance and possessiveness.

Audiobook: The narrator, Meg Sylvan, hit it out of the park. Her tone, the sass, the pacing of her reading was stellar. Also add in Teddy Hamilton and you’ve got a good time.

An interesting premise, with disappointing results - I’m tempted to rate this even lower. I could not even get started with this book; I barely made it through the first few chapters. The writing style is off putting for any reader who appreciates writing as a craft; it reads like a tween is gossiping with their friends. I understand why others may be excited about this one, but it is definitely not for me.

This was outside of what I typically read and enjoy, and all I can say is WOW! I LOVED this! I will absolutely reread this, and continue on with the series. The audiobook is fantastic, with the narrators doing an excellent job. I loved the snark and humor, the animal protectors and BFF snake. The story follows Alexis as she discovers a bit about her heritage, and then has to survive The Crucible only to find out that isn't the end of her torture. The twist at the end was unanticipated and I loved it.

While I enjoy mythos-inspired fantasy, I don't typically enjoy dark romance, nor do I read much of why-choose. This book has me loving and perhaps even willing to try more of those outside of what I normally read. This story is very plot drive and while it does get spicy at the end, it's hard to tell what is to come in book two. I recommend this title for everyone that enjoys fantasy that is mythos inspired that wants a dash of possessive men.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.