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*

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.

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.