Hum... So I enjoyed some part of this more than others.

Alexis doesn't really get the world's she's thrown into and we have to figure it out with her as we go. She has no clue what most of them are talking about as she doesn't know their world. That I found interesting.
Is it considered dark romance? While it isn't getting smutty until ... Late in the book, the mind games and the partly dubious consent made me categorise it this way in my head. This is going dark places, so please make sure to read trigger warnings if you need them.

The pets / companions are funs.

I listened to it as audio and it was really nicely done.
It was fine but not mind-blowing. If I understood it write it is a duology, if that's the case I will probably pick book 2 to see how she is navigating the situation she landed in.

*Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for access to the audiobook against an honest review.*

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this story was not at all for me. The humour was so very repetitive, the characters so unlikable, and any love (or just lust even) so unbelievable. The pacing was odd, and our main girl seems to spend half the book unconscious. I also never need to hear about Carl Gauss again in my life.

Someone will not be continuing the series. It’s me.
(Honestly editors - this joke works once - and only once).

First off I’d like to say how much I enjoyed the narration on this audiobook! It gave perfect sass levels for a teenager who has had so many hurdles to overcome and been constantly beaten down literally and figuratively.

So we start off following our main character as a 9 year old girl living with foster parents who are basically drug addicts who abuse and starve her. In the space of a year she gains a foster brother and her “parents” each die and are jailed for life. So after that a 10 and 9 year old are just abandoned to starve faster and their caravan taken and destroyed. Cut forward to our FMC Alexis being 19. Apparently she’s super smart and has graduated from school but hung around an extra 3 years so she can participate in a ridiculously difficult exam with unclear benefits.

As part of this exam you have to add two drops of your blood to the exam paper and lo and behold when Alexis does this her paper fizzes then turns to ash which means she is a descendant of a Greek god. At this point she is sent to live with two murderers and has to go to train at the crucible where she is again starved, dehydrated, exhausted while also being taught ethical mathematics equations. Again I’m very confused about why or what the point is supposed to be.

Anyway she discovers her power, every male in the book decides she is the bees knees and all decide to take advantage of her when she’s just been reunited with her birth parents and found out her true identity. So that was great. Also if you’re only in for the spicy scenes there is one half an hour before then end of the book so I’d take that into consideration!

So yeah a lot of suspension of disbelief required and more of the same promised for book 2!

Alexis Hert grew up in poverty within a violent step family. During her exams a blood test will change her life completely. Now she will attend the Spartan War Academy where she will need all her physical and mental strength to survive. Can she do it and become immortal?

Well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). Great characters in this well paced, adventurous novel. Gods, villains, heroes, students, monsters and physical deprivation. Good luck to Alexis trying to survive!

Blood of Hercules is going viral and I can see why, it’s fun and bingeable. For me I liked the pairing of dark romatasy themes with humour. The FMC is totally unhinged, although her portrayal was more YA for me. For someone with a background of trauma she had that added edge and sass, but then sometimes was just immature. I did have some issues with her background generally, why does she end up living in a cardboard box. How does she still manage school like this?
I appreciated the humour overall but there were some cringe moments for me. The possessiveness and the stalking vibes were done well, but something else was missing.
I think my main criticism is the writing style. This book is definitely no masterpiece, which I think made it feel again it should be YA. There’s a lot going on in terms of prophecies, deadly trials, academies, Titans, Spartans, immortals and animal companions. So a lot to get stuck into as a fantasy enthusiast. At times I didn’t need the stats of certain people, this felt a bit like the hunger games. I would say the audio version is great at bringing it to life and getting across the drama. Definitely a binge of a read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Blood of Hercules follows Alexis as a blood test at school leads to her admittance at the Spartan War Academy. What ensues is a thrilling journey filled with dark romance, ancient prophecies, and animal companions—both adorable and fiercely sassy. I had an absolute blast with this book!

While the beginning felt a bit slow for me, once Alexis arrives at the academy, the story really picks up, and I found myself completely hooked. The Spartan War Academy is a brutal, unforgiving place that pushes its recruits to their absolute limits, and this intensity is brilliantly conveyed in the audiobook. Not only does the writing capture the raw exhaustion of the experience, but the narrator does an exceptional job bringing it to life with a voice that conveys the weariness and disorientation of the characters. The way the narrator captures Alexis’ erratic, almost drugged thoughts—complete with slurred words—immerses you in the chaotic, physically and emotionally draining world of the academy. It was so effective, it felt like you were right there with her, experiencing everything firsthand.

I'm eager to see how the story unfolds in the upcoming books and will definitely be returning for more—especially since the narration was absolutely fantastic!

Thank you to Harper Collins UK Audio and Netgalley for this audio ARC to review.

The narrators on this were amazing, especially Meg Sylvan. She brought Alexis to life. This book kept me guessing to who Alexis was the whole book, and the plot was great. The whole world building brilliant! I love Mythology and this was awesome

3.5 ⭐️

The book started to pick up around the 40% mark and it was hilarious. There was a lot going on but It did make me laugh. There were some memorable characters in this. My favourites had to be The General, NYX and Petra. I started to warm up to his character.

There was so much wailing which was REALLY dramatic. A good touch to the humour. Especially in the audio book. If you’re expecting a lot of spice this isn’t really it but if you want a good laugh it’s this book right here.

Looking forward to book 2

My favourite quotes:

“What you want is some real man that wants to slaughter for you”

“Actually don’t tell me, I’d rather shoot first then find out”


Thanks to @Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for access to this audiobook ARC

Wow, where has this been all my life?! This was everything I loved in a book- all the tropes, the characters and the story itself. I’m also a sucker for anything Greek mythology so this was a real winner for me.

I got SO sucked into the story and the audiobook was absolutely fab. Narrated by a great cast, it absolutely blew the assignment out the water when it came to bringing the book to audible life.

And the writing. I loved it and Alexis’ self deprecating humour was hilarious and she was completely raw, real and genuine. It made for super entertaining reading.

I not only loved Alexis immediately but fell in love with the world the author created. And ugh - the bad boys you hate but secretly want to know more about…! Resurrect me for the next book please.

I first experienced this book in its audiobook format (which was perfection. The narration was absolutely fab and acted so well. I could actually feel Alexis’ tiredness through the headphones) and I loved it so much, I actually went out and bought a physical copy.
Waiting until the next instalment will be a wrench.

So the beginning of the book had my attention right away, I really enjoyed the authors writing style and it had me smiling and completely wrapped up in the story.
I found the middle a little lacking, it felt quite monotonous and as the main character was slogging to get through the crucible I found myself slogging through the book.
There was no great romance that I could root for, I love a morally grey man but they all felt black with no banter or redeeming features, I get from the end that this may be the point but it just wasn't quite my cup of tea.
The end was good but didn't quite feel rewarding enough for the long middle.
All that said I really liked the author and although this book wasn't quite for me I would definitely pick up another book from her.
Narrator was excellent.

I give up, ok? DNF at 60%, this was just soooooo bad, and the worst is that this author supposedly has a classics degree? A 7th grader who has read Percy Jackson has a better understanding and knowledge of Greek mythology than her!
Now the book: it's so bad I can't fathom this is getting traditionally published. It has no redeeming quality save maybe for Alexis' humor but even that is just her being sassy in her head, making TikTok references and talking about fanfictions (I don't even know how she ever had access to those but that's not the question). The worldbuilding makes no sense, I mean the work was already half done with greek mythology, you just need to reuse what you've got and either implement it in a modern world or in another universe. And yet, she still managed to fumble that. This book explains to us, in length in the first chapter that's basically just info dumping onto you like a history book (you know the rolling text in Star Wars recapping the situation? yeah you got the idea), how Greek houses (one for each of the 12 main gods) are divided between Olympians and Chthonic, meaning they have different powers (I think? It's explained very poorly) and don't like each other (?). These "gods but not actually called gods" beings can have kids (that's accurate at least) and those kids do their dirty work for them. Now hold on tight: Artemis and Athena ALSO have children. Not the mind children typa thing of Percy Jackson, nope, actual fricking kids. I'm probably forgetting some things but that's what I'm willing to explain of the world and what I actually understood because it's so poorly explained and set up, you can only make suppositions.
Now my big question, what's up with the Latin? Why would Spartan beings speak LATIN?! yeah they migrated to Italy and stuff but like? They're immortal? The fact that everyone speaks latin and not Ancient of even modern Greek just makes no sense whatsoever, and now I'm thinking the author just didn't know any Ancient Greek? But then open a book? I don't know this is so stupid.
Characters wise: the most cliche things you could ever think of when I tell you romantasy love interest. I'm struggling to see the romance in there except when Patroclus was sucking Achilles' d!ck, but that's about it I think.
Just save your time and money, this is beyond bad without any redeeming quality, if you want polyamory and good relationships, read Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, it's this book but 1,000 times better.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc in exchange for a honest review.

Unfortunately, I was so hyped for this book, it fell short from the start. I was immediately left confused and then wondering "Why is this in here? Why is this relevant?" constantly. We get introduced to our FMC, Alexis, from the start and learn about her tragic past. Unfortunately she uses this past to make snide remarks like 'omg i want to kill myself slay' She is so insufferable its not even worth picking up. Nothing happens for 3/4 of the book and i dont understand how this is a bestseller.

The audio aspect of it was alright. nothing special really

#BloodOfHercules by #JasmineMas is a 5⭐️ read.

My physical book arrived from Waterstones on the same day I got the audio ARC, so I read and listened at the same time.

Oh my god! There is a moment in this book from the first page to the last word that I did not love! Alex and Nix are so bad arse and I am in love…

What if Hercules was Female? How would the world she was thrust into treat her and react to her powers?

This is a powerful modern day retelling of a story you think you know. But Jasmine’s version is one not to be missed!

I finished this book at 3am this morning, and I’m going right back to the first page and starting again!

This is a book I feel you want to read the physical for all the information, however you really want to listen to the audio too! The narrators did such an amazing job with their acting!

I listened to this in two days as it was so addictive. The narrator's do such a good job bringing the book to life. Alexis goes through so much hardship throughout the book and you feel her exhaustion both physical and mentally. The female narrator was my favourite and I'll definitely listen to her again. I listen on 1.75 pace and she was still clear. The male narrator bought his characters to life and I felt the evil under tones.

My favourite character was Nyx, but she seemed to disappear at the end with no explanation. How dare my favourite character just disappear!!!! I wanted to hear her snide remarks during the ceremony!

The thing that bothered me most was that a lot of issues especially at the end could have been resolved by Alexis just telling the truth what has happened. She seemed so sensible at the beginning but she was a different person at the end. I couldn't believe she was the smartest in the class by the end. Her whole character changed. I know she went through a lot but she had been through lots before. She stopped think rationally at the end.

Also, how is she that dumb that she FINALLY remembers where she saw the officiant at her wedding but still hasn't put 2+2 together. Yellow eyes and given to the foster carers by this lady? Mmm does she not think Charlie might be also a stolen baby. I'd be totally questioning if any other babies went missing.

I hope she doesn't end up with her current husband's. The book is blurring the lines in this relationship and I hope people don't see this stalker/ manipulative relationship as healthy because of it. I hope this is building up to them being the bad guys/ enemies in the next book.

I loved that this book was so different from other fantasy books currently. I was going to change genre as I was bored reading the same plot over and over so this book was refreshing.

No, just no. I think i actually lost brain cells listening to this book. Quite frankly, i wanna forget about it, but it's so bad, only a lobotomy would help with that.
I can't fathom that someone read this and thought "oooh, it reads like as if wattpad and tiktok had a child, the fmc is super annoying, the love interests made me gag, let's publish this!".
In all seriousness, do not read this book. Not even for hate-reading. how this book got such a high rating is beyond me.
Alexis (the fmc) has to be the most pathetic, whiny character i have ever seen. she constantly makes "i want to die" jokes which are not funny. the humor in general is just cringe. when the second love interest got his pov, i had to put the book down because i couldn't do it anymore. both mmc seem suuuuper predatory in the worst way. the world building was also bad. the pacing was so weird and up to the 50% mark (where i stopped), nothing really happened.
it's a pitty, because the premise was good.

What an interesting start to the Villains of Lore series, I'm obsessed and I need book 2 immediately!

Absolutely love Achilles, Patro, Kharon and Augustus and I find the dynamic between them all interesting, although book 2 definitely needs to delve into this deeper.

There is a lot of inner monologue from the FMC, which I think some people will not enjoy. She has a self-deprecating, sarcastic, slightly immature inner voice which at times I did find annoying, but for the most part I found hilarious. The narration was 11/10, particularly the female narrator who managed to get the inner monologue down perfectly!

It wasn't a perfect 5 stars for me as this book needed some editing to tighten it up. The pace was a bit all over the place and we sat in certain situations for too long.

I received an advanced listening copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What can I say this was amazing. I couldn’t stop listening. I was gripped for the first chapter. I really enjoyed learning more and more about the characters connections. It got quite spicy in parts but it didn’t take away from the story.

3.5 ⭐️

First off I had sky high hopes for this given all the hype.

I had a great time listening to the audio
But I have several issues…

Meg does a great job of bringing Alexis to life and I loved the inner monologue and humour.. although the tiktok lingo was a bit much for 32yo me at times…

There were times I couldn’t hear Meg’s dialogue for Kharon though as her voice was so low and quiet in comparison to the rest so I’d turn the volume up to hear only to be defeated when it was Kharon speaking. (Petition for all multi-narrator audio books to be proper duets 🥹 Augustus’ voice was perfect!)

I don’t quite get how Alexis is described as asexual and then has decidedly non-asexual thoughts/actions… I did enjoy the disability and queer rep though.

I didn’t feel any chemistry between the love interests for the vast majority of the book and found most of them largely unlikable… and not in a dark romance kinda hot way.

I didn’t understand why conveniently there are 2 pairs of bisexual (and much older) males drooling over her? Like obviously we are setting up for some poly/mfm content (which I’m all for) but… I dunno it just felt a bit of lazy writing to me.

I found the audio (and therefore probably the writing) didn’t convey the big events well enough and they felt glossed over, I wanted a bit more drama when she is being attacked or feels like she’s about to die.

I found the plot predictable. I didn’t guess who was threatening Alexis but I sussed a certain someone out pretty quickly and knew what the outcome would be in that regard.

The ending left me a bit uncomfortable to be honest… it felt a bit non consensual.

I did have a good time and I am invested in the story and where we go from here I just hope we get some female rage and that she chooses none of the MMCs because they’re all trash, or in need of a significant redemption ARC. I do have a soft spot for Augustus, because Poco.

Also a side note… we didn’t necessarily need a spoiler in the title/blurb and could have had another plot twist? The reader (and all the other characters) aren’t actually told she’s Hercules until near the end…. Seemed a bit weird to me I was waiting for them to suss her out much sooner!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of the audio. 🖤

Unfortunately I was not getting on with this book and DNFd at 15% in. I think that's more of my reading preferences than it being bad per say.

3.5 STARS. I love anything greek/roman gods related and this aspect of this story did not disappoint. There were aspects that I felt I didn't really enjoy - such as some of the quips that the main character made which I didn't find funny but I think that was reflective of her mental state. I wish the spice had started earlier than it did as it was a long wait but I am excited to see how it plays out in the next book. I think overall I was left with a lot of answers.