Title: Blood of Hercules (Villains of Lore #1) by Jasmine Mas

Published: August 1, 2024

Genre(s): fantasy, romance, mythology

Read as: ebook, Kindle Unlimited

Rating: 3

I’m just a girl. And it turns out, I’m Hercules.

I’m struggling to survive in a Titan infested world where Spartans, immortals from twelve royal families who have god-like powers and obscene wealth, rule over all. A shy-stammering foster child with nothing, I keep my head down, cover my scars, and focus on excelling in school. At least, I try to. Then it happens.

My blood test reveals I’m part of the powerful elite. I’m one of them. A Spartan.

Forced to attend the Spartan War Academy, I undergo the most harrowing test of all time to see if I have what it takes to be an immortal. There’s just a few problems. Achilles and Patro are my scary mentors. Kharon, the ferryman of death, and Augustus, the son of war, are my terrifying professors. Also, I’m pretty sure either someone’s stalking me everywhere I go, or my sanity’s slipping––I have a bad feeling both are true.

I’m surrounded by Villains and they’re smothering me with their hate, obsession, and dark possessiveness. Too bad for them, they have no clue just who they’re messing with. (Goodreads)

Trigger warnings: physical assault and abuse, mental abuse, child abuse, starvation, death of a pet (off page)

It has taken me days to write this review because I just can’t decide how I truly felt about this book. It is one of those stories that I felt like I couldn’t put down, I HAD to keep reading, but at the same time I’m not entirely sure why or that I even should have.

First, I would like to address the slightly odd writing style in general. The story is written from the first person point of view of Alexis who is a young woman being sent to the Spartan war academy. Her POV is written in a way that reminded me of a preteen writing fanfic. Almost every one of her thoughts had a little aside that came across as snarky and facetious. These little comments make it difficult for me to believe her maturation story in general.

Alexis is twenty years old throughout the bulk of this story so she is an adult. However, she is very emotionally stunted. I’m not positive that is how the author desired her to be portrayed but that is what I understood. She is an incredibly book smart woman (which we all love to see) but her mental maturity otherwise is very stunted. This makes the more sexually leaning scenes feel uncomfortable and inappropriate. Typically I am first in line to read about sweaty sex and mind blowing orgasms but with her more prepubescent tendencies it felt more like rape, quite frankly.

Overall, I’m not sure I can truly recommend this book. Was there a compelling story line and attention grabbing characters? Absolutely. Did it still somehow feel dirty and not in the fun way? Also yes. I’d say go into reading this with some trepidation. Perhaps you won’t get the same feeling as I did and you’ll be whisked away to a brutal school with a woman coming into her own and growing into a strong, determined warrior. Either way, be sure to check all trigger warnings and be mindful of your own feelings.

Happy reading.🖤