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courtstrauch13's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was very different than I anticipated, but I truly enjoyed it in the end. There’s a lot to say about the character of Hercules, who is the center of this book, but what I came to love about it was the human reactions to him, his nephew who admired him, his cousin who hated him, they gave a really different perspective of who Hercules was and how he acted. The characters/narrators were very human, especially in comparison to a demigod (I apologize for the joke), but their emotions were not straight forward, and their love or hatred was layered, and justified. There were point of the book that dragged a bit, and parts I found confusing, but overall enjoyed!
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Death, Slavery, Child death, Violence, Drug abuse, Bullying, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Abandonment
llyrian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
What a wild ride.
I have a lot of feelings after reading this, and although it's in a very unique form for a greek mythology retelling it was one of the best ones I've read so far!
The main way of storytelling in this book, which is the shades of Herc's family, friends and lovers remembering him in a wild mix of ancient and modern language, was fascinating, and after about the halfway point the subtitle on the title page kept running in my mind because it's the entire point of the book:
Hero.
Husband.
Father.
Villain.
Monster.
Highly recommend this book!
Can't wait for Phoenicia's future work, too!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, Bullying, and Death of parent
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