Reviews with content warning for Gore - Herc

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson

9 reviews

erikariehigano22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a retelling! I salute Rogerson in their attempt to collate and portray the various branches of Greek Mythology stories where Heracles was the centre of it. Just as their author's notes said, Heracles is "right there in the middle of it." This is an exemplary exhibit of exploring the development of a protagonist through the perspective of another character. And unlike other retellings, it involved various characters my fingers and toes could not count. Not even once did Heracles had his own chapter in his own point of view and this was the charm of this book that was unique and extraordinary despite how simple it sounded.

I also cannot believe this was my first exposure into Heracles' death LOL. Like I didn't think his death would be so.... anti-climatic? For all his glory and ambitious feats of victory, as well as the wrath and violence he had displayed, it was a curse no less casted by a centaur and administered by his own wife that finally cut the threads of his mortal life.

I had not expected for his twin brother Iphicles to pass away in battle. But I think that was the foreshadowing in Laonome's last chapter. Anyhow, I liked how this became the catalyst of their conclusion, the beginning of the end.

~~I would have finished this sooner if only life and adulting issues had not happen, as well as falling down from grace in uni coursework lol....~~

I highly recommend this book. Thank you to my friend Nathan for giving this to me on my birthday earlier this year. Although the language had some modern slang that took me off sometimes in the immersion, it was not worse and Rogerson's prose still captivated me and brought me back to the ancient world where Heracles was the centre of everyone's stories throughout ancient Greece.

Content Warnings

kmoz's review against another edition

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sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

hawkes's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

shaunashares's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

oldandnewbooksmell's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Trigger Warnings: violence, death, murder, (ya know, Greek Gods’ stuff)

Herc is a retelling of Hercules told by the people around him and how he impacted their lives - for better or worse.

So, upon reading this, I realized that I only knew the Disney version of Hercules - totally and absolutely so much different.

It was the children’s killing that made my jaw hit the floor

I mostly listened to this in an audiobook and it had a whole ensemble of characters and voices, which was great because it helped with keeping everyone straight. It also gave Hercules a layered and complicated life (again, one I did NOT know about because I knew only of the Disney version). The different voices also gave way to some humor with it too because everyone obviously had different experiences with him through his life.

Overall, I’m going to be recommending this to quite a few people, especially those who like mythology and retellings. Also, this is such a nice twist of the telling of Hercules because it’s not really about him, but more about the people he had interactions with throughout his life.

*Thank you Hanover Square Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

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danny_fox's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative sad tense 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

4.5

Honestly... this book can just be described as a rollercoaster.

It was crazy funny at times when you would have characters talk in more modern ways than they are supposed to.

It would be absolutely shocking when you would have some dark scenes be described in such a way that left me actually, properly speechless.

And Herc or Herakles/Hercules as a character is just... a rollercoaster. And yet he is so amazingly written, and the fact that you never see his perspective makes the book all the more better.

Instead, you get to see how all other characters saw him, and how their perspectives are different from one another, where some see him in a more positive light and some see him as a monster. And hence there are times when you hate him, and yet when you also feel bad for him.

This book is a perfect mix of depression and happiness and joy and sadness and characters who you will love one moment and then hate (in a good way) next.

It's one of the most unique books I read about Greek mythology, and definitely one of my favorites. I had way too much reading it.

And goddamn it, it almost actually made me cry on a couple of occasions.

I'm looking forward to reading more stuff from the author, as their writing style is so unique and genuinely so nice.

I highly recommend it, but do be aware of trigger warnings, as there are some rather uncomfortable scenes.

Also, I wished there was more Hylas content (especially at the end) cause he was my favorite character, but that's just personal opinion. :(

Content Warnings