Scan barcode
clovetra's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ok i think i can say i am a self-proclaimed greek mythology retelling lover. do they probably water down & bastardise the original myths? probably! do i care? nope!
look i’ve tried to read the actual works (looks at the odyssey with a glare) and i fucking hated it the whole time. but when they’re rewritten in the 21st century??? ohhhh ill never get enough of them.
this book was so quippy. bro there were so many fire one-liners. the story was incredibly lighthearted (which i needed!) yet entertaining. every character’s personality oozes through the pages, and you are sitting there rooting for everyone (except hercules he can get fucked).
i liked how this explained everything for my goo goo ga ga brain. i don’t know shit about greek mythology but boy did i love this! i loved how a big focus was on the women in his life, but also largely focused on what a dick hercules was. yeah he did some good things but bro if this story doesn’t have fictionalised aspects…… yeah he deserved what he got in the end.
i’ll be real i didn’t know shit about hercules except he’s strong before this. i’m so happy this book simultaneously educated and entertained me, which honestly i find it hard to find a book able to do this.
i’ll be real tho and say that keeping track of everyone’s names is so hard. yeah that’s the point & the author literally references how everyone has the same name (iole, iolanus, and the other one who i forget). but i can’t say it didn’t confuse the shit out of me. i think my baby brain needed a biiiiiit more context going in to make this a 5-star ranking. but honestly for me i think that is all that is holding the book back, and it isn’t even the book’s fault!!!! it’s just cuz im uneducated regarding greek mythology!!!!!!!
anyways i fuck with meg from disney’s hercules even more now. SHE DESERVED BETTER!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Infidelity, War, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Cursing, Animal death, and Death of parent
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.
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 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
Graphic: Addiction, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Sexism, Slavery, Alcoholism, Grief, Infidelity, Alcohol, Abandonment, Cursing, Misogyny, Child death, and War
aseel_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.75
This definitely gave a pretty comprehensive overview of Hercules and all of the people who interacted or were affected by him. It's definitely a sad story and the 1997 animation of Hercules doesn't touch the darkness at all. It was quite an easy read and I liked the structure of the stories and how they were weaved together. It was pretty easy to keep most of the names and stories straight but a few times, the I names were hard to keep track
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, War, Sexism, Child death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, Animal death, Slavery, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Grief, and Alcoholism
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
kmoz's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Slavery, Infidelity, Child death, and Death of parent
snootle's review against another edition
At first there was a novelty in each chapter being told by a different character, but eventually I found it hard to keep track of who was who (probably because I listened to it rather than read) and it was difficult to become invested in a character. There were also big stories told within a short timespan which lessened the impact. Overall, this wasn't for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Child death, Violence, Rape, and Murder
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
queerloras's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual violence, War, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Slavery
gondorgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Violence, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death of parent, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
emmsbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
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
4.5
Herc is the story of Hercules/Heracles, told from the varying perspectives of those who were close to him; friends, family, foe and colleagues.
I love the way this book was written, its use of colloquialisms and jokes made the story fun and refreshing, it was such a good contrast and break from some of the more serious and sadder events happening within the plot. Some parts really had me laughing out loud and the injection of modern vernacular and slang at times made the story feel all the more accessible and like it wasn’t trying to take itself to seriously. Additionally, the varied points of view that made up the story made the story flow quickly and meant that plot didn’t get stale or lag at all. The different voices driving the story made it well rounded and gave the story an added dimension, because Hercules is such a prolific figure in Greek Mythology, the cast of characters is extensive. Keeping track of the names can be difficult at times, utilising the list of characters in the back is a helpful tool that I recommend.
I liked that Hercules could be the subject of the story, but it didn’t glorify him or try to excuse any of his actions. If anything it was quite critical of him, even when the protagonist was one of the characters who had largely positive relationships and interactions with him we saw him in a less than glorious, certainly not Disney positive manner. I am personally not the biggest Hercules fan and the structure of the story was really gratifying at times, but there is a large amount of loss in it.
Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
I love the way this book was written, its use of colloquialisms and jokes made the story fun and refreshing, it was such a good contrast and break from some of the more serious and sadder events happening within the plot. Some parts really had me laughing out loud and the injection of modern vernacular and slang at times made the story feel all the more accessible and like it wasn’t trying to take itself to seriously. Additionally, the varied points of view that made up the story made the story flow quickly and meant that plot didn’t get stale or lag at all. The different voices driving the story made it well rounded and gave the story an added dimension, because Hercules is such a prolific figure in Greek Mythology, the cast of characters is extensive. Keeping track of the names can be difficult at times, utilising the list of characters in the back is a helpful tool that I recommend.
I liked that Hercules could be the subject of the story, but it didn’t glorify him or try to excuse any of his actions. If anything it was quite critical of him, even when the protagonist was one of the characters who had largely positive relationships and interactions with him we saw him in a less than glorious, certainly not Disney positive manner. I am personally not the biggest Hercules fan and the structure of the story was really gratifying at times, but there is a large amount of loss in it.
Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Alcoholism, Slavery, War, Death, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, and Murder
lydiaaizlewood's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Violence