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veparrr 's review for:
Blood of Hercules
by Jasmine Mas
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
513 highlights & 403 notes on my ebook
This book is a shame to the publishing industry (and here's why):
Writing and Structure
The writing was absolutely atrocious. I don't think I've ever seen writing this juvenile since I read Harry Potter fanfiction on Wattpad. There was copious amounts of Gen Z slang that read like it was written by a millennial and constant add-ons with parentheses that were trying too hard to be funny (like this). A significant number of uses of the word 'bulge' for a various amount of things - gun holsters, muscles, and other unladylike parts of men.
The structure of the paragraphs were written like reverse steps.
It created a lot of white space on the page.
Like this.
It's something you don't really see used in professional writing, it's mostly found in fanfiction to produce emphasis. Authors have other ways of doing that using specific words, phrases, and alternating sentence structures. This book didn't feel like that. It felt like I was reading a first or second draft, like it needed to go through another round of copy and developmental edits. I'm not sure if it was originally indie-published and picked up later but either way, it was barely readable.
One more notable thing about the paragraphs structure of this book - when Achilles and Patro are introduced, the author gives them an introduction I can only akin to isekai manga skill panels. Their names, various attributes, and net worth are given to us in bullet point format. It took me by surprise when I saw it that I actually just stared at my screen for a couple minutes in disbelief. It was the most lazy character introductions I've ever seen in a novel.
Here is an assortment of quotes that basically sums up how the author wrote this book:
"apocalyptic core"
"Free the nipple and the lips (vaginal)?" (x2)
"I knew you had it in you, bestie. Pussy power, crush the patriarchy!"
"Fluck the flucking world. Life's a biatch like that. Yes, I was in my emo era."
'"Freak, fluck, biatch, crud, darn, flippin', shrit," I wailed despondently, but my eyes were bone-dry because emo girls didn't cry (I cried yesterday).'
"I rolled to my side. Augustus looked worried. I made a whale sound. He did not make one back. This is why I don't talk to people. They never understand me."
"But like all good things in life, it came to an abrupt end, and we swam the River Styx (drowned in a forward-moving direction)"
"I was staring at hus male thotch (thigh-crotch) region like a weirdo."
My personal favorite: "A man was speaking, so I stopped listening."
Mythology
Now, this book was inspired by Greek mythology. The original twelve Olympian gods are there, but they are separated into the Chthonic House (Hades, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares) and the Olympian Houses (the other eight). They all have children that are either full-blooded gods or "mutts," which are the offspring of a human and a god. All of these gods in the Chthonic and Olympian Houses have children. There are a lot of glaring issues with Greek myths here, which is surprising considering the author has a degree in <i>classical studies</i>! They are as follows:
1. Artemis in mythology has sworn off men and having children.
2. The Achilles in this book does not have blonde hair and light eyes nor is he of slim build. He has dark hair, red eyes, and is built like a fucking tank. His father is Ares, which is also inaccurate.
3. The Greek spelling is Herakles, not Hercules. That's the Roman spelling.
4. This book contains Latin. Not Ancient Greek. If the book is based on Greek mythology, why are there Latin phrases smattered throughout the book that largely don't need to be there? As someone who's studied Latin, these phrases are mostly out of context
5. When Alexis is at the crucible and they're made to run up and down the mountain as punishment, they are told to swim across the River Styx while Kharon hunts them. You like,, aren't supposed to do that?? If you do it will ultimately change you but the characters in this book seemingly have no problem after repeated dips in the river.
6. One of the MLs names' is Augustus. Why is the first Roman emperor appearing in this book. He is not Greek.
7. None of the House flags have the original animal that represents the god's House. For instance, Zeus's House flag has a lion on it, not an eagle.
8. And probably more that I can't find in my notes as I have too many of them.
Characters
There are about 5 major characters that matter in this book. All of them have only a few character traits and the male characters in this book seem to trade two between the four of them.
1. Alexis Hunt, our MC. She's autistic-coded, supposedly asexual (though she appears to feel mighty amounts of sexual attraction to our MLs), and is utterly obsessed with getting fucked full of babies by the one and only Carl Gauss who is a mathematician who's been dead for about two-hundred years.
2. Nyx is Alexis's best friend. She is also a snake who makes horny comments about humans and animals alike all throughout the book. Her one purpose is to offer Alexis tidbits of trivial wisdom and attempt (fail) to push her out of her comfort zone.
3. Next we meet Patro, who is supposed to be Patroclus, one of Alexis's mentors that hates her with a burning passion...until around the 90% mark where he suddenly becomes protective of her for absolutely no reason. Patro is also said to have "black skin" (Yes. That is what the book said.) and is often referred to as a mutt, which has dangerously racist connotations that I haven't seen anybody talk about.
4. At the same time we meet Patro, we meet Achilles. Achilles wears a muzzle on his face, refuses to talk, and him and Patro fuck nightly. He loves to shoot his guns at Titans. That's about all we're told of him.
5. Kharon. Ahh, Karen. He's a sociopath that finds it cute and meaningful to stalk Alexis and send her eyeballs as courting gifts to trap her into a marriage. Yes, class, you read that right! This book is actually a dark romance that wasn't marketed as such!
6. Augustus appears when he walks into Alexis' class to teach them. Yes, he is her professor. Yes, he gets a boner when he watches her lick blood from her busted-up lip. He is batshit insane towards her from day 1, spouting "feminist things" that just circle back to being misogynist. For example:
"You really think other women should be subjected to [the crucible]?"
"It wasn't about women being as tough as men; it was about the fact that they shouldn't have to be. Spartan women were rare and needed to be protected at all costs."
Plot
There is barely any plot. For 60% of the book we're in a cave with Alexis where she does basically nothing and is forced to starve, dehydrate, and sleep-deprive herself to 'prove her worth as a Spartan.' Of course, this is nothing new to her since she's apparently been living off eating once a week since she was a child due to her foster parents being bleach addicts and her homelessness once they die.
The only things remotely plot-driven happen at the end. Namely, a marriage trap planned by Augustus and Kharon, and a plot by the Zeus House heir to kill Alexis for some vaguely specified reason. The only thing I cared about was her getting reunited with her adopted brother, Charlie, which did happen, thankfully. Not before Charlie is almost killed by Alexis' jealous sociopathic stalkers (read: love interests).
This section of my review is short because genuinely nothing happens besides a marriage trap, a wildly long-lasting fugue state, and Alexis getting kidnapped and then eaten out on an altar about 5 days later.
Miscellaneous Things and Final Thoughts
I kept count of a couple things to make sure I could actually stomach getting through this book. Keep in mind that my ebook was 460 pages long.
The number of times Carl Gauss, mathematicians, or mathematics were mentioned: 71
The number of times classical music or humming or melodies were mentioned: 51
I have several issues with the way Alexis's obsession with math is written in this book. As someone who is studying math in university, it makes absolutely no sense. The author specifically makes her hyperfocus on the Riemann Hypothesis for Prime Numbers and talks about her graphing on a coordinate plane or "solving the hypothesis." Neither of these things are plausible. To make the Riemann Hypothesis a proved, accepted truth, it needs a valid proof. Alexis is not doing that, she's computing by hand whether numbers fall on the critical line (thus making them a prime number). Computers with millions of times the computing power have verified millions of prime numbers but they can't prove them for infinity, which is part of the reason the Riemann Hypothesis is assumed for physics. If it turns out not to be true, then a lot of our science would break down and not make sense anymore.
My final thoughts on this book are: it sucked, I hated it, and I will (thankfully) not be continuing the series
This book is a shame to the publishing industry (and here's why):
Writing and Structure
The writing was absolutely atrocious. I don't think I've ever seen writing this juvenile since I read Harry Potter fanfiction on Wattpad. There was copious amounts of Gen Z slang that read like it was written by a millennial and constant add-ons with parentheses that were trying too hard to be funny (like this). A significant number of uses of the word 'bulge' for a various amount of things - gun holsters, muscles, and other unladylike parts of men.
The structure of the paragraphs were written like reverse steps.
It created a lot of white space on the page.
Like this.
It's something you don't really see used in professional writing, it's mostly found in fanfiction to produce emphasis. Authors have other ways of doing that using specific words, phrases, and alternating sentence structures. This book didn't feel like that. It felt like I was reading a first or second draft, like it needed to go through another round of copy and developmental edits. I'm not sure if it was originally indie-published and picked up later but either way, it was barely readable.
One more notable thing about the paragraphs structure of this book - when Achilles and Patro are introduced, the author gives them an introduction I can only akin to isekai manga skill panels. Their names, various attributes, and net worth are given to us in bullet point format. It took me by surprise when I saw it that I actually just stared at my screen for a couple minutes in disbelief. It was the most lazy character introductions I've ever seen in a novel.
Here is an assortment of quotes that basically sums up how the author wrote this book:
"apocalyptic core"
"Free the nipple and the lips (vaginal)?" (x2)
"I knew you had it in you, bestie. Pussy power, crush the patriarchy!"
"Fluck the flucking world. Life's a biatch like that. Yes, I was in my emo era."
'"Freak, fluck, biatch, crud, darn, flippin', shrit," I wailed despondently, but my eyes were bone-dry because emo girls didn't cry (I cried yesterday).'
"I rolled to my side. Augustus looked worried. I made a whale sound. He did not make one back. This is why I don't talk to people. They never understand me."
"But like all good things in life, it came to an abrupt end, and we swam the River Styx (drowned in a forward-moving direction)"
"I was staring at hus male thotch (thigh-crotch) region like a weirdo."
My personal favorite: "A man was speaking, so I stopped listening."
Mythology
Now, this book was inspired by Greek mythology. The original twelve Olympian gods are there, but they are separated into the Chthonic House (Hades, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares) and the Olympian Houses (the other eight). They all have children that are either full-blooded gods or "mutts," which are the offspring of a human and a god. All of these gods in the Chthonic and Olympian Houses have children. There are a lot of glaring issues with Greek myths here, which is surprising considering the author has a degree in <i>classical studies</i>! They are as follows:
1. Artemis in mythology has sworn off men and having children.
2. The Achilles in this book does not have blonde hair and light eyes nor is he of slim build. He has dark hair, red eyes, and is built like a fucking tank. His father is Ares, which is also inaccurate.
3. The Greek spelling is Herakles, not Hercules. That's the Roman spelling.
4. This book contains Latin. Not Ancient Greek. If the book is based on Greek mythology, why are there Latin phrases smattered throughout the book that largely don't need to be there? As someone who's studied Latin, these phrases are mostly out of context
5. When Alexis is at the crucible and they're made to run up and down the mountain as punishment, they are told to swim across the River Styx while Kharon hunts them. You like,, aren't supposed to do that?? If you do it will ultimately change you but the characters in this book seemingly have no problem after repeated dips in the river.
6. One of the MLs names' is Augustus. Why is the first Roman emperor appearing in this book. He is not Greek.
7. None of the House flags have the original animal that represents the god's House. For instance, Zeus's House flag has a lion on it, not an eagle.
8. And probably more that I can't find in my notes as I have too many of them.
Characters
There are about 5 major characters that matter in this book. All of them have only a few character traits and the male characters in this book seem to trade two between the four of them.
1. Alexis Hunt, our MC. She's autistic-coded, supposedly asexual (though she appears to feel mighty amounts of sexual attraction to our MLs), and is utterly obsessed with getting fucked full of babies by the one and only Carl Gauss who is a mathematician who's been dead for about two-hundred years.
2. Nyx is Alexis's best friend. She is also a snake who makes horny comments about humans and animals alike all throughout the book. Her one purpose is to offer Alexis tidbits of trivial wisdom and attempt (fail) to push her out of her comfort zone.
3. Next we meet Patro, who is supposed to be Patroclus, one of Alexis's mentors that hates her with a burning passion...until around the 90% mark where he suddenly becomes protective of her for absolutely no reason. Patro is also said to have "black skin" (Yes. That is what the book said.) and is often referred to as a mutt, which has dangerously racist connotations that I haven't seen anybody talk about.
4. At the same time we meet Patro, we meet Achilles. Achilles wears a muzzle on his face, refuses to talk, and him and Patro fuck nightly. He loves to shoot his guns at Titans. That's about all we're told of him.
5. Kharon. Ahh, Karen. He's a sociopath that finds it cute and meaningful to stalk Alexis and send her eyeballs as courting gifts to trap her into a marriage. Yes, class, you read that right! This book is actually a dark romance that wasn't marketed as such!
6. Augustus appears when he walks into Alexis' class to teach them. Yes, he is her professor. Yes, he gets a boner when he watches her lick blood from her busted-up lip. He is batshit insane towards her from day 1, spouting "feminist things" that just circle back to being misogynist. For example:
"You really think other women should be subjected to [the crucible]?"
"It wasn't about women being as tough as men; it was about the fact that they shouldn't have to be. Spartan women were rare and needed to be protected at all costs."
Plot
There is barely any plot. For 60% of the book we're in a cave with Alexis where she does basically nothing and is forced to starve, dehydrate, and sleep-deprive herself to 'prove her worth as a Spartan.' Of course, this is nothing new to her since she's apparently been living off eating once a week since she was a child due to her foster parents being bleach addicts and her homelessness once they die.
The only things remotely plot-driven happen at the end. Namely, a marriage trap planned by Augustus and Kharon, and a plot by the Zeus House heir to kill Alexis for some vaguely specified reason. The only thing I cared about was her getting reunited with her adopted brother, Charlie, which did happen, thankfully. Not before Charlie is almost killed by Alexis' jealous sociopathic stalkers (read: love interests).
This section of my review is short because genuinely nothing happens besides a marriage trap, a wildly long-lasting fugue state, and Alexis getting kidnapped and then eaten out on an altar about 5 days later.
Miscellaneous Things and Final Thoughts
I kept count of a couple things to make sure I could actually stomach getting through this book. Keep in mind that my ebook was 460 pages long.
The number of times Carl Gauss, mathematicians, or mathematics were mentioned: 71
The number of times classical music or humming or melodies were mentioned: 51
I have several issues with the way Alexis's obsession with math is written in this book. As someone who is studying math in university, it makes absolutely no sense. The author specifically makes her hyperfocus on the Riemann Hypothesis for Prime Numbers and talks about her graphing on a coordinate plane or "solving the hypothesis." Neither of these things are plausible. To make the Riemann Hypothesis a proved, accepted truth, it needs a valid proof. Alexis is not doing that, she's computing by hand whether numbers fall on the critical line (thus making them a prime number). Computers with millions of times the computing power have verified millions of prime numbers but they can't prove them for infinity, which is part of the reason the Riemann Hypothesis is assumed for physics. If it turns out not to be true, then a lot of our science would break down and not make sense anymore.
My final thoughts on this book are: it sucked, I hated it, and I will (thankfully) not be continuing the series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Classism