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rambles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
If you’re wanting something like the Song of Achilles or Circe, this is not the book for you. It’s a dark comedy of a book that makes Herc feel human even if he wasn’t wholy human. The language is modern because it’s for a modern audience to look at and go “Oh yeah like my messed up uncle. “ I really enjoyed it. The timeline of Herc’s life gets a little messy as the POVs of different people can make it confusing and too many people had ‘I’ names but that’s just Greek Myth for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
northernfleabag's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, and Pregnancy