Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson

6 reviews

danny_fox's review against another edition

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. :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Grief, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cursing and War

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

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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

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

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

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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

emmwalker'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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcoholism, Slavery, War, Death, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

harveyhorse321's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative sad fast-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

5.0

This is the first mythical retelling I’ve read. If it’s not the best, I’ll be very (pleasantly) surprised. The way the characters, plot, attitudes are all weaved together in what is both a genuinely laugh-out-loud comedy and deeply emotional tragedy is incredible. Very Greek.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Sexual content