Audiobook Review: Villains of War #1

Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas

Read by Meg Sylvan, Teddy Hamilton, Aiden Snow and Tristan Morris

Publication Date: August 1, 2024

Summary from Goodreads:

Confession:

I mostly liked this story, but there were somethings that I didn’t like and these kind of ruined the story for me. I’m kind of on the fence and having trouble with writing this review, so things might get a bit muddy, but hopefully it will make sense. I also apologise in advance for the length.

First off I want to say that the reader, Meg Sylvan did an absolutely marvelous job with portraying Alexis. Listening to her voice express the utter exhaustion and the befuddled mind that Alexis experienced while at the War Academy, made me feel just as exhausted. Her voice for Nyx, Alexis’s snake friend, was also marvelous and made me think snake as soon as I heard it. It was her voice and narration that made me really enjoy this book, even in the parts that I disliked. I also think that I wouldn’t have liked Alexis as much as I did if I had just read the book, because of the way Meg portrayed her. The three other narrators did well with their characters although there were only a few chapters that were told from other points of view.

Alexis was an interesting character. I both admired her for her strength and fortitude, but I also just hated her when she made poor choices or let the men just use her. I especially despised her towards the end of the book as her poor choices just seemed to pile up around her. But I also understood why she made some of the choices she did, I just wanted something better to happen to her. Her relationship with Nyx was wonderful and I was glad she had her when she was at her lowest. Nyx was always there for her. Although we only see her with her brother for the first part of the story, I loved their relationship as well.

There are a few other chapters scattered throughout the book from the perspectives of three of the men in Alexis’s life. I really didn’t like these chapters as they really made me loath these men for the most part, but I also appreciated that we needed to have them. Augustus was really despicable in both his thoughts and actions against Alexis. Kharon wasn’t much better, and his obsession with her just gave me the creeps. Achilles was the least worrisome of all of the men, and I think maybe he might end up being the best out of the three, but we shall see.

So the world building was well done for the most part but a bit lacking in some areas. I think I tuned out at the start of the story when the explanation about where the Spartans came from and why they have only now shown up and ruined life as we know it was done. I just remembered thinking that it would become clearer as the story went on, but it didn’t. In fact some things just got murkier. The pacing also dragged in the middle, but that might have been intentional, to help with the feelings of exhaustion and the mental state of Alexis. I also need so many more explanations about Alexis’s choices and her power and how it works. The writing was good though and I did appreciate the dialog between the characters and the continuous sarcastic inner dialogue of Alexis never got boring.

I feel like I’m making this sound like I didn’t like this book. I did, sort of. I guess I’m just frustrated with how poorly Alexis was treated and the fact that she didn’t stand up for herself when it counted at the end. I also don’t view this as a romance. Alexis has absolutely no romantic interest in any of the men in her life, so no, not a romance. There might be some lust involved, but not romance as I think of it. I’m still on the fence about whether or not to continue the series. In some ways I want to see Alexis succeed and destroy the men who are trying to control her. But I could see it totally not going that way as well.

I think I am in the minority about this book. It has a huge fan base, and most people seem to really like it. It might just be my age showing, and this book mostly appeals to a younger generation. I’m ok with that. Go check out other reviews before deciding if you want to read this book. It might be the perfect book for you.