Bonds of Hercules, a novel by Jasmine Mas, has taken book social media by storm. It is the long-awaited sequel to her No. 1 New York Times best seller, Blood of Hercules, in her Villains of Lore series.

Bonds of Hercules is a fantasy romance novel based on a young woman named Alexis Hert, who also happens to be the demigod Hercules, and her two demigod husbands, Augustus and Kharon, whom she despises. 

After a rough journey through the Spartan War Academy in the first novel, Alexis is faced with new challenges: the trials of The Assembly of Death, uncovering her true powers, and the inevitable forced marriage she finds herself in. 

Throughout the novel, Alexis must do her best to face her hardships with courage and bravery despite everything she’s gone through. She cannot let her guard down as she slowly begins finding out who she can and cannot trust. 

Mas does a great job of bringing her characters to life and expressing the story she is trying to convey with her depictive writing. Most of the scenes within the book aren’t rushed or used to fill space. Instead, each one acts as a puzzle piece in the ultimate puzzle of the plot. 

This book can be recommended to anyone above the age of 14 who is mature enough to handle the dark themes and explicit content it contains, though it is recommended more so to adults.