Hero Worship by Amelia Wilde

Hero Worship marks Amelia Wilde's return to her world of modern Greek gods that she first introduced in Richer Than God, King of Shadows, and The Devil trilogies—Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon's books. While Daisy and Hercules' book can be read as a standalone, I would not recommend it because the story was confusing without context and additional background information. A recap of the story so far would have made the mystery surrounding Daisy's origins and Hercules' connection to everyone easier to understand. Nevertheless, I was mostly interested in Daisy and Hercules' complex relationship and Amelia Wilde did not disappoint because it was messy and intense. Their romance felt very dream-like at times and this matched well with the theme of the book because Daisy had her own nightmares to confront.

“I don't want to always hurt her. I don't want her to only think of pain when she thinks of me.”

The story begins with Daisy attending an art gallery for her friend but it quickly turns into an assassination attempt on her life. Someone is out to kill Daisy but who? We're given context as to why Daisy has moved away from the family that she has always known and loved but she is keeping a secret from them. Enter Hercules, who Zeus took in as a teenager, and he is tasked with guarding Daisy until can find the perpetrator. Hercules was quite the interesting character because of his hot and cold reactions to Daisy. If I were to describe Hercules, he would be the “wounded hero” archetype. After receiving an injury in the military, Hercules feels lost and adrift. He eventually accepts Zeus' ask to guard Daisy as a favor even though their relationship has always been difficult. In the end, I really enjoyed this dark and steamy retelling of "Hercules" because it felt different from Amelia Wilde's more recent works.

*This ARC was generously provided by the author and publisher for an honest review*

Rating: ★★★★☆