True Hero

Fallen Olympian #1

by Cris G. Wells

A Touch of Darkness meets Daughter of No Worlds in this swashbuckling Greek mythology-inspired NA Romantic Fantasy!

Her demise is only the beginning.
I was once a powerful Olympian Goddess, but now I’m barely a mortal, punished to wander this strange land. I gave up on ever seeing my home or loved ones again. I gave up on happiness.
I merely survive.
But why does my skin tingle when a local hunter sets his silver eyes on me? What is this thumping in my heart when I hear rumours of a long-forgotten way to gain access to Olympus? How can I tell myth from truth?
One thing is
I will stop at nothing to go back home.
And so, I fight. Guided by warriors and centaurs from legend, I train to become a hero deserving of the grace of the Gods.
Everything is going according to plan until my true identity is unveiled by who turns out to be no other than the infamous God of the Underworld. Blades sing, sparks fly, but the line between duties and wants is one that cannot be erased.
And I’ve already lost too much.
When the fate of the realms is put on the line, I will have to confront the secrets of my past and embrace my fate...
But will I?

True Hero is the perfect read for anyone who loved Percy Jackson while growing up!

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Mythology

525 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2024

Reviews

[WhippedStitchReads (J.A.Y) SEMI-HIATUS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating 2.5
Spice ⚔️


I had a really hard time reading through this book. I manage to push through until I got around 80% that I had to skim through pages only to read most important/key parts of the story.

I knew there was going to be a training arc. What I didn't know, it would take up 55% of the entire book. It was very hard to get through. I felt some parts of the training weren't necessary while other parts of it should have been included (i.e - the last trial)

FMC was a character I wasn't fond of. She's empathetic sure fine, though I don't like her savior complex either. And her kindness seemed a bit fake? Also can we not forget the fact she still call her Olympians "friends", friends? Who didn't even bother to believer her and were jealous of her? That's gross and they do not deserve her.

The relationship dynamic with MMC and FMC was a bit...weird. They didn't even have much interactions with each other in the first half of the book to have such a pull towards each other. So for them to have such a strong "connection" just felt like a weird plot device. Also, FMC being angry and jealous, when they really haven't done much together was a bit much IMO. I'm also tired of the half truths and "lies" and the FMC trying to make the MMC tell her everything, when there are bigger problems.

I guess I wanted more anger, more pain, chaos and hated. I do plan on continuing the series, it just won't be something urgent, I'm more curious what is going to happen now.

I've received a ARC copy of the book. I appreciate the author for giving me the opportunity to read it before released date and though my reviews are honest, I wish her the best of luck on her writing journey.

[Rosie · Rating 1 out of 5]

i am on my hands and knees BEGGING that we don't need any more of these "greek mythology inspired" books. once again i am asking for reparations on behalf of the greek people. rick riordan/madeline miller i will never forgive you for this.

hard to get into, mostly due to the sheer amount of long, winding sentences (it was hard to figure out the setting and what was happening because the sentences just went on and on and on.) somehow despite these, there's still way more telling than showing. elyse is not compelling and i found her pretty irritating- the way she is introduced has this strange undercurrent of misogyny i didnt like.

points for a first book, points for publishing, but at the end of the day it's a $4 booktok book for those who barely like reading anything that isn’t ao3 mature and above and it shows. tbh it was so entirely terrible i requested a refund from amazon. i also came across a thread of the author complaining about another review which mentioned that she had requested ARC readers don't disclose ARCs which i found pretty offputting.

wouldn't continue or recommend unless you're big into booktok style romance or otherwise functionally illiterate- you can find song of achilles or percy jackson fanfic for free on ao3.

[Lexi Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of detail in each character description and scene is sooooooo good and well-written!

Little daredevil is one of my favorite nicknames🥰

Honestly, I was sitting at 4 stars (only because the middle seemed a little stagnant in a way) until the ending because OH MY GOD! I knew something was going to happen, but the very end did not even cross my mind. I’m so eager for book 2.

The letters were my absolute favorite (iykyk)

FMC is a total badass
MMC is unapologetically into her

[margueritereadsbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you a millennial who dreamed of being sucked into the Percy Jackson books growing up? Do you love badass FMCs, found family and a morally grey love interest? Do you love books full of adventure and training montages? Then you need to add this to your tbr right now! All the greek mythology figures you know and love.....but with a twist 😏

[KayMac1407 · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars.

Now I'm going to preface this & say i am late to the party with my review but with thanks to the author for writing this and providing me with an ARC copy for review.

I was enjoying this book (although yes i do agree with some of the other comments that this does dip in terms of pacing) and was going to finish it & rate it 4 stars...

However, I can't condone the author rate baiting & complaining on Threads about low ratings when she'd also asked for negative reviews to wait a week before posting. This already made me NOT want to read the ARC as soon as i saw this (not mentioned in the initial sign ups) but i persevered & read on.

Rate baiting is not giving readers authentic & realistic reviews. Because of this, i'm DNFing the book at 60%. I can't carry on reading the book when the author thinks these things. Cris, you shot yourself in the foot here.

Oh and referring to the female body part as my s*x? = No, just no. I really had to push past this bit because i wanted to read what happened, otherwise i would have stopped much earlier.

[Vivi the reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down, the best Greek myth retelling I've ever read.
I did not want to stop reading for a single moment and was glued to my Kindle for almost 5 or 6 hours!

The main thing I loved about this book was that the FMC trained so damn hard and unlike some fantasy books (you know which ones), she went through almost 3 years of training instead of being a special snowflake and just randomly being awesome at everything she did and managing to best other characters who had a lot more experience and time to hone their skills.
And we get to be there and read about her journey from being an exiled goddess to a true hero capable of defeating the monsters of legend.

And the tension between the MCs...fucking chef's kiss.
Very well done. I could feel the heat through the screen.
I could feel that longing, that desperation, that desire...

And now I have to wait for the next book!
After that ending! UNFAIR!

This is an honest ARC review 💕

[Summer Dollar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alright my book lovers this is an absolute must read.

This Greek mythology retelling is wonderfully written and beautifully executed by the author. I loved every page of it.

Elyse wakes up and all she knows is one minute she is trying to save her best friend from a bad marriage and the next she has been cast down into the mortal lands and is no longer a goddess. Her only hope now is to fight her way back into Olympus by becoming a true hero down in the mortal lands. We see the main hitters in Greek mythology like Chiron, Achilles and Patroclus who all try to help Elyse achieve her goal of getting back into Olympus.

This novel is full of twists and turns that you won’t see coming and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat!! Cannot wait for the next book dear author!

[Elisa Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MASTERPIECE!!!!
If you love Greek mythology, romance and fantasy, this is THE book! I enjoyed it so much, especially the strong bonds of friendship between some of the characters 🤍
I loved how the author introduced the Greek mythology characters with her own touch, particularly Chiron and Achilles 🥰🥰. And of course, the tension between the main characters will have you hooked to the book, waiting for more!

I couldn’t put the book down when I reached the last third of the book!
I cannot wait for the second part, the end will leave you for sure wanting to know what happens next!
Already waiting for Part 2 💞💞

[Jorinde Pels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! The FMC matures amazingly in the story. It has elements of fantasy, myths of gods, familiar gods, a new way of seeing gods we’re taught were evil, some spice with a hint of slow burn. Thoroughly enjoyed it and already looking forward to a next book!

[Megthebookgoblin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for anything with Hades in and this book delivers.

I loved the mix of classic Greek retelling mixed with complete new threads of stories and characters.

The pacing was really good with actual realistic timelines (yes even in fantasy sometimes you need proper timelines).

The characters journey and development throughout this makes you fall for them hard and the tension builds and builds and BUILDS!

I love the cliffhanger, can't wait to read book 2.

[naitwotimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor and privilege to be a beta reader and I am so thankful I was! I was obsessed I mean obsessed with Percy Jackson growing up and found those books to be riveting and fascinating! I loved how this book was advertised and felt it was an honest representation of what you experience when you read this book! I was hooked from the get go and felt the story was easy to follow but had elements that took me by surprise! Hard to truly share the beauty of this novel without spoilers but it was so well written, had me in my feels, had me screaming, and had me messaging the author asking for book 2 asap! Would highly recommend if you like romance and fantasy. What a great debut novel!

Book in emojis: 🤨🫱🏼‍🫲🏾💪🏾❤️🌧️🔥⚔️😭😳🤪🤩🙃

[InTheWakeOfStardust · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book so much, but I think my consistent obsession with historical, Greek/Roman based fantasy & mythology fiction has somewhat ruined my expectations for me.


I found the setting intriguing, but I felt pretty much no attachment to the world building or setting.


The FMC was curious at first, but this curiosity peaked when her mother's identity was revealed & she began name dropping her siblings. By the time she finally revealed her name I was so frustrated by her refusal to tell anyone that I found it very anticlimatic. I also found her to be a very stereotypical heroine type FMC - "oh, woe is me, I'm weak and defenceless and terribly mortal, but within a few months I'm getting the best marks everrrr on Chiron's tests, I'm consistently being called his best pupil, and I'm angling towards being much better than Achilles - oh, but 3 random mortal robbers overwhelm me and nearly kill me, yet everyone still praises how wonderful and amazing and incredible I am because naturally, anyone would be overcome by 3 human thieves, even the best Hero Chiron has ever trained". Eye roll. Yawn.

Most of the book revolves around her dull internal struggle of "I'm an exile, but I'll show them all I'm better!" And despite a few lines thrown in to make her seem like she's still learning, the book generally revolves around her either automatically being better than everyone else, or her definitely being on track to be better than everyone else because she's just that perfect, even if she's too dense to realise it herself.

I found the depiction of Patroclus and Achilles weird, though I think that's because I dislike the FMC and what we see of them both, revolves around the FMC. Achilles only existed to give the FMC someone to lord it over with how super duper special she is, & Patroclus was introduced halfway through only to - yep, you guessed it - big up the FMC and tell her how special she is. I would've liked to explore them more - idk if their story got a bit better or not, because for full transparency I gave up on actually reading the book at around 70% and just skimmed the rest.

I was far more invested in hearing Hades' story than the FMC's story, but I also felt the "instant love/attraction" vibe was not particularly well done, especially when there's been an influx of books with this trope recently.

Oh, and the fact that the FMC is putting herself through an entire book's worth of boring training scenes just to try and regain her old life with the "friends" who turned and betrayed her? That's probably the worst part of the book. Like girl, WHY do you want to go back exactly? Because Olympus is pretty? IDK.

[Yas Viteli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu amei a construção de universo desse. Fazia tempo que eu não li um livro com cenário relativamente diferente mas muito bem construído ainda nesse contexto de fantasia. Eu amei a construção da protagonista o fato de que a Eloisa/Eris passa anos treinando, a gente acompanhar isso faz muita diferença pra entender porque ela realmente se torna o que ela se torna. Mas me irrita saber que ela era tão songamonga no Olimpo.

Eu amei os outros personagens como o Achilles, Chiron, Chariclo, o Patroclus. (Um casal de centauro e um casal de gays). O Hades também, apesar que confesso que esse homem me irritou um pouco, mas no fim do dia eu pego meu pano e passo, fazer o que.

Achei o plot do irmão ok, mas de certa forma um motivo tão fútil, acho que combina com ser olimpiano, simplesmente achar que merece mais que tudo mesmo. Ja comecei o segundo então talvez me adiante aqui, mas ela virar a nova dona do underworld e ele não poder entrar mais também não faz sentido não.

Ansiosa pra descobrir tudo que rolou rs

[Jessica Beebe · Rating 2 out of 5]

True Hero



Rating: 1.5



Let me start of by saying that I love Greek mythology and love the stories which can come out of a good mythological retelling.



However, this was not that retelling.



It follows Elyse, a former immortal who has been thrown down from Olympus and has become mortal, and it focuses on her plan to regain her immortality through training and becoming a hero.



The story itself had numerous plot holes with characters who did not develop a third dimension at any point during the story despite using characters such as Achilles and Chiron who have a vast well of characterisations and back story.

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got sent the ARC for this back in June and I struggled my way through this unfortunately.

I love a good Greek re-telling but I couldn’t stand the FMC - her kindness comes across as so disingenuous and I knew there’d be a training arc but it took up the majority of the book with the action being jammed into the last 15% of the book.

Also I didn’t really understand the whole prophecy/plot thing? As in the actual prophecy itself.

The MMC was a saving grace as was her friendships with her fellow warriors and the found family element but that’s about it.

[Teti H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a beta reader for this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it on my vacation in Greece. I'm also a big time hater of Rick Riordan and butchering favorite mythologies with weird romantasy spins so I was pretty ready to be pretty critical from the get go.

It's a genuinely pleasant book to read and I wasn't bothered by the slow development happening for most of it. The main characters are likeable and I found the atmosphere of the book very immersive.

4 stars because I'm not a fan of book 1 ending on a cliffhanger.

[Marti_readsss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you author Cris Galdamez for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't want to give spoilers but all I can say is that this book was pretty intriguing. I loved the fact that our FMC Elyse worked hard and went through a lot of training to get to where she was and our MMC Aiden was also pretty cool.

I definitely recommend this book if you want a book with lot of training scenes and one that has Greek mythology 🧡

[Ivy Bookstop · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an AMAZING book 🫶

A retelling of Hercules with plenty of spins and draw dropping moments to keep me on my toes.

I loved the character development in this book and the authors writing style. Something about the way she writes really makes me feel every emotion the main character is experiencing. I fell in love with all of the characters in this book and could not put it down.

I cannot wait for #2 😍😍😍

[Cristiana Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took on a journey. It felt like an epic odissey and just when i thought i had it all figured out it took me for a spin.

I absolutely loved but for some reason when i reached the end all i could think was "OMG you are going to leave it like that?"

Don't get me wrong that's not a bad thing but now I'm left wanting more without knowing when the next one comes out.

Super recommend.

[Shama (thor.oughlyfantasy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐

Give me the second book immediately!!!

Things were going fine till the training arc started. The moment it did, it was a complete 180. It had me reading till 4 am because I couldn't bring myself to stop reading

I loved all the side characters too! It was just perfect

* I'm trying so hard not to include spoilers in this review*

It had me giddy and craving for more. Especially the way it ended!

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book from beginning to end, I could not put the book down.

The story follows a female main character who has been exiled from olympus on her journey to become a true hero and ultimately return to Olympus.

Each character is perfectly written and you truly feel like you are on this journey with them.

I cannot wait to read the next book in this series!

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a feel good book!

Not to much was going on and the story was quite straight forward and not complex. But the characters were all soo fleshed out and the character growth of the FMC was so well written!

Also the MMC - yummy 🥰 he was such a nice break from the story and an escape not just for the FMC!

I directly downloaded the 2nd book 🙌🏻

[Susana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here we have a page-turner: a marvellous epic novel plenty of fantasy. Outrageous battles, intense love and gorgeous heroes.
A plot with so many twists and turns that you won't put it down until the end.
Go for it!

[Courtney Artmeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I really like the book. I really like how Hades was always ruffling. Her feathers was like a love, hate relationship with them. It had gods and ancient creatures to see everything play out. It’s definitely interesting.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was good and it was an easy read. I am also a sucker for any kind of mythological fantasy plot.

However, please get a better editor. The book is plagued with grammatical errors that should have been spotted during editing/proofreading.

That being said it was an enjoyable read :)

[Charlotte Meijer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I’m such a sucker for a romantasy. The mix of magic, tension and romance kept me hooked. The world felt immersive and the relationship development had just the right amount of angst and chemistry to keep me invested.
Not perfect, but honestly such a fun ride.

[Darline · Rating 5 out of 5]

6⭐️

[Daniel Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly this book wasn’t for me.
Nothing against the author or the writing or the characters.
I just could not get in to it

[Alberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has it all! Perfect balance of action, romance and character depth and evolution.

If you like greek mythology/fantasy/romance give it a go! I'm sure you will love it.

PS: Chiron is just the best ⚔️