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staring_at_words's review
I decided not to continue with this book after around 20% of it and after two tries of listening to it.
I’m a lover of all things classics and Caesar is one of my all-time favorite historical figures, so naturally synopsis for this book sounded very interesting and promising. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
Narration of the audio version was a problem in itself, it was sometimes boring and non-engaging, sudden, and constant jumps in POVs and timelines, which I’m generally not a fan of, are even harder to follow and confusing.
A lot of time is spent on characters backstories that are laid out as an exposition or matter of fact information that are in no way related to the story. Once you finally get a sense of who that character is, story cuts to a different one and starts all over again. (From other reviews I found out some of the characters never reappear therefore I don’t see a point of whole chapters dedicated to them). After 20 chapters I still don’t know who characters are, how they are related, what they have to do with the plot from the synopsis, and not to mention Caesar is still nowhere to be found.
All in all, I appreciate the idea, I think it had great potential, but the style of the book isn’t my thing, maybe it gets better after a while, maybe if it was a physical book, I’d try to fast read through but the audio is no for me.
I would like to thank NetGalley for a free audio book copy.
I’m a lover of all things classics and Caesar is one of my all-time favorite historical figures, so naturally synopsis for this book sounded very interesting and promising. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
Narration of the audio version was a problem in itself, it was sometimes boring and non-engaging, sudden, and constant jumps in POVs and timelines, which I’m generally not a fan of, are even harder to follow and confusing.
A lot of time is spent on characters backstories that are laid out as an exposition or matter of fact information that are in no way related to the story. Once you finally get a sense of who that character is, story cuts to a different one and starts all over again. (From other reviews I found out some of the characters never reappear therefore I don’t see a point of whole chapters dedicated to them). After 20 chapters I still don’t know who characters are, how they are related, what they have to do with the plot from the synopsis, and not to mention Caesar is still nowhere to be found.
All in all, I appreciate the idea, I think it had great potential, but the style of the book isn’t my thing, maybe it gets better after a while, maybe if it was a physical book, I’d try to fast read through but the audio is no for me.
I would like to thank NetGalley for a free audio book copy.
leftyphive's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I truly enjoyed this book. It might have been because of how much Vegas plays a big part in it and that I know the places that are mentioned. But also, it is just a really fun take on time travel and the ancient world.
katushka's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
libraryforspooky's review against another edition
4.0
A captivating historical fiction. A team of scientists time travel Julius Caesar before his assassination. Bringing him into the 21st century. I’ve never read anything quite like this novel.
The characters were fleshed out and the story was imaginative.
Cassandra was a showgirl in Vegas who was chosen to study Latin, the idea of the sketchy lab room was not what I was expecting, but none the less it was enjoyable. She was a good fit to be the heroine.
It took me a while to completely finish this novel as the beginning is slow and when I say beginning - basically the first half of the book. Also the lack of emotional depth of Caesar was a bit too well done. He’s never seen the technology in the 21st century and it didn’t give him a big “wow” that I would expect he would have.
Overall, I would give this 4 stars. It was interesting, kept me captivated for the most part and I love the concept of how time travel is used in this book.
Thank you NetGalley for providing the story arc for an honest review.
The characters were fleshed out and the story was imaginative.
Cassandra was a showgirl in Vegas who was chosen to study Latin, the idea of the sketchy lab room was not what I was expecting, but none the less it was enjoyable. She was a good fit to be the heroine.
It took me a while to completely finish this novel as the beginning is slow and when I say beginning - basically the first half of the book. Also the lack of emotional depth of Caesar was a bit too well done. He’s never seen the technology in the 21st century and it didn’t give him a big “wow” that I would expect he would have.
Overall, I would give this 4 stars. It was interesting, kept me captivated for the most part and I love the concept of how time travel is used in this book.
Thank you NetGalley for providing the story arc for an honest review.
gabby_go's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
joshhall13's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 80%. I can't go on. What a waste of an awesome premise!
25% of the words in this book are dedicated to how pretty 2 female characters are. And it's a point that serves only a fraction of a sliver to the plot. I feel like this author might be airing out some internalized body dysmorphia.
Also, the Caesar pay off never comes. He's just treated like a background object in this time-travel story that should have been all about him.
25% of the words in this book are dedicated to how pretty 2 female characters are. And it's a point that serves only a fraction of a sliver to the plot. I feel like this author might be airing out some internalized body dysmorphia.
Also, the Caesar pay off never comes. He's just treated like a background object in this time-travel story that should have been all about him.
estherreadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The concept of this book is great. It’s why I bought it in the first place. But that’s where my positive notes end. It’s full of cliché plot points and I don’t think there’s one character that I truely like (Alex comes close, but it might just be that he’s the ‘least bad’) and the characters aren’t fully realized people. The first half of the book could’ve been reduced to about 70 pages because of useless details and some things that seemed important, never have a real conclusion in the second half. (Like Hank. We learn a lot about him, but in the end we don’t actually learn what he wants with ceasar. It seems like he wanted him dead because of all the shooting, but since money is suuuuch a theme for his character that makes no sense. ).
Concluding, this concept had a lot of potential, but it didn’t go anywhere good.
Concluding, this concept had a lot of potential, but it didn’t go anywhere good.
gondorgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
jkunkler1's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75