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indyjg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC of The Temple of Fortuna!
After devouring The Wolf Den and House With The Golden Door in January, this book was one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2023 for good reason. The Temple of Fortuna beautifully concludes one of the best historical fiction trilogies I've read in years, and to give both Elodie Harper and this trilogy its due justice, I'll be refraining from any significant spoilers and conclude my thoughts on the series as a whole.
The final novel of the Wolf Den trilogy immediately immerses us into the world of Ancient Rome, 79 CE. The Empire is left reeling following Emperor Vespasian's death; Amara finds herself embroiled in the middle of a power struggle between the Emperor's two sons, Titus and Domitian, alongside her patron, Demetrius, all the while being haunted by her past, those she left behind in Pompeii. And with the added benefit of hindsight, we know that one of the world's most catastrophic natural disasters is on the horizon.
What initially drew me into the first book was not only the setting but the key themes that continue throughout the whole trilogy. Amara's development as she regains her autonomy and processes her trauma is so intricate, raw and authentic. You truly get a sense of Amara struggling between merely surviving, using her cunning and shrewd nature, manipulating people just as Felix does, and navigating life as a freedwoman, a mother and a courtesan in the Imperial Palace. The Temple of Fortuna is a brilliantly dark study of trauma, grief, strength, revenge slavery, sisterhood and sheer determination to survive, set in a beautifully rich, fleshed-out historical setting.
How Harper fleshes out female characters adds a more profound complexity and vivacity to the women in this novel, not just Amara. In a society where their roles and lives had so little agency, it is returned to them here. I particularly loved the continued friendship between Amara and Britannica and the blending between fictional characters and literary interpretations of historical figures, namely Julia Felix and Pliny the Elder; as a reader, you can genuinely understand and appreciate the amount of research and detail given by Harper.
What a spectacular ending to a touching, powerful series that gives agency to women often overlooked in history. The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper is a 5/5 for me!
After devouring The Wolf Den and House With The Golden Door in January, this book was one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2023 for good reason. The Temple of Fortuna beautifully concludes one of the best historical fiction trilogies I've read in years, and to give both Elodie Harper and this trilogy its due justice, I'll be refraining from any significant spoilers and conclude my thoughts on the series as a whole.
The final novel of the Wolf Den trilogy immediately immerses us into the world of Ancient Rome, 79 CE. The Empire is left reeling following Emperor Vespasian's death; Amara finds herself embroiled in the middle of a power struggle between the Emperor's two sons, Titus and Domitian, alongside her patron, Demetrius, all the while being haunted by her past, those she left behind in Pompeii. And with the added benefit of hindsight, we know that one of the world's most catastrophic natural disasters is on the horizon.
What initially drew me into the first book was not only the setting but the key themes that continue throughout the whole trilogy. Amara's development as she regains her autonomy and processes her trauma is so intricate, raw and authentic. You truly get a sense of Amara struggling between merely surviving, using her cunning and shrewd nature, manipulating people just as Felix does, and navigating life as a freedwoman, a mother and a courtesan in the Imperial Palace. The Temple of Fortuna is a brilliantly dark study of trauma, grief, strength, revenge slavery, sisterhood and sheer determination to survive, set in a beautifully rich, fleshed-out historical setting.
How Harper fleshes out female characters adds a more profound complexity and vivacity to the women in this novel, not just Amara. In a society where their roles and lives had so little agency, it is returned to them here. I particularly loved the continued friendship between Amara and Britannica and the blending between fictional characters and literary interpretations of historical figures, namely Julia Felix and Pliny the Elder; as a reader, you can genuinely understand and appreciate the amount of research and detail given by Harper.
What a spectacular ending to a touching, powerful series that gives agency to women often overlooked in history. The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper is a 5/5 for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Death
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child death
gracemichool's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence
gabriellesimpson's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
such a good ending for this trilogy, I loved how Harper wrote the eruption of Vesuvius into the narrative, it was so moving
kept me gripped to the very end!!
kept me gripped to the very end!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Grief, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
debussy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Slavery, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy and Violence
Minor: Child death
saskia_ej's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I really loved my time with The Temple of Fortuna, finding it a propulsive, riveting read and a totally satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Amara is now a highly placed courtesan in Rome, but eagerly seizes the offer to return to Pompeii to spend some time with her young daughter and secret enslaved lover, before her forthcoming marriage. But the year is 79 AD, well known to modern readers as the date when Mount Vesuvius erupted to devastating effect.
Once again Elodie Harper excels in recreating the daily life of Ancient Rome. The book is packed full of details but they are seamlessly woven into the story, never feeling at all “info dumpy”. Harper has clearly done her research, as the epigraphs - used to such good effect - show. The intrigue and social positioning surrounding the new Emperor and his brother are just as convincingly depicted as market scenes, or the threatening atmosphere of the streets at night. Action scenes including a gladiator battle and terror and chaos of people desperately trying to flee Pompeii in the wake of the eruption come across as naturally cinematic. There is also lots of interpersonal drama - Amara can’t openly be with her true love due to class differences, Felix, her former pimp, continues to threaten her, a former friend betrays her - which ensured my emotions went on a real roller coaster ride, something that continued right to the end.
This entire series is essential reading for fans of historical fiction, especially those who appreciate seeing history depicted through a female-centred feminist lens. Amara is such a brilliant protagonist, fiesty and flawed, someone who has endured much but is resilient, skilled in the art of surviving. In The Temple of Fortuna Elodie Harper has done her proud.
Many thanks to @netgalley and @headofzeus for my ARC. The Temple of Fortuna publishes on 9 November.
Once again Elodie Harper excels in recreating the daily life of Ancient Rome. The book is packed full of details but they are seamlessly woven into the story, never feeling at all “info dumpy”. Harper has clearly done her research, as the epigraphs - used to such good effect - show. The intrigue and social positioning surrounding the new Emperor and his brother are just as convincingly depicted as market scenes, or the threatening atmosphere of the streets at night. Action scenes including a gladiator battle and terror and chaos of people desperately trying to flee Pompeii in the wake of the eruption come across as naturally cinematic. There is also lots of interpersonal drama - Amara can’t openly be with her true love due to class differences, Felix, her former pimp, continues to threaten her, a former friend betrays her - which ensured my emotions went on a real roller coaster ride, something that continued right to the end.
This entire series is essential reading for fans of historical fiction, especially those who appreciate seeing history depicted through a female-centred feminist lens. Amara is such a brilliant protagonist, fiesty and flawed, someone who has endured much but is resilient, skilled in the art of surviving. In The Temple of Fortuna Elodie Harper has done her proud.
Many thanks to @netgalley and @headofzeus for my ARC. The Temple of Fortuna publishes on 9 November.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Slavery, and Emotional abuse
emmsbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Temple of Fortuna is the much anticipated ending to the Wolf Den Trilogy, tying up Amara’s story as she has gone from a slave in the Wolf Den, to concubine freedwoman living in the House With the Golden Door and now, living in luxury in Rome.
This was a masterfully written story, like the front cover and the city of Pompeii itself, I felt Vesuvius looming over me as I read and the anticipation of knowing what was coming whilst the characters went about their lives was terrifying. The additional threat of Felix that was established at the end of The House With The Golden Door co-existing alongside the threat of Vesuvius heightened the stakes even more. The pacing was perfect and I found that I was able to move through the plot at a good pace without being bogged down awaiting the inevitable.
The characterisation of Amara throughout the story was wonderful to read, she is cunning, shrewd and perceptive and watching her navigate Rome was a refreshing deferral from the setting of Pompeii in the first two books. It was also interesting to see her navigate her status as a freedwoman and how, regardless of how much money and status she managed to acquire, she still anxiously tried to organise her money in order to protect herself and her daughter. Harper skilfully shows us a world where women are fully fleshed out figures in an Ancient society instead of demure baubles, we get to see Julia Felix, Livia, Drusilla and Britannica exist and thrive and act with agency as businesswomen, wives and athletes.
This book was clearly written with so much research put into it and the commitment to detail increased the sense of immersion. There were so many references to incredibly well known archaeological artefacts and existing people whom we know existed in Pompeii, like Julia Felix and Pliny the Elder, the dog floor mosaic and Drusilla’s snake bracelet. Furthermore, the quotes from letters, histories and graffiti at the beginning of each chapter really helped to anchor the story in the historical period and at times I often forgot that Amara was not actually a person we know existed at all.
The story has a satisfying conclusion and I enjoyed that it was left open. It does a fabulous job of humanising the citizens of Pompeii, many of whom we grow to love over the trilogy as members of Amara’s found family. It was an engaging and gripping tale that reminded us that the iconic plaster casts were once people caught it the midst of a disaster that they didn’t even have a name for. I just know that this is a story I will be revisiting and that Amara is a character that will stay with me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Grief, Classism, Slavery, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
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