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bibliojojo's review against another edition
4.0
adored Mistress of Rome, was disappointed with Daughters of Rome, was pleasantly surprised to have Empress of the Seven Hills pull me back in. Hooray! I am glad "Kate got her groove back!"
bitchburgerbibliophile's review against another edition
2.0
I am very dissapointed that I am not enjoying this book seeing as I enjoyed the other two, but I just am not getting into this one... :( it seems much slower moving than her previous books..and just isn't holding my attention.
_vanessa's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
amandainthelibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing book! I loved this it as much as the first two. I hope there is another book in the works.
haraltr's review against another edition
5.0
katie quinn writes ensemble casts far better than most authors i read. not only are they well rounded, and perhaps awful people, but i like them and i want to read more. i know for most of these characters she's drawing from real material, but a lot of other historical fiction comes across so dry to me. katie quinn's writing is so full of life, this book especially. i never write a genuine review of books on here, but i absolutely 100% adore this series & katie quinn's writing and characterisation
chlojo91's review against another edition
*edit 4/01/14* In light of this not being the final volume (there's a sequel coming this fall)I'm going to clear my rating until I see how it all plays out.
I wanted to love this... but I didn't. Now, that isn't to say it isn't a good book, it is. Kate Quinn is a marvelous writer and her books are not only incredibly well written they are also incredibly well researched. No other authors I have read have been able to write so captivatingly about ancient Rome as Ms. Quinn does. I've been looking forward to this release since I finished Mistress of Rome last year. I loved Mistress of Rome, and I loved Daughters of Rome, but this one fell somewhere between like and meh.
As I've already said the writing was fabulous but the characters *sigh*. Let me start with Vix. I love Vix I love him to pieces, his 'voice" took some getting used to since I believe this is the first time we've had a male voice in a Kate Quinn novel (don't quote me on that) and Vix is just very straighforward and a little bit crude. But once I heard Sabina, Vix's idiosyncracies where nothing compared to how badly I wanted to fling my ereader across the room when it was Sabina's turn for a chapter. No, really, anytime Sabina was talking I wanted to punch her right in her mouth. She was very analytical about things and would look at everything like it was a lesson to be learned, some great knowledge giving quest.
Now my tiny rant should be a testament to how well Ms. Quinn developed Sabina's personality. That's how she was supposed to be but it annoyed me so much I couldn't connect to her. And don't even get me start on Plotina. *headdesk* So I suppose that the main thing I disliked was the female characters in this novel.
Moving on, as with Mistress of Rome I loved the love story in this book.Every time the two characters in the same room my heart started beating triple time. Ms. Quinn certainly enjoyed taking us on a rollercoaster with these two.Spoiler
even though we didn't get the happy ending we got in mistress of rome
All in all I did enjoy it even if it was considerably less than it's sister books. But would still recommend it to fans of Quinn's, fans of Ancient Rome, and fans of romantic historical fiction.
timofeev's review against another edition
2.0
I love Quinn's other books, Daughters of Rome and Mistress of Rome, but this one not so much. I really didn't care for any of the characters but I kept on reading because it was mildly interesting. It seemed like there may be a sequel to this later on and though I didn't like this book I would read the other.
colleenlovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
I reviewed this book for www.luxuryreading.com.
This is my first time reading a Kate Quinn book and I cannot help but wonder what took me so long! Corruption, honor, war, love, loyalty, power…these topics and many more are tackled in this story. You hear the term “action packed” used to describe many books but this is one of the few times I have actually read a book and thought it fit. Tipping the scales at 500 pages it was hard to put down as the excitement and intrigue just kept going, resulting in a cliff hanger ending that left me seething about having to wait to find out what happens next.
The story is told in alternating narratives between four very compelling characters – Sabina, a much loved senator’s daughter with a determination all her own; Vix, the gruff ex-gladiator returning to Rome to conquer the city that nearly killed him as a child; Titus, a young nobleman from a respected family that is honest and practical and longs for nothing more than an uneventful life; and Plotina, the plotting, nasty wife of Emperor Trajan that will stop at nothing to see her protégé, Hadrian, become Emperor after her husband. Each character has a very distinct voice that helps the reader get into their frame of mind, whether that is a wonderful self-deprecating humor (as with Titus) or a delusional fantasy world (as with Plotina). The one thing that seems to unite all of these characters is their individual determination to have the life and future they want, regardless of what others around them have planned.
I am so excited to see where these characters will be going in the next installment. My favorite character by far was Titus and the new romance he begins to develop towards the end of Empress of the Seven Hills has me itching to read more. Kate Quinn is definitely an author I will be keeping an eye on and I am excited to go back and read her previous two novels.
This is my first time reading a Kate Quinn book and I cannot help but wonder what took me so long! Corruption, honor, war, love, loyalty, power…these topics and many more are tackled in this story. You hear the term “action packed” used to describe many books but this is one of the few times I have actually read a book and thought it fit. Tipping the scales at 500 pages it was hard to put down as the excitement and intrigue just kept going, resulting in a cliff hanger ending that left me seething about having to wait to find out what happens next.
The story is told in alternating narratives between four very compelling characters – Sabina, a much loved senator’s daughter with a determination all her own; Vix, the gruff ex-gladiator returning to Rome to conquer the city that nearly killed him as a child; Titus, a young nobleman from a respected family that is honest and practical and longs for nothing more than an uneventful life; and Plotina, the plotting, nasty wife of Emperor Trajan that will stop at nothing to see her protégé, Hadrian, become Emperor after her husband. Each character has a very distinct voice that helps the reader get into their frame of mind, whether that is a wonderful self-deprecating humor (as with Titus) or a delusional fantasy world (as with Plotina). The one thing that seems to unite all of these characters is their individual determination to have the life and future they want, regardless of what others around them have planned.
I am so excited to see where these characters will be going in the next installment. My favorite character by far was Titus and the new romance he begins to develop towards the end of Empress of the Seven Hills has me itching to read more. Kate Quinn is definitely an author I will be keeping an eye on and I am excited to go back and read her previous two novels.