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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4 stars purely bc it was a behemoth and i actually finished it. i found all the details in this both unnecessary and very interesting at the same time, you really have to have an interest in the societal aspects of this time period i think in order to be able to get through it. i found cleopatra kind of naive and annoying at times, as her thoughts on her life and place in society had little to no nuance. she seemed to be unable to see how she and her relationships might look to outsiders, and was shocked time and time again as to how unimportant she was to their allies in the end, and refused to realise how fickle the loyalty of literally all of her allies was.
the book as a whole seemed to romanticise cleopatra, caesar and mark anthony to the extreme. no room for them to make errors or to be disliked by their own people (other than the romans of course), and this novel put them all on a pedestal to the point of ridiculousness. i guess it makes sense in terms of this being written by cleopatra herself, but it was frustrating nonetheless.
all in all an interesting read, i enjoyed learning about greek life in egypt and roman society, and (surprisingly) the politics of it all. worth it if you’re interested in this part of history and don’t mind an extremely detailed, minimally edited story
the book as a whole seemed to romanticise cleopatra, caesar and mark anthony to the extreme. no room for them to make errors or to be disliked by their own people (other than the romans of course), and this novel put them all on a pedestal to the point of ridiculousness. i guess it makes sense in terms of this being written by cleopatra herself, but it was frustrating nonetheless.
all in all an interesting read, i enjoyed learning about greek life in egypt and roman society, and (surprisingly) the politics of it all. worth it if you’re interested in this part of history and don’t mind an extremely detailed, minimally edited story
This book was interesting, but what nobody seems to mention is that it is HUGE. I have read too many Cleopatra and egyptian novels so I lost interest in this book for the moment. The writing was good, and I enjoyed the portrayal of Cleopatra so far, so I may pick this back up again at some point.
I enjoyed this book.I liked having some of the myths I've known about Cleopatra debunked. I learned a lot and it was well written.
The only thing I didn't love was that I felt some parts went on too long. I felt I could have skipped 5 or 6 pages in a lot of chapters.
But overall a good book.
The only thing I didn't love was that I felt some parts went on too long. I felt I could have skipped 5 or 6 pages in a lot of chapters.
But overall a good book.
informative
slow-paced
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Epic from start to finish. Was I mad that it took the author 4 pages to describe a bath? No. But it did drag it out a bit much and made it the monster of a book that it is. It was a very poetic piece and warranted the very flourishy way of writing. I could totally believe that Cleopatra had penned this herself, and it has fanned the flame of my fascination with her.