Reviews - Lupanarul | The StoryGraph

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

4.62k reviews for:

The premise of the book is captivating and intriguing. I won't lie, I bought the book solely for the synopsis, because I wanted to read the adventure of a woman, an independent, strong one who will climb the chaos to get higher.
And the author delivered, partly.

While I absolutely loved the atmosphere, the plot twists, the way the characters were written, the mention of love amid all the chaos and the drama was disappointing, dull even. I get it, the plot of the book itself was not romance or traditional romance as we know it, but even in that case - Amara had far more chemistry with other characters, not Menander.
It was very confusing for me to read about her attachment and guilt towards him when the book has what? 15 pages of action with Menander? Their romance is far from developed in my opinion. Even if the author pushed him into the plot just for the sake of drama at the end of the book, the execution lacks depth and meaning.

On the other hand, I gasped at the ending. A real cliffhanger that made me cling to my chair as I was finishing the book. It left me with a promise of revenge that I really hope to see in the sequel. Someone said that people who enjoyed "Circe" by Madeline Miller would also love this book.

Please don't let it be like "Circe" :D

anoellep's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional tense medium-paced

ingrid0324's review against another edition

4.0

Although at times difficult to read given the violence depicted in ancient Pompeii, this story was interesting in the multiple layers that each character was composed of. The story was not at all what I was expecting, but nevertheless shocking at many times.

It was neither a romance nor about werewolves. My expectations were completely off. Oops!

connorscottgardner's review against another edition

5.0

When you cannot make your own choices, what good is wanting anything, or anyone?

This was a beautifully written and deeply disturbing story, imagining what it would be like to be one of the women forced to work in the brothels of Pompeii.

Amara used to be a doctor's daughter. She had a family and a life. That was before her father died and there was no money left. Sold into slavery she is bought by the owner of the Wolf Den in Pompeii, forced to give up her body night after night and endure endless cruelty.

It's impossible not to like Amara and all of the other women who are so important to her. They all have such distinctive personalities. From proud, beautiful Victoria to kind Cressa and deeply sad Dido, they look out for one another because nobody else will. They walk the streets of the city, knowing that the few moments of freedom they have are nothing. They will never truly be free, because even though slaves can buy their freedom, they will never earn enough to do so. And yet they manage to laugh, to convince one another to survive each day.

Some of the girls never had a life before, but Amara and Dido both mourn the lives they left behind and the people they used to be.

“You try to keep it inside, don’t you, all the different parts of yourself, but they don’t exist anymore.”

The author confronts the violence directly and it is laid out in sharp detail. Women are beaten, raped and emotionally abused, and there is little they can do to stop it. Even though it hurt to read, I am glad it wasn't glossed over. Acknowledging that this was what women had to endure is a part of our history. I do think that readers need to be in the right place to read this though.

You know this book isn't going to have a happy ending. How can it. I often felt sick with dread while reading it because I had no idea how it would end, and I wished there was something I could do to protect all of the characters.

For all I enjoyed the book, there was a moment where it was mentioned that two characters were speaking Spanish, and I was really pulled out of the story. It didn't make sense to me, as Spanish developed from when Latin was brought to the country. So surely at the same time as the book takes place, Spanish as a language would not have existed? For all I speak it, I know embarrassingly little about its history, so I could be wrong. But this small detail really distracted me from the story.

Overall, this was extremely well written. I don't know that I can say I enjoyed it, given the subject. But I cared so much about the characters, and it will stay with me for a long time.

Trigger warnings (which contain possible spoilers): Rape, physical and emotional abuse, slavery, suicide, abortion, unwanted pregnancy, murder.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, and am leaving this review voluntarily.