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4.62k reviews for:

Lupanarul

Elodie Harper

4.06 AVERAGE

dark emotional 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark hopeful sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging emotional 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: Complicated

not necessarily a pleasant read, given the subject matter, but good nonetheless! im tickled by the excerpts at the start of each chapter. hello martial hi martial. i also like references to things like the satyrica (wealthy freedman with wife called fortunata that he's not good to). im not familiar enough with this setting to really say if its presented accurately, but there were plenty of parts that seemed consistent with the historical texts ive read. 

[4.5]

this novel follows Amara, an enslaved girl in Pompeii's most notorious brothel, the Wolf Den. she is desperate to earn her freedom—whatever it may take.

i can safely say that all of my expectations were met while reading this. Elodie Harper tells the story of an entire group of women who have always been overlooked, and she does it exquisitely.

i felt a tremendous amount of empathy toward our protagonist and her fellow women in the brothel; they are flawed, but of course how could they not be? if anything, their flaws are what made me get attached to them. i loved discovering their bond with one another (and seeing it evolve!), their resilience, and i thought their complex feelings towards the man who owns them were very well depicted.

the writing itself was stunning, although perhaps felt a bit too modern in the dialogues at times. i wouldn't say this is inherently a bad thing: the contrast between the setting and the character's words wasn't too shocking in my opinion, and i even think it made the scenes livelier.

would definitely recommend if you're a mythology—particularly feminist mythology—enthusiast!
dark emotional sad medium-paced

I love an historic fiction with heart. This is the first book in a series that I do not feel the need to continue, loved this as a stand-alone and don't desire to explore further.