Reviews

The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo

matmatmatty's review against another edition

emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was a lovely story - as someone who studied Latin for a while and is Black, it is really nice to hear about people like me living in Roman Britain (because we've been here since then!)

This story is set in Roman Britain, but is not completely accurate - there are references to the modern day but I think it works well to put things in perspective for a modern audience (for example, some gladiators are referred to with the names of famous wrestlers, to compare how they were treated - being extremely famous for doing acts of violence). If you're looking for a truly historically accurate tale, maybe don't pick this one up.

A surprisingly emotional end -

I wish there had been a little more time spent on Zuleika's grief, but I really liked the last few chapters - it added to the tragedy of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Blood

jessies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

sofia_brizio's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

emotional reflective

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

bethanllystawel's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

melio22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition

funny informative reflective fast-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? No

4.0

𝚂𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍-𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗, 𝚏𝚎𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚢, 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚉𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚒𝚔𝚊, 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚞𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜-𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎-𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚛, 𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚞𝚜 𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚞𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎.

   

Apparently a novel in verse, but on audio I could not tell. Short and told in the modern vernacular, it feels like it would make a good a-level type read - accessible and lots of aspects for discussion on what’s creative license and what parallels there are with in 21st century London. 

   

Not shying away from the fact life in Roman Britain was harsh, particularly for girls, it confronts the fact that broadening one’s horizons can often make you feel more trapped - whilst still embracing the joy, hope, passion and friendships that keep people living and loving life even in hard circumstances. 

thelea27's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

raquelbb's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The narration was great on this

misslaura89's review against another edition

challenging emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75