Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Temple of Fortuna

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The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper

2 reviews

withlivjones's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have no words. What a perfect, satisfying ending to what might be my favourite trilogy of all time. I love Amara and Philos, I love all the other strong women in the story, I love to hate Felix

and I’m so glad he got exactly what he deserved

, I cried several times, and these characters will be living rent-free in my brain for the rest of time - I’m about to get real annoying because I genuinely will never shut up about this trilogy. Also, do I smell a spin-off??? Huge if true

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emmsbookshelf's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Temple of Fortuna is the much anticipated ending to the Wolf Den Trilogy, tying up Amara’s story as she has gone from a slave in the Wolf Den, to concubine freedwoman living in the House With the Golden Door and now, living in luxury in Rome.

This was a masterfully written story, like the front cover and the city of Pompeii itself, I felt Vesuvius looming over me as I read and the anticipation of knowing what was coming whilst the characters went about their lives was terrifying. The additional threat of Felix that was established at the end of The House With The Golden Door co-existing alongside the threat of Vesuvius heightened the stakes even more. The pacing was perfect and I found that I was able to move through the plot at a good pace without being bogged down awaiting the inevitable.

The characterisation of Amara throughout the story was wonderful to read, she is cunning, shrewd and perceptive and watching her navigate Rome was a refreshing deferral from the setting of Pompeii in the first two books. It was also interesting to see her navigate her status as a freedwoman and how, regardless of how much money and status she managed to acquire, she still anxiously tried to organise her money in order to protect herself and her daughter. Harper skilfully shows us a world where women are fully fleshed out figures in an Ancient society instead of demure baubles, we get to see Julia Felix, Livia, Drusilla and Britannica exist and thrive and act with agency as businesswomen, wives and athletes.

This book was clearly written with so much research put into it and the commitment to detail increased the sense of immersion. There were so many references to incredibly well known archaeological artefacts and existing people whom we know existed in Pompeii, like Julia Felix and Pliny the Elder, the dog floor mosaic and Drusilla’s snake bracelet. Furthermore, the quotes from letters, histories and graffiti at the beginning of each chapter really helped to anchor the story in the historical period and at times I often forgot that Amara was not actually a person we know existed at all.

The story has a satisfying conclusion and I enjoyed that it was left open. It does a fabulous job of humanising the citizens of Pompeii, many of whom we grow to love over the trilogy as members of Amara’s found family. It was an engaging and gripping tale that reminded us that the iconic plaster casts were once people caught it the midst of a disaster that they didn’t even have a name for. I just know that this is a story I will be revisiting and that Amara is a character that will stay with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.

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